Kunal Kamra has had to call off his upcoming shows in Bengaluru due to threats to venue owners as well as denial of special permission on baseless grounds, just a week after Munawar Faruqui’s show in the city was similarly cancelled. In an Instagram post shared this afternoon, Kamra announced he had cancelled a string of shows in Karnataka that were to be held over the next 20 days, saying “I suppose I am seen as a variant of the virus now.”

“For those on Twitter that have been wondering how ‘A Kamra goes on to perform while a Farooqui has had to quit comedy’ we can find solace in the fact that the ruling class is at least trying to oppress with equality,” Kamra wrote. “Maybe if we continue down the road of equal oppression, we would get to a point of equal liberation, in a post climate change era.”

Kamra has made light of the situation, ironically captioning his sombre post “Cancelling comedy shows 101”. The comedian lays out a step-by-step plan for anyone to cancel shows that can be applied to “an artist that you don’t agree with, you don’t find funny or don’t like their art. You can also use it to keep yourself busy and keep life exiting”. Kamra also quips that if these conditions are fulfilled and a show isn’t cancelled, then he will “give up being a standup comedian.”

This news comes off the back of Munawar Faruqui’s announcement that he will be quitting standup comedy following the cancellation of 12 of his shows in the last two months.