Navin Noronha is all set to drop his debut comedy special The Good Child on YouTube tomorrow (23 June) at 8 pm. Four years in the making, Noronha first took the show on tour in 2019, just before COVID-19 struck. He developed the show further on Zoom during the pandemic, eventually hitting the road to fine-tune the hour once lockdown restrictions were lifted. In an Instagram post shared earlier today, he called the special a “life’s culmination in the form of jokes”.
Which also makes Noronha nervous. “I’m feeling all the weird feelings,” he confessed to DeadAnt. “I’m not able to eat anything. Right now my appetite is in flux. I have a show tonight in Delhi and I can’t even focus on that right now.”
The comedian is thrilled to release the special during Pride Month, just a week after his favourite American queer comic Mateo Lane’s Hairplugs & Heartaches.
“Nothing like this has ever been done before in this country, ever. It’s on paper, the reality that there’s never been a queer boy from a town like Bhayandar who grew up in the chawls, who came out in the open mic circuit and toured as a queer comic. That’s never been done in the history of this country’s comedy. It’s the first of its kind,” he said. “And also you see me very much in my element. I’m having a full-on blast. You can see I’m in makeup, I’m wearing my favourite shirt, I’m just doing my little dancey-dance. I’m really, really in my element. And [the night it was recorded] was just perfect.”
Noronha hopes to make a statement. “People should watch The Good Child to know that queer people are thriving. We are doing what we’re supposed to do. In this current climate where we had a nice soft spot, the people were on our side, and then suddenly everything has turned very extreme. Brands back out if they get negative comments on their Instagram about queer people,” he noted. “A lot of people have let homophobia win and they’re like, ‘Oh, everybody’s opinion matters.’ Well, not so much. Let me tell you as a gay man that not all opinions have to matter. For now, listen to mine. That’s the whole point.”
The climb to popularity has been long and Noronha admits, at times, heart-wrenching. “I could tell my younger self one thing, if I had to be explicitly clear, you’re a good child! You’re on the right track!” he laughed. “Everything that will happen in your life will be important to lead you to the point where you are right now, and it has to happen in a certain way to make you this person.”
Tomorrow will be a day of firsts for the comedian, who’s also made a song for The Good Child. “I’m also releasing my rap in this one. I’ve never announced this, but Encore (Ankur Johar) who is also a rapper and Vedang (Deshpande) who is a producer, helped me make a track for the show,” he told us. “So, you’ll hear it at the beginning of the show and we’ll also do the credits with me singing and rapping. Whodathunk?!”
Shortly after the release, Noronha will begin workshopping a trial show Average Adult in July. The comedian has also co-written, consulted and featured on a show with VICE, to be featured on a major streaming platform in September.
“I might also be going to perform in the Netherlands at the Utrecht International Comedy Festival next year. I want to show internationally that India has a queer voice too, and a thriving one at that!”
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