Sumaira Shaikh made an exciting announcement on her Instagram last evening. The comedian revealed that she will be going on tour with her show Dongri Danger to perform an hour of jokes, which will eventually be taped and released on an OTT platform that “rhymes with crime”. It’s not like we need Alan Turing to crack this code, right?

“2017 I had a personal loss and I wanted to quit comedy. If you know @sumukhisuresh you know she doesn’t let funny girls quit. I went on to write two seasons of Pushpavalli on Amazon. I was part of the best team on CPL. I am so proud as a comic to announce that I am going to have a Stand-Up Special on a leading OTT that rhymes with Crime,” the comedian said on Instagram.

Shaikh will begin the tour on 25 September at Full Bar Story in Gurugram. She also has shows lined up in all the major cities, including Delhi, Surat, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The comic is also keen on performing in smaller cities including Aurangabad, Indore, Baroda and Bhopal. Mumbai folks, don’t worry if you don’t see your city on the schedule. Shaikh has told us she’ll definitely be performing at her home ground and that, “Mumbai shows will keep happening in between which is why you won’t see them on the link.”

“I feel elated and so excited to be sharing this with the world,” Shaikh told DeadAnt. “This was my dream when I started doing comedy and it’s finally coming true. It’s a huge deal for every comic and it’s a huge deal for me to be performing my one-hour special,” she said.

The comedian will talk about growing up in Dongri, going to school there and then moving to a college in South Mumbai, which was a very different experience for her. “The bits and the stories I have in this special are things I’ve been working on since day one as a comic. I have certain bits that I’ve retained from 2016 when I started doing comedy. So those are the things I’ll touch upon in the show. From Dongri to running into danger.”

Shaikh, one of the co-writers on Sumukhi Suresh’s captivating comedy-drama series Pushpavalli, told us how her writing skills have complemented her standup comedy. “The skills that you require for writing will definitely help you with your standup in general because writing teaches you to be so disciplined! Standup is so selfish but writing is not,” she said. “Writing is about giving all the time to this character that is not you. You sort of become more dedicated towards your standup after being in a writers room. It teaches you to be there and show up every day no matter what you’re feeling. Standup on the other hand can be affected by your mood which affects the show. So writing teaches you to sacrifice a little bit of your ego which helps your standup.”

As she mentioned in her tweet, a lot of the credit for this show goes to Sumaira’s close friend and fellow comic Sumukhi Suresh. “When there were times during the pandemic when I thought I don’t know what to do, performance kaise hogi, trail shows kaise honge in the middle of a pandemic, she and my friends kept me going. She suggested that I try out my material on Zoom shows,” Shaikh told us. She also took a moment to thank all the people who showed up for these performances which helped her build an hour of material.

“In the end, I would just like to say that I’m really really happy to finally have bullied Sumukhi Suresh into directing my special. I’m really happy to create something as special as Pushpavalli with her,” she added.

Pick up your tickets to watch Sumaira Shaikh when she comes to your city here.