This year has genuinely been wonderful for comedy, primarily because of so many breakout performances by women. Yes, this is a girls are best jaan lo baat yeh maan lo list because firstly that song is catchy and secondly, these ladies have genuinely kicked ass in so many ways in the world of comedy, it’s inspiring.
Like Vidushi Swaroop, who fought (a lot) to start and then re-open the Jaipur Comedy Club, or Sumukhi Suresh who got selected for the BAFTA Breakthrough India mentorship programme. And who can forget Swati Sachdeva choosing to come out in a standup bit that was so funny our stomach still aches? Maybe we should get that checked out actually.
But the point is that 2022 has been full of pleasant surprises with women at the helm. Here’s a list of the ones who took the world of comedy by storm, in no specific order:
SWATI SACHDEVA
In 2022, Swati Sachdeva released her first official standup clip on YouTube, a Pride month bit aptly titled Love is Love. In the almost nine-minute-long video, Swati came out as bisexual and shared some hilarious personal anecdotes about her sexuality and how India sees the LGBTQ+ community (or in the words of one of her supporters—”LGTV community”). It’s funny and warm like a nice little hug in this cool weather.
GURLEEN PANNU
The first runner-up in the latest season of Comicstaan, Gurleen Pannu is one of the best new observational comics on the scene. The Chandigarh girl first started making waves thanks to her hilarious lockdown Instagram reels, which lead to her participating—and quickly becoming the fan-favourite—in the third season of Comicstaan. She also toured India and did her first international show in Dubai this year. A great start, but she’s clearly got the potential to go all the way.
VIDUSHI SWAROOP
Would we go as far as to call Vidushi Swaroop the Beyoncé of the Jaipur comedy scene? She practically runs that world, so the answer is a resounding yes. The comedian has fought tooth and nail to launch the Jaipur Comedy Club, not once but twice! She poured her savings into the establishment, executed a hilarious marketing campaign to get the place up and running and even rallied her troops to resurrect the club after it had to be shut down in November. Ask anyone who the unstoppable driving force behind JCC and the Jaipur circuit is, and the first name that pops up will be Swaroop’s.
SUMAIRA SHAIKH
In February, Sumaira Shaikh dropped her debut comedy special Dongri Danger on Amazon Prime and we loved it! The special was centred around the death of her brother, an especially difficult premise given the two years we’d all had before, but she pulled it off with all the tact of a seasoned comedy veteran. Shaikh earned herself a place on this list by staking her claim as a standup mainstay this year.
SUMUKHI SURESH
Sumukhi Suresh has moved from strength to strength over the course of her career and in 2022 she’s been reaping the rewards of all her hard work. In February, the comedian launched her new women-centric content company Motormouth. The company—which looks to expand the space for female-led video content—will work on projects that change the “culture and gender lens” that dominates storytelling in India. Suresh was also selected for the prestigious BAFTA Breakthrough India mentorship programme in which she gets to interact with some of the best creative minds from across the world.
SHREYA PRIYAM ROY
Shreya Priyam had her first brush with fame in 2019, when a photo of her handing a rose to an officer from the Delhi Police during the anti CAA protests went viral. In 2022, Roy has truly come into her own. Making it to the top 5 of Comicstaan S3, she was lauded as the breakout performance this season, despite not winning. She also amassed around 128k followers on Instagram in a short span of time. On top of all this, Roy—who recently received a shoutout by Sumukhi Suresh—did a two month India tour called Premium Roy. Excited to see what she does next.
SHALINI VIJAYAKUMAR
Earlier this year, improv artist Shalini Vijayakumar and actress Amrutha Srinivasan co-founded The Hysterical, Chennai’s first all-women improv comedy ensemble. Vijayakumar held auditions and then got busy training a group of 10 members who debuted their first show at SOCO, Chennai. Vijayakumar has big plans for the future, which includes improv shows and improv jams that are open for audience participation. The Hysterical will hold jams specifically for women as well and even go to women’s colleges to perform and conduct workshops.
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