BC:AD is a frank take on motherhood and also comprises “nerdy humour” from her engineering days
BC:AD is a frank take on motherhood and also comprises “nerdy humour” from her engineering days
Recently, in the UK, Anu Vidyanathan almost got robbed in an alley. But instead of thinking how to run, she thought what a great set this would make for her standup act. Ever since she stepped into the role of a standup comedian, inspiration has been flowing in from everywhere, be it while changing diapers or being slapped awake by her sleeping child. Which is why, her upcoming show in Chennai, and then Bengaluru, is aptly titled BC:AD ( Before Children, After Diapers).
Her content also comes from the people she meets and the news she reads. “My humour is observational, wicked and marginally self deprecatory. I have so much to say about the world,” says Anu who performed AC:BD at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year.
“Each day at the Fringe was different from the previous day. We can’t play the same thing everyday. On some days, I had more locals or more mothers or more men or more Asians. I would tweak my hour accordingly for them to react to the piece and stay with me,” she explains.
Anu, a former triathlete and currently a filmmaker, took nine months to come up with AC:BD. It is a frank take on motherhood and also comprises “nerdy humour” from her engineering days. The show captures how the perspective on life changes from before having kids to after having kids. “I am someone who knows my mind. But motherhood has taken me to a passage that was unexpected,” she says, adding that the concept of time has changed. She does not know when she sleeps and wakes up. “My relationship with the world has changed. I was a neurotic engineer and triathlete. I didn’t have to depend on anyone else,” says the mother of a seven and three-year-old.
It was the incarceration of the pandemic that pushed Anu to take up standup comedy. She felt claustrophobic and wanted to do something. Then, in August last year, when she was writing a comedy piece, she wanted to learn how to direct it. She joined a clown school — Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France. “That atmosphere turned something in my head. Standup was a conduit to finding my voice and sticking to my opinion,” she says.
She did her first show in September last year and ever since has performed in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Krakow, Budapest, Lisbon…
Standup is a way to test ideas in a quick way. If your set is good or bad, you will know it immediately, she says. I write for myself, she declares. “If I find it funny, I’ll go say it. If people laugh, great; if they cross their arms and stare, that’s great too,” she says.
AC:BD will take place on November 5 at 7 pm at Offbeat Music Ventures, Alwarpet. Tickets are on bookmyshow.com
