One Mic Stand

Amazon Prime has been instrumental in bringing the stand-up comedy scene in India to every home in a big way - first with the stand-up specials, then with 2 seasons of Comicstaan and now with One Mic Stand. It just takes the reality factor from Comicstaan one step further by getting in non-comedians and non-aspiring comedians to try their hands at stand-up for the very first time.

They have kept the reality factor on the show 'real' and not made it medodramatic. The performer in every episode seems genuinely nervous yet not dramatized to cinematic effect. The host and creator of the show Sapan Varma comes across as easy-going and charming. The celebrity guests are largely selected on the basis that they are popular to some extent in social media or viral videos, lending themselves organically to controversy or comedy or both.

From the celebrity guests the first and last - Bhuvan Bam and Shashi Tharoor - are the best! Others do well as per their individual capabilities. The stand-up acts are kept short with around 4-5 minute performance. Other than that each episode comprises of an individual act by the guest mentor and Sapan Varma plus the mentoring sessions.

These are my individual ratings for each celebrity guest. Bhuvan Bam - 4/5 Taapsee Pannu - 3/5 Richa Chadha - 3.5/5 Vishal Dadlani - 3.5/5 Shashi Tharoor - 4/5

These are my individual ratings for the mentors' performances on the show Zakir Khan - 4/5 Angad Singh Ranyal - 4/5 Ashish Shakhya - 3/5 Rohan Joshi - 2/5 Kunal Kamra - 3/5

Shashi Tharoor has some serious sense of humor. His performance was the best out of the 5 celebrity performers. Bhuvan Bam's performance is at number 2 and then comes Taapsee Pannu's. Vishal Dadlani's was the worst. He forgot his lines multiple times and was using foul languages in every sentence, making it a vulgar comedy.

OMS is a great and fresh concept that is also damn funny. It speaks to the audience by being real and exposing the process that goes on behind the scenes and is a welcome step. The show by Vishal Dadlani was extremely cool for bringing about an uncomfortable topic, something we don't generally engage with. The shows by Taapsee and Richa Chadha were weak as stand up performances while the ones by Bhuvan Bam and Vishal Dadlani were great. Getting in Kamra in the end was really funny (as a set) but very predictable with Shashi Tharoor being the main act. BUT Shashi Tharoor rocked the stage - nailed it completely.

Sapan was great as always but the show lacked punch, in general.

Other than being funny, what struck me the most is to see celebrities being vulnerable and scared. We got to see them in a natural habitat, instead of how they're portrayed even in social media interviews. This show is definitely worth watching to witness that aspect alone.

The idea got me interested, and the people in it got me to watch it. These weren't professional comedians, and as far as first standups go,the sets were delightful. I liked the balance of training, writing and performances inside the episodes. The cast was well balanced as well, in my opinion - a youtuber, two actresses, a musician and a politician. I'd watch more if they made them. Too bad it's on behind a paywall: I would love to see more on youtube and such.

Kunal Kamra's posture needs some serious work ffs.