Sunil Pal is on a warpath against stand up comics. He disparagingly calls them ‘YouTube comedians’ and considers it the denigration of comedy. His main target is the group of outspoken AIB people, who he feels would be the main beneficiary of the closure of The Kapil Sharma Show.
Says Sunil emotionally, “For what Kapil did to stand-up comedy and comedy as a genre in India, I am a fan. Not a word of vulgarity could escape Kapil’s lips. He made entire families come together for laughter. And now because his show is in trouble, guess who is the happiest? The YouTube comedians who will now bring their filth to Indian television.”
Sunil Pal was horrified when he received a call inviting him to the Laughter Challenge show. “I was told that members of the All India Bakchod would be the judges on the show, and would I be interested in performing. Then they asked me about my experience. Can you imagine? They don’t know that I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for decades now! Do I want to be a part of shows on television being taken over by YouTube comedians whose names families can’t say, let alone watch together?”
Sunil lashes out at AIB’s infamous roast where Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and a host of top Bollywood names had participated. “Their antics on stage that evening would never be forgotten. They ‘roasted’ stand-up comedy that evening. I’ve nothing against homosexuals or any other community of people. But when you go on stage and indulge in cheap lines and action you bring down the name of your community.”
Lashing out at Karan Johar, Sunil says, “Why doesn’t he promote good clean comedy instead of associating with YouTube comedians like AIB who represent maybe 10 per cent of the youth who talk in English and do their comic act in English, so they represent the so-called elite.”
Not that Sunil has any problem with English-speaking elitist comedy. “But why do they have to indulge in so much vulgarity? Do your comedy in English by all means. But why can’t you keep it clean like Charlie Chaplin or Mr Bean?”
