Consent, Crowd Ratification and Crassness: Stand-Up Comedy Under Scanner Again

One comedy show where an audience member says Rs 370 spent on biryani entitles him to sexual intimacy and describes in graphic detail his advances on an unwilling woman. Another where a stand-up comic centres his jokes on “cuddling after rape”, necrophilia and rapist-murderers. All of this plays out to raucous laughter.

The audience is predominantly male. The subtext misogyny. The issues those of consent, normalising rape culture and trivialising sexual assault and murder.

Videos from the two performances, the first and more recent from Pranit More and the second from an earlier show by Madhur Virli, have become the centre of furious debate over where and how the lines should be drawn.

Two-time Academy award winning British actor Peter Ustinov once termed comedy “a funny way of being serious". Stand-up comics have never been far from the headlines given the very nature of their jobs – to provoke uncomfortable laughs.

Often the toast of many circles for their satirical take on contemporary issues, some Indian comics thriving in today’s stand-up ecosystem seem to have dropped the funny, leaving behind only controversy. And need for introspection on what constitutes humour.

“Whatever little progress activists make, these videos and crass jokes drag us back to square one. When something as serious as sexual coercion is normalised for laughs and viewed by millions, it sends the wrong message,” anti-rape activist Yogita Bhayana told PTI.

"I’m not asking for arrests, but there has to be accountability for what’s being said and uploaded. Also, not to forget the audiences laughter these jokes receive. They say far more about society than we would like to admit," she said.

Before the recent crowd work clip More’s set – the one from Virli was shot earlier but found new life with the current controversy – was podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s lewd remark about parents and sex on comedian Samay Raina’s show.

Crowd work is a style of stand-up comedy where performers forgo rehearsed material in favour of unscripted, impromptu dialogue with audience members.

Digital creator and actor Kusha Kapila, once brutally trolled over her divorce by Samay Raina, has called out More for posting the clip. In a satirical video posted on Instagram, she dismantled the “Rs 370 biryani" logic and schooled men on morality.

Her lessons: "If a date costs Rs 370 and the guy misbehaves worth Rs 270, the balance is 100 -- call the number out immediately", "How many biryanis to buy a personality? Trick question: insufficient data", "If Rs 370 is expected to buy affection, loyalty and attention, the probability of self-growth is zero per cent”.

In More’s viral clip, what begins as routine crowd work veers into disturbing territory when 23-year-old Himanshu Jangra gets into flow.

“Maine kaha Rs 370 lage hain, main vasool toh karunga,” he said. More responded by calling it “peak Gurgaon content” and gave him Rs 5,000 cash prize as a reward for best narrated story while the audience cheered and laughed along.

Jangra then continues with increasingly graphic recollections of his date with girl repeatedly saying 'no' and he ignoring her.

The exchange was later edited, subtitled, and uploaded by More for his two million subscribers. More, in accordance with standard practice, secured Jangra’s consent before publishing the clip but chose to completely bypass the larger issue of consent of the woman.

Jangra has since been fired from his job at Gurugram-based Starvik Design for his "inappropriate comments". Both he and More face an FIR from Maharashtra Cyber Police. The NCW has also taken suo motu cognisance and issued summons.

Soon, the controversy took another turn.

Clips from More’s "Ladies Special" show resurfaced, showing a medical student of Mumbai's KEM College, Sejal Pawar, cracking jokes on genitalia of male cadavers. Punish her as well, went some on social media.

The college has since initiated an internal inquiry and placed Pawar on 15 days’ compulsory leave.

“I have no issue with Sejal being held accountable if she’s said something wrong. But the ‘she too said it’ argument is classic whataboutery and a way of dragging gender into it. This absolves no one.

"Data also shows who has historically made such jokes and at whose expense. Often, the outrage is more about hurt male ego than anything else," Bhayana explained.

Since the outrage both More and Jangra have apologised multiple times.

More said he “deserved this hate” and admitted he should have intervened but didn’t, claiming everyone was laughing and he got “carried away,” calling it a “lapse in judgement".

Jangra, on his part, said he regretted attending the show and that parts of his dating story were “improvised” for entertainment.

Virli also apologised after clips from his show two years ago were widely circulated.

"The clip being circulated is from a performance I did around two years ago... I do believe comedy can question ideas and engage with difficult subjects. But certain topics require sensitivity, context and informed discretion. When an attempt falls short, the only honest thing to do is acknowledge it, apologise and do better. This is one of those moments for me," the Delhi-based comedian wrote.

The clips have again triggered wider discussion about live comedy and the format's expanding boundaries, where crowd laughter ratifies content, satire gives way to crudity and fleeting stage moments become permanent viral material.

Several comedians distanced themselves from the row. Many also questioned the very idea of crowd work as a format.

Comedian Kunal Kamra, no stranger to controversy himself for his political jokes, said on X, “Things comedians should stop hiding behind 1. Storytelling. 2. Crowd Work. 3. Hard Work. 4. Bank Balance. 5. Parents." Stand-up comedian Devesh Dixit criticised the way crowd work is being used in stand-up today, arguing that the monthly rush for uploads has turned performers into content creators prioritising virality over craft.

In a video, he also questioned the practice of putting a microphone directly in an audience member’s hands, calling it a risky choice that can easily spiral out of control.

Aditi Mittal, also a comedian, is unimpressed by the series of apologies.

"This is how these environments operate, and this is how people speak. Whether the cameras are on or off, I can guarantee there are hundreds of similar videos circulating online. The only difference is that this particular one caught the public's attention, and people are now outraged by it," she said in an Instagram video.

The pattern, she said, is familiar.

"The men involved disappear from the internet for a few days, weeks, or months. Eventually, they return, often appearing on major reality shows that everyone watches. Soon enough, they're collaborating with major streaming platforms and brands. These men are forgiven and forgotten far more quickly for what they said than women are for pointing out that it was wrong," Mittal said.

With 63 million views, Samay Raina's comeback show "Still Alive" ranks among the world's most-watched stand-up comedy specials. Both Raina and Allahbadia were also featured on the latest season of "The Great Indian Kapil Show".