As we crawl into the 18th week of the year, the human race is doing its best to resemble a decaying save of The Sims. Another high-profile comedian attacked on stage, another “free country” hurtling back decades into the past with the help of its legislature, and of course, we still have the charm of reality TV.  But, all is not lost. We still have standup comedy, and probably will have it for a while. So sit back, and catch up with the best standup had to offer in the last week.

This week we have Pete Davidson breaking his silence over Kanye West, Atul Khatri channeling his inner Star Wars nerd, Namrata Arora’s experiences with finding love online, Rajat Chauhan reminding us of the mundanity of work meetings, and Rakesh Addlakha dealing with life as an AP Dhillion doppelgänger.

PETE DAVIDSON – PETE DAVIDSON ON KANYE WEST

Pete Davidson’s storied love life doesn’t take away from his prowess as a comedian. As was seen after his breakup with Ariana Grande, he knows how to make great use of the stage to present his side of the story and get some laughs as a bonus. His set during the Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival saw him address his situation with his current partner’s ex-husband Kanye West. Davidson takes this set as a chance to poke fun at a ludicrous allegation lodged against him by the legendary hip-hop musician. We give the Staten Island native full marks for the Bill Burr impression at the end.

RAKESH ADDLAKHA – PATAUDI KA AP DHILLON

Standup comedy’s answer to the Ravi Jadeja/AP Dhillon lookalike contest, Addlakha tells us about life back in his hometown of Pataudi. Apart from being the ancestral home of Bollywood royalty, the comedian elaborates on the simplicity of this Haryana town and its tryst with English, the subject. A well-paced set topped with some crowdwork, Addlakha’s third YouTube video proves to be as engaging as his first two.

ATUL KHATRI – BOUGHT A LIGHTSABER

Atul Khatri stakes his claim as the oldest nerd in the Indian standup comedy scene and a symbol of Sindhi excellence in a clip from his Comedians of the World Netflix special, shot in 2019. Khatri talks about purchasing a lightsaber on one of his travels and how he was surprised by not finding any resistance from his better half. He goes on to find hilarity in how the pop culture artifact/toy helped with domestic chores around the house.

NAMRATA ARORA – SHAADI & NAMES

Namrata Arora discusses the surface-level downsides of looking for love on matrimonial websites, and of course meeting the ‘white knights’ who claim to be modern because they reject dowry. Arora’s requirements from her dream groom really appeal to the low-maintenance person hiding inside all of us, making it one of the strongest jokes in this set.

RAJAT CHAUHAN – CONFERENCE MEETINGS IN CORPORATE WORLD

Rajat Chauhan’s workplace rants aren’t coming to an end anytime soon and we’re here to stand by him. Training his guns at conference meetings, he elaborates on how these dreaded workplace requisites pushed him to the world of making art (watch out for the easel). Chauhan’s pacing and crafty storytelling will ensure that you will never see your conference room in the same way again.