“I didn't think of comedy as my career. In Odisha particularly, we’re not at a stage where one can think of making comedy his primary job. By profession, I am a CA, and I enjoy that well. Comedy, for me, has been a distinctly incredible experience. Though getting into this field was by accident, I consider it a blessing.
Kenny Sebastian was once visiting Bhubaneswar, and there was this stage for young, local comedians to perform as well. I have always been the clown of the group, and with full confidence I messaged him for a spot. I started performing in open mics, and it was then, that reality hit me hard! There was no laugh from the audience during my performances, and after a few attempts, self-doubt crept in, and I decided to quit. Once a senior comedian pointed out, that though my jokes were funny, they were hardly relevant to the audience.
This changed my entire perspective. I put in a lot of work into making my content relevant. Being an Odia kid, I chose to make jokes on topics such as ‘Pakhala’, ‘Dahibara’, ‘Cuttack-Sambalpur’, and so on. Since these were very different from mainstream topics, I started gaining acknowledgement among the audience, and since then, this became my own genre; people recognize me for it.
However, since I am a CA, and a comedian, sometimes people take me a bit too seriously on stage, or a bit too lightly on desk. Creating a balance and delivering people what they want, on both the realms, made me learn a lot of things about life.
The motive of comedy is to lessen the burden of people, and make them cheerful. However, the remedy for a joyful life is not comedy, because that will make your happiness dependent on another person. The real remedy is being content in life and I hope people discover this soon and not rely on others for their joy. The key to their happiness is in their own hands!.” – Jyotiranjan Dash.
Jyoti bhai ❤️
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