Gurleen Pannu first grabbed our attention on season 3 of Comicstaan last year, where she finished as the first runner-up. But the “University topper in Microbiology” (according to her LinkedIn at least) started her standup journey in 2019. Like many creatively-minded students, Pannu took part in theatre at college. In her final year, she was approached by a friend to fill the “women’s quota” for an open mic.

Pannu had never performed a set before but decided to give it a shot, writing a bit on her teenage years. And it went very, very well. We’re lucky it did, because Pannu doesn’t think she’d have stuck with it if she’d bombed on her first go. “Agar woh accha nahi jata toh I would have stopped there only,” she told DeadAnt in our interview series the DA ChatRoom.

Pannu has moved from strength to strength since that first performance, amassing 700,000 Instagram followers, performing at the first Laughing Dead Festival and Chandigarh Comedy Festival, and going on her first India tour with her show Pannu, Yaar!

1. WHAT WORDS HAVE PEOPLE USED TO DESCRIBE YOUR COMEDY?

Relatable bahut suna hai maine. Observational suna hai. Visual! Visual is something I’ve also heard. People often, after the show, tell me, “We can see what you’re saying, we can imagine it.”

2. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE SCENE RIGHT NOW?

I think the comedy scene is booming. I think there’s a lot of camaraderie in the circuit. Now I perform mostly in the Delhi circuit, so I think I really like that and I think I also like that we share the process of making people laugh and the instant gratification thing is also something very joyous to experience.

3. HOW MANY MINUTES DO YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW?

I would say an hour? I’m trying to build it up so that I can put out some content but yeah, an hour right now. In the first year of my comedy I would never go with a special. It would be unfair to the art form. But I’ll definitely put out something on YouTube.

4. WHEN IS THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL COMING?

Soon, soon. This year toh I’ll have to. This year kya, in a few months, I’ll have to. ‘Have to’ bhi nahi, I want to! I’m actually now at this point where I’m itching to put out some content and I really want to see how people react.

5. A RECENT BIT YOU SAW THAT BLEW YOUR MIND?

There are a lot of bits! For example, Pratyush Chaubey’s recent bit, Omkar Yadav’s First Lie I really liked. Then Aashish Solanki put out Behen Ki Shaadi, which was also really funny. These are the bits that I think I really enjoyed watching. Apart from that I think Shreeja (Chaturvedi) put out a bit recently? I don’t think it was recent but Shreeja joh bhi daalti hai mujhe bahut pasand lagti hai.

6. YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE INDIAN COMEDIAN?

I really like multiple comics. I won’t say I have a single favourite Indian comedian. Because mera bhi voh vaala ho gaya, like with music some people reach that stage ki, ‘humein toh music in general pasand hai, matlab we don’t have a single favourite artist.’ So mera bhi vaisa hi hai. I can’t take a single name, but there are a lot of comics whose bits I like and some comics whose style I really like.

7. YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL COMEDIAN?

It’s similar with international comics but I will say Bo Burnham and Kevin Hart. Those are the ones I keep going back to. Taylor Tomlinson I really like, and Louis C.K. and all. Again there are multiple names, I wouldn’t say there’s a single name.

8. AN INDIAN COMEDY BIT ON YOUTUBE YOU’VE SEEN AT LEAST FIVE TIMES?

I keep watching Gaurav Gupta a lot. And Bassi’s Cheating and Hostel I’ve watched multiple times just to see the tight writing of the bit? So I keep revisiting that and Gaurav Gupta’s Daughter, Khaana Kaun Banayega and Child Psychology, voh bhi mai revisit karti rehti hu. There are many bits that are tight that I keep revisiting, like Behen Ki Shaadi maine bahut baar dekha hai. (Aashish) Solanki, I know how he writes, usko maine bahut baar dekha hai live perform karte hue, toh just to get the sense of, ki, okay, what is tight writing. I keep revisiting even Zakir (Khan) sir’s first video When I Met A Delhi Girl just to see the ease with which you can perform. Like, voh aise nahi lagta ki written bit hai. I know that obviously it was written but the ease with which he can talk about a topic.

9. AN INTERNATIONAL COMEDY BIT ON YOUTUBE YOU’VE WATCHED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES?

I’ve seen Kevin Hart’s initial specials many times. Bo Burnham’s initial specials too. Those are the ones I keep going back to.

10. AN INDIAN COMIC YOU THINK IS UNDERRATED?

Many! The YouTube algorithm hasn’t done justice to a lot of comics. Underrated is a term which I think is a little negative. So I wouldn’t say underrated but I would say ki, haan yaar, jitna badhiya voh kar rahe hai, utna unko due milna chahiye. I think because of the influx of content also on social media, a lot of good work is just not coming up.

11. AN INTERNATIONAL COMIC YOU THINK IS UNDERRATED?

I think jo mere tak pahunch gaya hai, voh underrated toh nahi hoga.

12. DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS BEFORE YOU GO ON STAGE?

I won’t say it’s a ritual-ritual, but I usually listen to music. I’m always listening to music before I go on stage and if I’m doing something new [on stage] or there’s some new thought that I’ve thought of, then I just keep repeating it twice or thrice in my mind so that I don’t forget it. Yaa phir diary mein likha hai, toh ek baar I just go through it ki mai bhool na jau. Baaki toh, yeah, I’m always listening to music. In fact during Comicstaan also I used to listen to music so much that the others would ask ki, “Tu set sunn rahi hai kya?”

13. ARE THERE ANY HYPE SONGS, IN PARTICULAR, YOU’D RECOMMEND?

I listen to a lot of Punjabi music and a lot of Eminem also before going on stage. Kahi baar entry song aur gaana same hi ho jata hai mera!

14. WHAT SONGS DO YOU HAVE ON LOOP RIGHT NOW?

Right now? Abhi na, mai, pata nahi I’m going through a weird phase. I’m listening to Salman Khan’s old songs like Laga Prem Rog. I’ve been putting them on my stories to promote my shows <laughs>. Even Just Chill, Chill is on loop. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom also. It’s a whole Bollywood vibe. That’s what I’m listening to and Obsessed I think, which Vicky Kaushal made famous. Voh vaala bhi kaafi on-loop chal raha hai aaj kal.

15. WHO DO YOU TEST YOUR JOKES ON?

Mostly on stage only, audience hai toh ussi par karte hai. Baaki… Kabhi-kabhi aise close comics jo dost vagera ke saamne karte hai. It’s very rare, mostly on stage. I think the audience is the real judge. Once you perform on stage you’ll know what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.  

16. WHAT’S THE FIRST JOKE YOU PERFORMED THAT GOT A LAUGH?

Yeah! I still don’t have that bit out, but when I performed for the first time I wrote about being teenage or just out of teenage. So I had a lot of observations around that, toh voh bit mera pehla bit tha and yeah it used to get me a lot of laughs and was my fail-safe bit.

17. WHAT MODE OF TRANSPORT DO YOU USE TO GET TO A SHOW?

Ab toh mostly flights aur cabs, yeh sab hi hai.

18. HAVE YOU EVER PERFORMED A SHOW WHILE HIGH?

No, I never get high.

19. WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST PLACE YOU’VE PERFORMED AT SO FAR?

I think it was somewhere in Kanpur. It was someone’s mansion. And it was in this lawn. Aur voh lawn bilkul main road ke saath mein tha. Toh voh pura traffic ki awaaz aa rahi thi, and it was open air so soundproofing kya hi hoga? That was a bit weird. And Aurangabad mein there was a lawn aur vaha pe jhule bhi lage hue the, voh park type ka tha, so that was very weird.

20. WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED SO FAR ABOUT BEING A COMEDIAN?

I think the best advice I’ve got regarding my career in comedy is that there’s no right way to do anything, so don’t take advice, because everyone has their own journey and everyone leads their own career path. So, sabka different-different ho jata hai. Koshish karo jitna ho sake khud se karo decision making. You can listen to everyone’s suggestions but yeah, I think this was the best advice.

21. ONE THING INDIAN COMEDIANS SHOULD STOP JOKING ABOUT?

We all know! Uske baare mein I think koi kar bhi nahi raha hai ab jokes, I think those are very risky. I think we have filtered ourselves out of making those jokes. Voh toh aapko bhi pata hai, aap bhi nahi likhte!

22. WHICH CITY IS YOUR FAVOURITE TO PERFORM IN?

It’s really on a show-to-show basis. In Chandigarh, when the Chandigarh Comedy Festival happened, it felt like ki hum apne ghar aaye hai perform karne, so the audience was very welcoming and warm. Bangalore too. I think Bangalore is a comedian’s paradise. That city loves comedy to another level! I really like performing in Ahmedabad. I’ve performed there two-three times aur aisa kabhi nahi hua hai ki I have gotten off stage aur mere ko standing ovation nahi diya hai. I really love performing there!