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Tag: stand-up comedy

  • Chris Rock will make history as the first artist to perform live on Netflix

    Chris Rock will make history as the first artist to perform live on Netflix

    Mumbai: OTT platform Netflix has announced that comedian, writer, director and actor Chris Rock will be the first artist to perform live on Netflix for the company’s first-ever live, global streaming event. The comedy special is set to stream in early 2023. Additional details will be announced at a later date.

    “Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation. We’re thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be a part of Netflix history. This will be an unforgettable moment and we’re so honored that Rock is carrying this torch” said Netflix vice president stand-up and comedy formats Robbie Praw.

    This is Rock’s second Netflix stand-up special. His first, Chris Rock: Tamborine, debuted in February 2018.

    The live event builds on Netflix’s live comedy slate. It said that Netflix is a Joke: The Festival was the biggest live, in-person event in Netflix history, taking place in Spring 2022. The unprecedented event sold more than 260,000 tickets, featuring more than 330 comedians performing 295 shows across more than 35 venues in Los Angeles. The festival also featured the first ever stand-up show at Dodger Stadium.

    Netflix says that it is the definitive home for all things comedy. Live events are one facet of Netflix’s unmatched ecosystem for comedic talent, as the entertainment company continues to invest in scripted comedy for TV and film, stand-up, sketch, comedy formats, and animation.

  • ENO celebrates 50 Years in India with first-ever metaverse stand-up show

    ENO celebrates 50 Years in India with first-ever metaverse stand-up show

    Mumbai: GSK Consumer Healthcare’s ENO, who has completed 50 years in India, has consciously leveraged humour as a tool to communicate and create awareness around acidity. Its quirky approach has translated into iconic campaigns that have evolved from print to TV and, now, digital platforms.

    In recent years, ENO started collaborating with comic influencers as part of a long-term content strategy. To celebrate its 50th year and build a community of fun foodies across India’s diverse food cultures, ENO took the next natural step in its evolution, creating India’s first-ever stand-up comedy event in the metaverse.

    The event was headlined by leading stand-up comic Zakir Khan and supported by other comics such as Rahul Subramanian, Kaneez Surkha, Sahil Shah, Rahul Dua, Kiran Dutta and Shraddha Jain. Titled ‘A Plateful of Laughs’, the comics donned customised avatars and interacted with each other in an amphitheatrical metaverse venue.

    Following the event, the comics will be posting videos on Instagram of their experience in the metaverse. This successful campaign was a joint-effort of team WPP. ENO’s creative partners Ogilvy conceptualised and created the theme of the event, the creative roll-out strategy and the design. Genesis BCW co-created the branded content with the comics and ran the internal communications. The metaverse experience itself was powered by PartyNite.

    GSK Consumer Healthcare India chief marketing officer, India sub continent Anurita Chopra said, “We are very proud to celebrate ENO’s 50 years in India, adding to the legacy of one the most iconic and loved brands in the country. It is a brand that has always been about pushing the boundaries of communication and becoming a real wingman for the everyday acidity sufferer. Celebrating this in the metaverse is a preview of the next 5 decades, as the brand continues to remain relevant, contemporary and full of life. The brand has always been about pushing the boundaries of connecting with its vast consumer base, spread across rural and urban India. We have been leaders in digital content creation, and the comedy genre is not just in sync with the brand, but also helps build unique allyship with the consumer.”

    Stand-up comic artist Zakir Khan added, “Everyone who knows me well, can corroborate the extent I am willing to go to when it comes to my passion for food – even if that means going into the metaverse! I am excited to have partnered with an iconic brand like ENO as they continue to evolve and take the first steps in the metaverse. They have brought joy into our lives through innovations and humorous storytelling for over five decades. I am hopeful that our fans will enjoy the fun-filled food ride.”

    “A brand completing 50 years is no ordinary feat. So, when ENO turned 50 we knew we had to make the celebrations extraordinary. Instead of looking for the perfect place for the occasion, we ended up creating one. And so, ‘Plateful of Laughs’, India’s first stand-up comedy event inside the metaverse, came into existence. We had partners across functions like tech and PR working in complete synergy to create a cutting-edge metaverse experience. In collaboration with some of the most sought-after names in the comedy circuit, we created an experience that was truly out of this world,” said Ogilvy North chief creative officer Ritu Sharda

    “A huge congratulations to GSK Consumer Healthcare and brand ENO on this commendable milestone. It has been our privilege to be part of that journey for over a decade and to see the brand grow as a household favourite for wellness. The ‘Plateful of Laughs’ event is both a celebration of that legacy as well as an overture to a new set of audiences through the metaverse. For us, that means an opportunity to showcase our earned-plus offer, with the comedy talent provided by The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau and integrated communications across traditional and digital platforms. The metaverse is the new frontier for communications and together with our WPP partners and GSK Consumer Healthcare, I am sure we will be able to move people for ENO,” said BCW India Group CEO Deepshikha Dharmaraj.

    Gamitronics (PartyNite) founder Rajat Ojha said, “Metaverse is an ever-evolving technology and possibilities are not just being explored by the developers but by users and brand owners as well. We are shaping the new internet, and, in this journey, we are stoked to have a partner like Ogilvy on this journey of ours. Working with Ogilvy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ENO was technologically and creatively immensely satisfying.”

  • Hungama Artist Aloud and DeadAnt team up for stand-up comedy platform on Hungama Play

    Hungama Artist Aloud and DeadAnt team up for stand-up comedy platform on Hungama Play

    Mumbai: Hungama Artist Aloud, a platform that supports and promotes independent artists and content, has partnered with DeadAnt to curate, acquire and distribute regional stand-up comedy content on its OTT platform Hungama Play.

    The content has also been made available in the podcast format. The idea is to provide regional comedians with a platform within Hungama’s network for a wider reach, it said in a statement.  At least 10 artists will perform in five different languages — Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Tamil — to begin with. The roster includes Manpreet Singh, Mohit Morani, Trupti Khamkar, Mandar Bhide, Sriram Prasad, Chockalingam, Ramkumar Natarajan, Chirag Panjwani, Shravan Narayan, Subrahmanya Hegde.

    Hungama Artist Aloud senior VP Soumini Sridhara Paul said, “Regional comedy acquisition perfectly ties in with our core philosophy of creating pathways for independent artists from different backgrounds and cultures. While all these artists are popular names in the regional market, we wanted to provide them a global platform via OTT. We also wanted viewers to enjoy comedy while being in the comfort of their homes along with their friends and family, and this partnership with DeadAnt has given us the opportunity to make this happen.”

    DeadAnt founder and editor-in-chief Ravina Rawal said, “Comedy is emerging as the new voice of the youth, with the power to unite people and uplift their mood. With this partnership, we hope to harness Hungama Play’s wide network to introduce talented regional comedians to new audiences across the country, and even beyond borders.”

    The content will also be available on MX Player, Flipkart, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Tata Sky Binge, Tata Sky Binge+, DishSMRT Stick, D2H Stream, DishSMRT Hub, SITI Playtop, ISPs like Meghbela Broadband, Alliance Broadband, ACT Fibernet and Netplus, and Smart TVs like MI TV, TCL, OnePlus TV, CVTE, Toshiba and CloudWalker. 

  • OTTs give much needed fillip to stand-up comedy

    OTTs give much needed fillip to stand-up comedy

    MUMBAI: Even as recently as a decade ago, making a decision to become a full-time stand-up comedian in India was fraught with uncertainty. Today, however, the business of being funny is taken seriously.

    The genre is still just beginning to get popular in semi-urban and rural areas and the growth of over-the-top (OTT) platforms has given it a much-deserved boost. Offline stand-up shows have time, place and ticket constraints whereas the web takes away all these pains and enables access on a click.

    Comedy as a genre is a hit in India in both movies and TV shows since the 1950s. The stand-up comedy era is a new one and is increasingly being banked upon Youtube, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and ALTBalaji among other digital platforms.

    Women like Aditi Mittal, Mallika Dua, Radhika Vaz, Sumukhi Suresh, Kaneez Surka and Neeti Palta have proved that they can tickle your funny bone too. In mid-2017, TLC India launched an all-female stand-up comedy show to break the stereotype that women cannot be inherently funny.

    Most comedians get a breakthrough from YouTube and Facebook where anyone can upload their content. These platforms are open for beginners as well as professionals and have helped transform amateurs into professionals. One of the most viewed and subscribed channels on YouTube in India is ‘BB Ki Vines’ that belongs to comedian Bhuvan Bam, who started his career as a YouTuber and is a celebrity now.

    Amazon Prime India continues to bet heavily on comedy for its original content in India. After the streaming service released a slew of stand-up specials last year, betting high on faces like Kanan Gill, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Kenny Sebastian and others, it has released a new special with 23 acts from 16 March. The new show features Indian artists like Kunal Rao, Sorabh Pant, Zakir Khan and Sumukhi Suresh, among others, as well as sketch shows like The Improvisers, Put Chutney and Sketchy Behaviour featuring well-known comedians from all over the country.

    Since its entry, Netflix has delivered a high-profile comedy special every week. Aditi Mittal is the first Indian female comedian who made her debut on Netflix with Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say. On the international front, Netflix has Indian-origin comedians like Vir Das, Hansal Minhaz and Brahman Naman to convert the chuckles into belly laugh.

    Looking at the Indian platforms, ALTBalaji has been at the forefront of regional language stand-up shows which has tremendous scope as cultural nuances in India are far and wide. ALTBalaji is the only platform to launch regional stand-up comedy videos in Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. It focuses more on the last two languages for now because of their presence in India and abroad. In all, it has short, snacky and hilarious videos with 65 episodes and five hours 30 minutes of content featuring famous comic artists like Bharat Ganeshpure, Sagar Karande, Anirudh Madesia, Suresh Albela, Pratap Faujdar, Amit Khuva, Dharsi Baredia, Shanti Kumar, Shaik Baba Sharifuddin, Baggy, Manoj and Mervyn.

    ALTBalaji CMO Manav Sethi says that the platform saw viewership rise by 10-15 per cent after adding these comedy bits into its content lineup. He further added, “We have seen significant double-digit growth in this genre especially in 18-40 age segment from top 30 cities. We have seen new consumers coming to our platform because of our comedy content.”

    ALTBalaji COO Sunil Nair believes, “Users on ALTBalaji consume snacky content during commute time and we see a jump in consumption of stand-up acts during these time periods.” Sethi adds that by adding comedy content from various languages, each with its own flavours, they have been able to hit the sweet spot.

    Earlier, comedy was driven by broadcaster demands who would decide on the content and even own the intellectual property. But OTT platforms are willing to experiment with unconventional content.

    By far, stand-up comedy is emerging as a high growth genre for web audiences. Until a few years ago, career and stand-up comedy in a sentence together would only come up as an example of an oxymoron. But gladly times have changed and people have become more audacious, informed, and most importantly accepting and online platforms have been quick to realise the hidden potential in it.

    Also Read :

    Localised content the way forward for Netflix in India

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV 

    Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix

  • Screenwriters, broadcasters, and digital freedom: ISC’2016

    Screenwriters, broadcasters, and digital freedom: ISC’2016

    MUMBAI: What do we really mean by digital media? When did it start? Why did it start? If you too are concerned about these questions and wanted a detailed insight, the Fourth Indian Screenwiters’ Conference 2016’s session on ‘The Digital Explosion’ was the place to get all your answers. Held last week, it saw writers, producers, film makers, broadcasters get together to discuss the issues plaguing the writing community today.

    The panelists included ‘newcomers’ such as the screenwriter of Masaan, standup comedian and National award winning lyricist Varun Grover, The Viral Fever (TVF) creative director Biswapati Sarkar and Y-Films senior manager Nikhil Taneja, with 16 years experience across broadcast media Youtube India operations head content Satya Raghvan and Mukta Arts strategy vice president and Whistling Woods International business development vice-president Chaitanya Chinchlikar.

    Session moderator and FWA activist and Malamal Weekly and Bhool Bhulaiyya screenwriter Manisha Grover set the ball rolling by asking when did digital writing really start in the Indian context and what sparked it off.

    “We initiated the web series Jay Hind when the internet was in its early stages here but it has grown so rapidly that now we have vanished, says Grover. Jay Hind was a popular Indian stand-up comedy show made exclusively for the internet platform and was launched in 2009.

    Grover recalls the day when he pitched the show to NDTV Imagine. “In those time there were only two comedy shows – Movers and Shakers and Aisi Taisi Democracy – which were also written by me. The broadcasters were very excited about the script. We made the pilot and they loved it and sent it to their focus group. The focus group didn’t like our host as they couldn’t relate to him. The channel asked us to shoot the pilot again with a different host. But it was my arrogance that didn’t allow me to do what the broadcaster wanted me to do.”

    Other writers on the panel to narrated how rejection by broadcasters led them to move on to digital. A move that turned out to be a boon for them as it allowed their ideas to come to fruition as completed episodes for the web.

    “My seniors were pitching a show for which I wrote a few episodes,” recollected Biswapati. “We went to MTV and after reading the script, they said the content is too intelligent for Indian audiences. We didn’t understand what they meant but i guess our timing was better at that time because YouTube was growing and it slightly became easy to make the series. For me digital is not a ‘also’ medium.”

    In the digital world, Youtube is pioneer, which has given a creative platform to many writers, was the consensus of the panel. “I think the big conclusion that we have drawn that digital Youtube is a ‘writers’ first’ platform. It’s probably the only medium where the writer can dictate the entire product that will come out,” added Raghvan.

    Raghvan went on to explain that in the Youtube ecosystem the web series revolution was sparked off over a year and half ago and the biggest series we saw was Permanent Roommates season one which is a TVF product. The latter has also produced some formats but Permanent Roommates was the first finite story. “Till now we have seen 40 series on the platform in different shapes and sizes not only in Hindi but also in Tamil,and Telugu,” revealed Raghvan. “We are also waiting for some Marathi productions this year and people are working on it. We will also start doing this in Bengali in couple of months.”

    Till 2014, in India some 150 million internet connection were there that too from the big metros. Between 2014 -2015 we saw a lot of growth in south India, expounded Raghvan.

    “We are doing shows for a certain kind of audience that is there on the internet. The question that arises is what what can we give to them on the internet that they can’t find on television and in films. Digital is mostly about good writing,” adds Taneja.

    The panel concluded that writers need to hone the fine art of writing for digital, as in the future, it is going to emerge as the medium and not as an “also” medium.

  • Screenwriters, broadcasters, and digital freedom: ISC’2016

    Screenwriters, broadcasters, and digital freedom: ISC’2016

    MUMBAI: What do we really mean by digital media? When did it start? Why did it start? If you too are concerned about these questions and wanted a detailed insight, the Fourth Indian Screenwiters’ Conference 2016’s session on ‘The Digital Explosion’ was the place to get all your answers. Held last week, it saw writers, producers, film makers, broadcasters get together to discuss the issues plaguing the writing community today.

    The panelists included ‘newcomers’ such as the screenwriter of Masaan, standup comedian and National award winning lyricist Varun Grover, The Viral Fever (TVF) creative director Biswapati Sarkar and Y-Films senior manager Nikhil Taneja, with 16 years experience across broadcast media Youtube India operations head content Satya Raghvan and Mukta Arts strategy vice president and Whistling Woods International business development vice-president Chaitanya Chinchlikar.

    Session moderator and FWA activist and Malamal Weekly and Bhool Bhulaiyya screenwriter Manisha Grover set the ball rolling by asking when did digital writing really start in the Indian context and what sparked it off.

    “We initiated the web series Jay Hind when the internet was in its early stages here but it has grown so rapidly that now we have vanished, says Grover. Jay Hind was a popular Indian stand-up comedy show made exclusively for the internet platform and was launched in 2009.

    Grover recalls the day when he pitched the show to NDTV Imagine. “In those time there were only two comedy shows – Movers and Shakers and Aisi Taisi Democracy – which were also written by me. The broadcasters were very excited about the script. We made the pilot and they loved it and sent it to their focus group. The focus group didn’t like our host as they couldn’t relate to him. The channel asked us to shoot the pilot again with a different host. But it was my arrogance that didn’t allow me to do what the broadcaster wanted me to do.”

    Other writers on the panel to narrated how rejection by broadcasters led them to move on to digital. A move that turned out to be a boon for them as it allowed their ideas to come to fruition as completed episodes for the web.

    “My seniors were pitching a show for which I wrote a few episodes,” recollected Biswapati. “We went to MTV and after reading the script, they said the content is too intelligent for Indian audiences. We didn’t understand what they meant but i guess our timing was better at that time because YouTube was growing and it slightly became easy to make the series. For me digital is not a ‘also’ medium.”

    In the digital world, Youtube is pioneer, which has given a creative platform to many writers, was the consensus of the panel. “I think the big conclusion that we have drawn that digital Youtube is a ‘writers’ first’ platform. It’s probably the only medium where the writer can dictate the entire product that will come out,” added Raghvan.

    Raghvan went on to explain that in the Youtube ecosystem the web series revolution was sparked off over a year and half ago and the biggest series we saw was Permanent Roommates season one which is a TVF product. The latter has also produced some formats but Permanent Roommates was the first finite story. “Till now we have seen 40 series on the platform in different shapes and sizes not only in Hindi but also in Tamil,and Telugu,” revealed Raghvan. “We are also waiting for some Marathi productions this year and people are working on it. We will also start doing this in Bengali in couple of months.”

    Till 2014, in India some 150 million internet connection were there that too from the big metros. Between 2014 -2015 we saw a lot of growth in south India, expounded Raghvan.

    “We are doing shows for a certain kind of audience that is there on the internet. The question that arises is what what can we give to them on the internet that they can’t find on television and in films. Digital is mostly about good writing,” adds Taneja.

    The panel concluded that writers need to hone the fine art of writing for digital, as in the future, it is going to emerge as the medium and not as an “also” medium.