Manjeet Sarkar can’t stop and won’t stop. Just a little over nine months after the release of his debut special Let’s Talk About It—a deeply personal and confessional hour that highlights issues of class and caste privilege—he’s ready to drop his sophomore hour. Titled Democrazy, Sarkar toured with the show under the name Manjeet Ki Baat. He promises it to be an unfiltered special in which he takes aim at everyone—the left, the right, politicians, comedians, people in power. You name it. So gird your loins for an hour of no holds barred comedy, that drops on his YouTube channel today.
Naturally, the comedian was anticipating some backlash to his material and decided to jet off to Canada. Some call it the Tamil Nadu of the West. We managed to get a hold of him leading up to the special to know more about the hour, what he’s done differently this time around and what he has in store. Read on to know why Sarkar believes pandering or hesitating on stage will be the death of his standup comedy.
Tell us a little about ‘Democrazy’.
I actually wanted to call the special Equal Opportunity Offender. But I wanted to pick a smaller and catchier name for YouTube. And Democrazy also covers a major theme of the special. So, this special has jokes on every group—social and political. I’ve spoken about the big players of India, without giving too much away. I also have some material about the community I belong to. I wanted to take jabs at everyone and highlight all the things that bother me about them. There are a lot of references to our country’s politics throughout the special. This is basically the show I toured with this year. I was calling it Manjeet Ki Baat at the time.
Are you anticipating some backlash this time around too?
I have talked about the specific company and the legal notice they had sent me in this special. I have also talked about the time when my YouTube video was subject to an IT cell attack. I’ve spoken about Indian comedians. There’s a section where I mention how much I respect Kunal Kamra and Varun Grover but I don’t like how they don’t highlight caste issues at times. There’s a bit about how I hate the right wing because they made me defend Samay Raina. There are jabs on politicians, comedians, the left, the right. There’s a lot going on. So I’m already in Canada.
It’s been a little over nine months since the release of your debut special. Why did you decide to release another one in such quick succession?
It’s mainly because the special has a lot of topical and political jokes. This special doesn’t have any personal or anecdotal material that I want to hold on to. I know this will kill very hard if I release it now. I treat every joke as a baby, that’s still there, but I felt like these jokes need to be released in the current political scenario. People need to see it. It’ll start a dialogue.
And I was a little insecure with the first special. It was my debut so I took a lot longer to edit it and release it. This time around I need to release this material as soon as possible to make sure that the jokes land as well as they have in the live shows. I also wanted to show people that I can do more than anecdotal and anti-caste comedy. So, next time people come to watch me, they won’t know exactly what to expect.
What are some things that you did differently this time around?
My previous special was very personal. There were anecdotes about me growing up, dealing with caste discrimination. It was quite heavy in that sense. But with this show, I wanted to show my joke writer side to the world. I wanted to showcase that I can put together an hour of just punchlines and tags. There are small bits here. Observational bits. I absolutely love my previous special, don’t get me wrong…but this could have been my debut special I feel. As a writer I’m proud of that one but as a comedian I think I’ve done better here.
Tell us a little about your tour with this show.
I wrote this special in like four months. Right after the release of the previous special, there were some problems I was facing. I was touring USA and Canada at the time. That’s when I wrote the special. And as soon as I came to India I did 10 trial shows within a month before taking it out on the road. This time around, the response to ticket sales was much better.
I also noticed a change in the demographic of people who were coming to my shows. I used to cater to a very small niche of Indian comedy fans. But now that niche had grown much broader. Previously, very academic sort of people would come to watch my standup. But once I released it online, people realised that more than these labels, I care about writing good jokes.
What do you think was the reason between this change in demographic and higher ticket sales?
It’s mainly the Instagram game. My previous special didn’t do too well on YouTube but when I cut it up and posted it as reels, it got a great response. Sadly, that’s just an attention span issue we are all facing. So yeah, it was the Instagram audience that turned up this time around. They’re the people I judge [laughs] but they are also my bread and butter. I can’t help it though. They are the kind of people who will say, “Oh, bro didn’t hesitate.” It’s my job, bro. If I hesitate, I stop making money.
I also realised that a lot of the reels that went viral on Instagram were being posted on Reddit. I believe if you want to gauge a comedian’s virality among the Gen-Z crowd, search their name on Reddit and see if there’s any relevant discussion on them. And I don’t mind being on their radar because they are the change makers. They are the ones who will be making money in two years and coming for shows.
Do you tweak your writing in any manner to cater to this crowd then?
I don’t give a f*ck. I think one of the reasons people genuinely like me is because I never cater to any specific group. My audience, when they come to my show, know that they are the ones who will be made fun of. I scold them almost. Because I feel like a loser when I cater to anyone. If you see me doing that at any point, please tell me to stop doing that. Comedy is anything but catering to people.
What’s happening with the documentary you were working on?
The documentary is ready. But I don’t want to release it yet. It’s going to be screened at Yellowstone International Film Festival in Mumbai. There are some logistical issues right now. I want to sell that documentary rather than just release it on YouTube. Mainly because I don’t want any publicity or fame from it. I want very specific kind of people to watch it—documentary and film lovers. I don’t want my comedy audience to watch it.
It’s also because my parents are a part of the documentary. A lot of other people are shown in it. There’s information about where I live and such. It’s not safe for me to make it accessible to everyone.
What other plans do you have in the pipeline?
Currently I’m not working on anything. But now whatever I’m saying are all my manifestations. I want to write something that isn’t as India-centric as Democrazy. I can’t work on two specials at the same time. Now I want to write some global material that I can take to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. So that’s the main plan. To go there next year. Even if I have only 30 minutes of material I want to go there and watch people and learn.
I want a break from Indian standup comedy scene overall. I don’t feel so good over there. My next special, I want it to be about mental health. Like, when I was growing up, I was a child labourer, I wasn’t in the best condition but I was not sad. And now, after I have so much—bhench*d Canada mein baitha hoon—I have a void inside me. I want to talk about this on the next special and take it to the Fringe.
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