Naveen Richard never thought that comedy could be a career option. But he always knew that he was a performer. While studying law, he used to make faces at the mirror and crack jokes at his reflection. Now out with Relatively Relatable, his second stand-up comedy special on Amazon Prime Video after Don’t Make That Face (2017), he talks about his early days in comedy and what it means to be a comic in the current times.
Q\ Did comedy always interest you?
A\ Probably since the third standard or so, I have felt like I was meant to be doing this. People used to compare me with Mr Bean. Everywhere I went, they would be like ‘Oh, you look like Mr Bean’, or ‘Oh, you act like Mr Bean’. I thought those days were over, but a few months ago, I was near a bunch of kids and, out of the blue, they were making fun of me. When I asked them what was up, they said that I looked like Mr Bean. I was like, ‘Holy s***, it has followed me even 20 years later’.
Q\ When did stand-up comedy become a serious career option?
A\ I was in the last year of law school when I started doing stand-up and plays. My first pay cheque came from acting in a play. Then, I started supporting myself [by doing more of them]. I got seriously involved in it. Every day since then has been about thinking ahead. I also hope to make movies one day.
Q\ How did you put together Relatively Relatable?
A\ I started writing some of these jokes right after my first special two years ago. For almost a year and three months I was also doing other shows on the side. But after that, I completely immersed myself in this special. I was thinking about it all the time. It has been such a lonesome journey. You can get so confused. You really have to make yourself very disciplined. Then, the jokes which seemed funny in the beginning no longer seemed so. I was changing the jokes till the last recording.
Q\ Do the politically-charged times we live in make it more difficult for a stand-up to create content?
A\ You have to draw a line when you are talking about certain things and take into consideration the current climate. You cannot do these jokes [when the issue is still evolving]. You have to wait till the audience gets a perspective on it. If you do it too fast, you are probably going to slip. The only way to go about it is to wait and see how you feel about the subject.