If you’re one of those people who wishes they had paid more attention during civics class in school—because you have no idea how anything in our country works now—don’t worry. Meghnad S is here to help. The popular columnist, public policy professional and podcaster (best known for his work with Newslaundry) has teamed up with comedy producers Chalta Hai Comedy to put together Democracy IRL, a “bizarre improv civics class for adults.” During the show (which Meghnad insists is not a comedy show), he will explain eighth grade civics concepts with real-life examples.

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“The genre of this show really matches my brand of humour,” said comedian Punit Pania, founder of Chalta Hai Comedy. “The challenge with performing satire is striking a balance between being informative and funny. But with Meghnad saying upfront that this isn’t really a comedy show, it gives him the leeway to be more informative as well. And I think that’s needed in our country today.”

The tour kicks off tomorrow in Thane followed by shows in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru and finally, Delhi. The response has been great with tickets selling out fast, Pania told us. “He has a very hardcore following,” he added. “And what’s even more heartening is that a lot of them are Gen Zers who are taking interest in politics.”

That raises the stakes for Meghnad, who is venturing into the live show format for the first time. But Pania is confident he’ll do a good job, considering Meghnad has enough experience doing similar shows online. And he has the credibility to back up what he’s saying given that he has worked for the Delhi Government previously as an advisor for the Department of Education.

Meghnad himself is equal parts excited and nervous for this experiment. We caught up with him before he hits the road to know more about the show’s unique concept, the challenges he’s anticipating and vision for civics-based improv.

How did you come up with the concept of Democracy IRL?

I just want to make one thing clear—this is not a comedy show. It’s a bizarre improv civics class for adults. There will be some aspects of performance to it but it’s more of a classroom setting. I’ll be going over eighth grade civics concepts and then tell the audience how it has panned out in the real world. That’s why we’re calling it Democracy IRL. But it’ll obviously have some funny tones to it to make the show more entertaining and palatable.

How did Chalta Hai Comedy come into the picture?

Firstly, Punit [Pania] is a friend. And I have been discussing this show with a few people for a while. I wanted to take people back to their eighth standard classrooms and I wanted it to be irreverent and fun. And in the process I wanted to give them a glimpse into how our democracy actually works. So when I brought this up with my manager, she suggested we partner with Punit. They are handling the venue and ticketing aspect of the show because I really don’t have any experience with that.

Can you tell us a little about how the show flow?

So, there will be an opening act at most shows. And then I’ll go up on stage for roughly an hour. I’ll be joined with some comedians and content creators. But I’m going to keep who they are a secret for now.

This is your first foray into the live show space. How are you feeling about getting on up stage?

I think my experience giving lectures gives me a slight edge? Let’s just say that I’m not afraid of going up on stage. But this is the first time I’m going up on stage with a presentation with bits and stories that I’ve practiced. I’m pretty excited about it but also a little…nervous? Mainly because it is very experimental. I am not sure what people will take away from it. Which is why I’m constantly reiterating that this isn’t a comedy show. You’re going to have fun. But don’t come thinking this is going to be a standup act!

Are you in any way worried about performing a show that has some political tones to it?

Honestly, no. That’s because my content is all eighth standard ka civics. I’m not sure anybody can file FIRs against me if I’m teaching them basic concepts. It’s that simple. Hamari textbook mein bhi secularism pe chapter hai. Constitution ke baare mein baat kiya hai. They talk about minority rights and a whole lot of things. So, if you can teach kids these things, then I can definitely go up on stage and talk about those things, right?

Also, the way I’ve designed the show, I’m not going to name any particular political leaders or governments. Because the idea is to talk about society, rights, constitution and how our democracy operates. That is the larger conversation I’m trying to have. It’s more a commentary on the system than the people within it. People tend to get offended when you get granular. But if I do meta commentary, nobody does anything. Largely because it’s too complex.

Are you planning on recording any of these shows?

At first, I was wondering what the response would be like but it’s been shocking and overwhelming to say the least. The Mumbai show is sold out. Delhi is also doing well. So I think we might record in Delhi. Because over the next few shows, we’ll iron out the details and see how these live experiments that I have planned work out. I want to test out how the improv pans out. So let’s see how these things go. I don’t want to record until I’m confident about what I have.

You mentioned that there will be a lot of improv, which is a very challenging genre of comedy. Have you been doing your homework in this regard?

I have experimented a little bit. I’ve been doing some open mics in Delhi where I do crowd work. I’ve bombed many times because doing comedy versus talking about my subject matter is very different. But also, when I say improv, I mean doing those exercises that used to be at the back of our civics textbook. Those were very existential questions to ask a bunch of kids. For example, identify the minorities in the room and why should you respect their rights? So, I can just put these questions before the comedians and I think that will count as improv.

What are your plans with this show? And do you think you’ll try your hand at standup comedy?

I want to develop this show into a travelling circus of sorts. Currently I just have an opener and then I go and do my thing. But going forward, I want to expand it and add more aspects to it. Like, we can have a quick lunch and chit-chat? Then I can moderate some debates on current events and have some fun with that. That’s the stuff I’m thinking about. But this is just the first leg of the show. Let’s see where it goes from here.

Regarding standup, I have done spots in Mumbai and Delhi a few times. But whenever I do it, I do it very secretly for obvious reasons. Spot mil gaya aur main bhaag gaya to perform for four people or something. The reason I do this is because I do have some material. But it’s just a hobby I’m trying out to see how I do on stage. It’s not been great but I did get a few laughs.

You can buy tickets for Democracy IRL here.