New Delhi: Diary of a Vagabond

Diary of a vagabond: After flying in Thursday I was picked up at the airport in classic chaotic fashion and my name on a bit of A4 paper which upped my sense importance. I was messaging the club booker on what’s app, who was then calling me while simultaneously calling his non-English speaking Uber driver to co-ordinate which lane to collect me in at the airport pick-up. I had to spot a white hatchback and decipher 4 numbers on the plate out of sea of similiar looking cars, to guess which one it was. First minutes in Delhi at the airport and it was already madness. My flight was delayed and so I wasn’t at the show until it started. Walking through metal detectors to enter a shopping mall area I was ushered through another bag search and then into the venue where I met a bunch of comics backstage who were eating peanuts and smoking cigarettes. I had a shower in a can so to speak, changed into something somewhat presentable and did my first guest spot to warm up before the weekend. Got taken to the hotel afterwards and was greeted with a proper suite, a far cry from the beach bungalow I’d woken up in! An actual hot shower and heating and no mosquito net. I woke up Friday morning not knowing where I was or who I was or what I was supposed to be doing. It felt amazing. Complimentary buffet breakfast was nice, but being back in bed most of the day was even better, it’s much colder here than Goa and I didn’t pack anything more than a t-shirt! I then got an Uber back to Canvas Laugh Club for night #2. I was under the impression it’d be just one show, but turns out there were bookings for a late show also. And I’m glad there was. I had a few flat moments in the first show, trying to convert a joke I do in South America so that it relates to India and maybe it was because today was Republic of India day and they’re proud and don’t want a foreigner coming to make fun of their country, or maybe it’s because today was a dry-day and the audience were a bit stiff without any alcohol, or maybe they couldn’t understand my accent as every other . comic was Indian, either way, it wasn’t my best, so I thought I’d go home and work on it for tomorrow, then I was informed we were doing a late show immediately after so I quickly workshopped a few things in my head and wrote a fresh set list, but when I was called on stage I was caught off guard and completely forgot what I’d planned to do, the rushed scattered energy and livelier late night crowd (although much smaller in numbers) gelled and the gig was so much better. 2 shows same night right after the other and totally different atmosphere. Never a dull moment. Getting to learn what works on stage in India and what does NOT work! It’s always an eye-opening and interesting learning experience stepping out of the comfort zone and into unknown territory. I love branching out into countries I’ve not performed in before, meeting local comics, watching them and hearing the audience’s reactions. I took some photos with the audience as they left, shook hands, made small talk about cricket obviously, lots of smiles and nice things said. I had one audience member come up and say to me “your comedy transcends cultures” or something like that, I asked him to write that on my social media as it sounded like a good quote I could use. Aside from the marketing potential, it made me feel like I’m doing something right. #ilovemyjob #India #travel