This refreshing sense of authenticity shines in Bapat’s hilarious, often self-deprecating gags where she takes on topics ranging from plus-size modelling and body shaming, to bipolar disorder and trolling. A family clown for years, she found her calling in comedy when she watched Daniel Sloss’ Dark. “I was like, ‘Why am I not doing this?’ I didn’t have the time because of my job, dance and modelling. During the pandemic, I got the time to sit for workshops, write material, and then, as soon as we were allowed to unleash ourselves onto the world, I went to an open mic,” she recalls. 

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Looking back on her journey with body-shaming and bipolar disorder, Bapat points out that being funny was perhaps always a defence mechanism. “Even on Instagram, there are always some trolls shoving hatred my way; it has become my crowd work.” And juggling plus-size modelling, her day job, belly dancing and more opens up a world of content. “I like talking about being fat; being a fat dancer, a 30-something in the dating world, and the interactions with people who bring you down. I want to tell jokes that talk about body positivity because it is so important and misunderstood,” she signs off.
Log on to @anjanabapat

Coming out with sass

Stand-up comedy had been a part of her life since 2017, but Ritushree took to the stage, as herself, only in late 2021. It was an 8 pm slot. After much convincing from her sister, Ritushree mustered the confidence to work the crowd as India’s first transgender woman stand-up comedian. “I performed for nearly seven minutes before 20-odd people, and it was the best performance of my life. Because I was doing it as myself,” recalls Ritushree, who has since been a familiar face at the city’s open mics.

We meet her at a cafe in Bandra, shortly after her performance at an all-woman line-up called Femtastic Four, which featured comedians like Kajol Srinivasan, Amruta Bendre and Anjana Bapat. It was hosted by veteran comedian Anu Menon. Quiet and observant in all-black avatar, Ritushree is the kind who drops a wit-laced laughter bomb when you least expect it. “How I talk to you, is how I am on stage. I was always that person in the group who cracked jokes. When YouTube came around, I watched the likes of George Carlin and realised, ‘Wow, this is also comedy.’ One day, I enrolled in an open mic, and in those four minutes, I realised I was telling the world, this is me. Maybe, it was my journey as a transgender that people never listened to me,” she recounts.

The comedian, who hails from Odisha, is also a trained lawyer and a diversity, equity and inclusion professional who runs The Outcast Collective. She slips into the role of a comedian over the weekends. “The best thing I like about comedy is that you have a mic, and you can tell people that something is wrong in a humorous manner. No one will listen to a two-hour speech. But say it in a funny way, people will remember that,” shares the queer rights activist. 

And so, she doesn’t shy away from being political. “Rather than just making jokes, I feel that I should use the stage to speak about something significant. So, I do make political jokes; because politics is in everything. People think politics is about a particular party or politician. But I talk about my life, the issues of the LGBTQiA+ community, same-sex marriage, marital rape, and more, but using humour,” reveals the comic, whose set is titled Coming Out. “I’m not changing the world with comedy, but I am showing them that something is wrong and nobody is addressing the elephant in the room.”
Log on to @queernaari