Artist and event management company Only Much Louder (OML) has in the last couple of years shifted their focus from indie music to comedy, with about 50 comics on its roster. Besides taking the headache off artists when it comes to planning and handling show/tour logistics, OML has been instrumental in structuring and monetising the space, by helping brands connect to fans through their talent and hooking artists up with Amazon Prime Video specials. They’re also producing Comicstaan, the second season of which begins 12 July.

However, there have long been rumours of comedians reconsidering being signed onto any agency at all. While some artists feel like they’re only ever pushing their favourites, others are simply realising they’ve outgrown the agency model in terms of how much they still need the value-add. Still others just want to go it alone to see how that plays out. (Not to worry, they’re all still silent AF about #MeToo, though.)

We just noticed that Kunal Kamra—who’s been with OML since 2017, after his first three YouTube videos went viral—might be one of them. So far, the only way to get in touch with Kamra was to aggressively tweet at him, saying you’re voting for Arnab Goswami (or Modi, same thing). Or you could email his OML manager, whose details were up on his Instagram profile. But that just changed today to Kamra’s personal email.

So did Kamra quit OML? Or did OML kick him out because they couldn’t take another five-year term? Is this just real life? Or is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide… No escape from reality.

We reached out to Kamra to find out, but it was 2 pm and he was already slurring and unable to string a coherent comment together on the exact reason for his break from the company.

Who will manage your career now, we asked very, very slowly. “There’s nothing left to manage in my career post these election results!” he declared, before wondering out loud why we didn’t just wanna do shots.

If we were to hazard a guess, we’d say he’s probably moving away from corporate shows and since Amazon Prime Video is unlikely to bet on him at this moment because his material’s too risky, he’s just going to focus on his live shows for the time being.

Kunal Kamra is hitting open mics across Mumbai all month. Watch this space for gig updates.