Looking at Mayur Kamble, you wouldn’t for a second believe he’s been performing comedy since 2016. The second he starts speaking though, you’ll understand exactly why he’s long overdue for a spot on the Next Big Thing. It’s plain to see that Kamble is naturally funny, but he’s also been honing his craft and putting himself out there for a while now.
The comedian has toured Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and even Delhi with the All-Dalit lineup Blue Material and collaborated with Marathi comedy collective BhaDiPa. We’ve been keenly watching Kamble from a distance, but early this year, he burst through DeadAnt’s doors when he beat hundreds of contestants with his video entry to win a spot at the first-ever Laughing Dead Festival, where he performed alongside the likes of Punit Pania and Navin Noronha.
Most recently, to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti, Kamble took his 60-minute 55-minute solo show Annihilation on a whirlwind tour, performing in Pune, Kharghar, Thane and Mumbai across 400 kilometres in a day. This is a feat Kamble believes only he has achieved. And the 27-year-old is ready to defend it!
1. WHAT WORDS HAVE PEOPLE USED TO DESCRIBE YOUR COMEDY?
Simple and relatable.
2. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE SCENE RIGHT NOW?
What I like about the scene is that everyone is doing shows, everyone is uploading great videos and reels too. That’s what I like. Everyone is doing what they want to do. Right now, there are a lot of things that will slowly become big time and everyone will figure it out.
3. HOW MANY MINUTES DO YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW?
I have 55 to 60 minutes. I have 60 minutes, but voh kabhi-kabhi perform karte time I do experiments and everything na? So, kabhi kabhi ek-aadh cheez idhar ka udhar and all that, ya phir kuch edit kar diya toh I’d say it’s always between 55 to 60 minutes.
4. A RECENT BIT YOU SAW THAT BLEW YOUR MIND?
I’ll be honest with you, during the DeadAnt festival (Laughing Dead Festival), I saw Varun [Grover] Sir perform for the first time and the way my mind was blown that day? Seriously! First of all there were so many people there, thousands of people in the same room and over and above that Varun Sir’s jokes! Listening to him I feel like I haven’t put in enough effort yet and have a lot of work to do.
And after that I’ve opened for him many times no? In a week I watch his solo show at least 4 times. He does shows in the Habitat every day and he’s mostly called me to perform. 70% of his shows, I’ve opened. So, I’m having a lot of fun. A lot of people ask me, “Has Varun Sir seen you perform? Did you send him a video? How did you get to open for him?” And I’m like, “Bro, during the DeadAnt festival I spoke to Varun Sir for 5 minutes and he figured I have a slight going-to-jail vibe.”
5. YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE INDIAN COMEDIAN?
Varun Sir and Johnny Lever.
6. YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL COMEDIAN?
Vahi hai jo pehle se hi the like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Jimmy Carr.
7. AN INDIAN COMEDY BIT ON YOUTUBE YOU’VE SEEN AT LEAST FIVE TIMES?
Recently I haven’t been watching much, but the comedians who I used to see when I had just started, I watch their [clips] many times. For example I like this specific bit by Karunesh [Talwar] bhai. He had uploaded Random Jokes and in that there’s a bit where he talks about Bollywood [songs] and the people who do ad-libs in the background? So that’s the Amitabh Bachchan bit na? “Kali-Moti-Moti-Kali”. I love when he acts that bit out. It’s about some people who are just there because they have nothing better to do. I like that bit.
8. AN INTERNATIONAL COMEDY BIT ON YOUTUBE YOU’VE WATCHED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES?
Bill Burr. I always have a good time watching him. And Dave Chappelle. I love Bill Burr’s Titanic bit. He says, “I’m watching Titanic with my girlfriend and she’s like, “This is a very romantic movie” and he’s like, “This is a horror movie to me!” Man, when I’m telling Bill Burr’s joke it sounds like Bill Burr stays in Nala Sopara!
9. AN INDIAN COMIC YOU THINK IS UNDERRATED?
To be very honest mereko koi underrated ya overrated bhi nahi lagta hai. Just like jisko jo chahiye hota hai, he or she works hard for it and voh mil jaata hai.
10. AN INTERNATIONAL COMIC YOU THINK IS UNDERRATED?
No no bro, thinking so much about international acts is out of the question. <laughs> I don’t want to think about the world so much.
11. DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS BEFORE YOU GO ON STAGE?
This got too personal. I have no particular rituals bro. I touch my parents feet before stepping out. No other rituals as such.
12. WHO DO YOU TEST YOUR JOKES ON?
No one specific, but if ever a comic-friend of mine is around whom I’ve known for a long time, then I try bouncing jokes off them.
13. WHAT SONGS DO YOU HAVE ON LOOP RIGHT NOW?
Nothing on loop right now. As of now my whole focus is back on my show and re-writing and tightening it. I want to get back on tour. I’m planning a multi-city tour, so I’m working on that.
14. WHAT’S THE FIRST JOKE YOU PERFORMED THAT GOT A LAUGH?
It was my first set. I performed on 18 December 2016 at Canvas Laugh Club. Log bolte hai na ki, “If you do well at your first open mic there are aisa-vaisa chances.” Toh vaisa kuch nahi hai bro, pehla bhi acha gaya tha, uske baad bhi acha hi kar raha hu.
15. WHAT MODE OF TRANSPORT DO YOU USE TO GET TO A SHOW?
Auto, train. Both are compulsory.
16. HAVE YOU EVER PERFORMED A SHOW WHILE HIGH?
No, no. I don’t do any kinds of intoxicants.
17. WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST PLACE YOU’VE PERFORMED AT SO FAR?
I was doing a bunch of shows with BhaDiPa, it was a project. Sangamner is a city in Maharashtra, around 50 kilometres inside, there’s a rural area. I had performed at a ground there. Like the kind where they play cricket matches. It was that kind of space and the show was at night, so people had brought their beds and carpets, and watched the show lying down.
18. WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED SO FAR ABOUT BEING A COMEDIAN?
There’s too much advice from too many people. But the most important advice recently I got was from (Abhishek) Upmanyu and Karunesh (Talwar) on how to make the show better. Ek aise specific toh advice ho nahi sakta ki kisi ne bola aur game hi change ho gaya!
19. ONE THING INDIAN COMEDIANS SHOULD STOP JOKING ABOUT?
I don’t think there’s anything like that. I mean, on stage there’s nothing. Say whatever you want to say. But everyone should be ready to take the backlash. Be aware of the backlash. There’s no point crying about it after it happens. You have to be able to self-censor while writing, while performing and while putting out things on YouTube.
20. WHICH CITY IS YOUR FAVOURITE TO PERFORM IN?
My own. Mumbai, Pune and yeah, Delhi is also nice.
21. WHAT WAS IT LIKE PERFORMING ‘ANNIHILATION’ 4 TIMES, ACROSS 400KMS IN ONE DAY?
It was a crazy scene. In my whole career I’ve never felt like I’ve worked a 24-hour shift, but yeah this made me feel that way. I learnt a lot and had fun pushing myself. Now I know I have it in me to do 4 shows in a day. I don’t want to make a thing out of it, but when someone does 4 shows in a day, I’ll do 5!
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