A well-curated list of top 15 stand-comedians from the capital city of India
India has some of the best comedians who are killing it not only in the country but on the global stage as well. The comedians from different backgrounds, languages, states, and cities are a part of this empire and we can’t deny that Delhi is responsible for a huge part if not all. This diversity is what makes the Indian comedy scene what it is today. Some of the most talented and proficient comedians come from Delhi and we’re here to tell you all about them.
Aakash Gupta
Aakash Gupta is a well-known Indian stand-up comedian from Delhi. He is the co-winner of the Comicstaan session 2. His comedy sketches are mostly based on his life and experiences in Delhi. He is well-trained in performance arts and has aced the genre of sketch comedy. He started this career with theatre and improvisational comedy and ended up being a full-time stand-up comedian. Aakash Gupta made his debut on television with the second season of Comicstaan. After his big win, Aakash went for a mini-tour around the country for his solo show, ‘Excuse Me Brother’. He is extremely popular on social media and has a great fan following amongst the youth as well as senior management folks.
Anubhav Singh Bassi
Anubhav Singh Bassi is an Indian comic who lives in Delhi and who started his career as a stand-up comedian after an open mic in 2017. He has done his comedy tour named “Bas Kar Bassi” in more than 35 Indian cities. Before entering the comedy setup, Bassi has been an entrepreneur, Lawyer, and UPSC aspirant. The all-rounder comedian has also delivered a TEDx talk about his struggles. He is a storyteller, who specializes in anecdotal comedy, most of his jokes are based on his past experiences about his school and college life. In 2021, he was awarded the ‘Youth Icon of the Year’ by Golden Glory Awards. He is one of the best-selling comedians in India and a YouTube sensation with a huge fan following.
Zakir Khan
Zakir Khan is one of the most watched comedians in India. He is known to share his life experiences in Delhi through his comedy. He rose to fame by winning “India’s Best Stand Up Comedian competition”. His comedy specials Haq Se Single andKaksha Gyarvi on Amazon Prime Video were instant hits. He was a judge on season 2 of the famous show “Comicstaan” and created the Indian comedy series “Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare”, playing the protagonist himself. When it comes to comedy, Zakir Khan has his own signature move. With his Sakth launda approach, he targets the youth, the dialogues he delivers point out the minor situation we all have gone through especially when it comes to love and relationships. If you’re a Zakir Khan fan, you can relate to his entertaining, “Hmm.. Achaa.. Okay” sequence.
Harsh Gujral
Harsh Gujral who hails from Delhi is a renowned standup comedian and social media celebrity whose brand of observable humor that is fresh and contemporary has struck a chord with audiences across India. He made his mark with a super relatable style of narrative that connects him with the audience instantly. At present, Harsh Gujral is considered among the top stand-up comedian of India. Harsh uploaded the first video on YouTube in 2019 which got huge appreciation. Harsh Gujral was also featured as a prominent stand-up comedian in the very popular Good Night India show of SAB TV (Sony LIV app) anchored by Amit Tandon and Jaya Shankar. His observational comedy is quite fresh with great takes on middle-class families and associated behaviors which is most loved by the audiences.
Jeeveshu Ahluwalia
Jeeveshu is another standup comedian from Delhi, best known for his quick wit, spontaneous one-liners, and quirky jokes. His peculiar style of comedy is most inspired by everyday observations in life. He has done over 1500 shows across different genres in India and abroad. He made his Bollywood debut with ‘Tamasha’ and can be seen in many TV commercials like Comedy Central India, Phillips, Apollo Hospitals, ICICI Prudential, and Grofers. His TV Debut was with Zee TV in the comedy show ‘Gangs of Haseepur’. He was the winner of ‘Radio Mirchi Comedy Ka King’ 2014. He is known for his quick witty one-liners and less or no profanity, making him a perfect choice for crowds of all ages.
Rahul Dua
Stand-up comedian Rahul Dua, of Amazon Prime’s Comicstaan fame, is the person who finds something funny in every situation, and that’s what sets him apart as a comedian- he manages to be insecure, under-confident, and funny at the same time. The Delhi guy has won a few open mics including ‘NDTV Rising Stars of Comedy’ and ‘Comedy Central’s Chuckle Hunt’ in 2016. An engineer with an MBA degree by qualification, he claims, with straight-faced sarcasm, that he left Punjab well before it started to ‘fly’. A versatile stand-up comedian with hilarious takes on social situations, he is popular with corporates with his industry punches and quips and is also a known face in the Indian open-mic scene.
Gaurav Kapoor
Gaurav Kapoor’s razor-sharp wit and candid humour led him to win almost every open-mic he has ever participated in. Gaurav who lives in Delhi is a regular featured act at comedy clubs across the country and has performed on the biggest of stages including opening for Vir Das and Russell Brand on his India tour. He has done numerous live shows, released videos on YouTube, and has also released a stand-up special, HahaKaar, on Amazon Prime. His shows are a mix of observational humour and anecdotes where he narrates stories from corporate offices, festivals, the 90’s era, food, travel, and his marriage. The stories could be 100% true or could be 100% made up, you can only guess but the laughter is guaranteed. The best thing is, his friends say that the stories he narrates off stage are even funnier but we may never know. Gaurav Kapoor is very popular on social media, especially amongst young audiences.
Papa CJ
Papa CJ is one of the most influential comedians globally who has been awarded ‘Asia’s Best Stand-up Comedian’ and ‘India’s Best Stand-up Comedian’ hails from Delhi. He was one of the top ten out of over 3000 international comedians, on the US TV show, ‘Last Comic Standing’. With sell-out shows across five continents, he is highly acclaimed for his power to keep the audience enthralled. After completing his MBA from the University of Oxford and having a successful corporate career, he quit his job and became a full-time comedian. In 2009 he became the first Indian comedian to be invited to perform at the Just for Laughs festival in Canada. Forbes Magazine called him “The global face of Indian stand-up.” and Huffington Post, New York called him “A world-class global comedian. Well known for his performance in the corporate environment, Papa CJ is known for his sarcastic punchlines and unique take on corporate culture.
Ravi Gupta
From the by lanes of Varanasi to the roundabouts of Delhi, Ravi Gupta, a cartoonist, and a stand-up comic has seen it all and loves everything around humor and all that it entails. He is a keen observer of the world around him and finds wit & humor in almost everything he comes across. Popularly known as the “Shuddh Desi Comic”, rightly so for his relatable content, his edgy humor, and touchy topics that people relate to very easily in their everyday lives. Ravi Gupta has been selling out all the prestigious venues across the country and abroad. He has a strong social media presence with close to half a million subscribers on youtube and over 100k followers on Instagram. All his videos go viral within 48 hours of their release and his videos have been shared by major celebrities as well. Ravi Gupta is well known because of his multi-language inclusive content and a guaranteed clean and non-offensive standup comedy.
Commander Manish Tyagi
Before becoming a stand-up comic in 2014, Manish used to be a Commander in the Indian Navy. The Officer and a Gentleman who hails from Delhi have some very funny tales to tell from his life experience. His style is full of unprecedented stories blended with wit and humour. He has a great following on YouTube with more than a million views on his videos. His jokes have also been aired on almost all FM stations in the past. Till date, he has done over 300 solo shows, hosted over 100 shows & many open mics. Manish was a regular at the erstwhile Canvas Laugh Club in Mumbai, Gurgaon & NOIDA, and also at the Taj properties across India. He was an integral part of a very successful comedy fest held in Auckland, NZ & Sydney, Australia. Manish has spoken at Josh Talks, 14 TEDx conclaves & is also a regular with corporate gigs and has performed for IamSMEofIndia, Madhyaam, Tata Sky, Tanishq, Tata Motors, VLCC, Dell India, McKinsey India, Goldman Sachs, Cummins, ONGC, various conferences, etc. Commander Manish Tyagi has a way with his words and it only gets more interesting with his nostalgic stories. You should only expect to laugh until your jaw hurts in his shows and we swear it only gets funnier every time.
Anshu Mor
Anshu Mor is another Delhite who started his stand-up comedy career in 2016 and performed at over 100 shows in his 1st year as a stand-up comedian. His stand-up solo specials – ‘The Anshu Mor Show’ and ‘Wait There’s Mor’, are extremely popular amongst audiences. He is a regular performer at all the major comedy clubs in India like “Canvas Laugh Club” and “That Comedy Club” and has performed at many corporate events for global brands like Cisco, Microsoft, HP, Michelin, Accenture, Adobe, NASSCOM, and more. With over 18 years of corporate experience, in 2016 he set up his own company, ‘Talking Mime’ that delivers original digital content for a wide portfolio. He is famous for his observational style of comedy, his rich experience in IT helps in connecting with IT audiences, and is extremely popular with the corporate crowd.
Neeti Palta
Neeti Palta is one of the very few female stand-up comedians in India who brings a female perspective on a variety of daily life situations and relatable subjects, all with a dose of rib-tickling humor! She hails from the capital city and was voted as the ‘Best Stand-Up Comic’ at the Oz Fest and was India’s first stand-up artist to perform at the prestigious Melbourne Comedy Festival 2013. She has performed at many shows, for varied audiences and corporates, across India and abroad. She has performed for an audience of 30+ nations at the invitation of the former Under-Secretary-General of the UN, Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Imedia Summit 2013, Jaipur. I Am Fashion Week 2013, Goa. PRestival, Asia’s biggest PR Fest, Jaipur 2012. APREE 2012 – Advertising and PR meet, Goa. Featured at TEDx in 2011. When it comes to Neeti Palta, the list of her achievements is endless. Her punchlines mostly cater to a wider issue on a variety of subjects like the life of women in India.
Gaurav Gupta
Gaurav Gupta is a baniya from Delhi, who is extravagant when it comes to delivering jokes. He is a dentist by profession and a comic by recession. His comedy involves keen observations of daily life, people, and funny encounters with them. He is a WhatsApp viral sensation across India and abroad for his video Being Baniya that now has millions of hits on Facebook and YouTube. Gaurav Gupta made his debut in comedy with the Great Indian Laughter Challenge (2017) where he became an instant hit. Gaurav has a certain genre to his comedy which basically revolves around caste and its stereotypes. He has also toured several Indian cities for his solo stand-up special “Not Just Baniya.” The guy is just hilarious and has the skills to create a laugh riot in any room.
Rupali Tyagi
Rupali is an MBA-turned Stand-up comic from Delhi. She has worked in corporate for more than 10 years in IT and HR, before taking the plunge full-time into comedy. Originally a small-town person, she takes you into a world of simple characters from life that you see in your family, at work, on-street– people who matter and people who don’t! She talks about her life as a woman– a wife, a daughter, and now a mother (Sigh!), and she does it all while making waves of laughter. Rupali being an MBA from the leading premier Business school with the further rare experience of top-notch corporate houses makes a great choice for corporate comedy events. Also, Rupali is a promising talent to add to the growing list of female stand-up comedians in India.
Appurv Gupta
Appurv Gupta is one of those rare stand-up comedians from Delhi, whose comedy is based on self-deprecating humour. After graduating, Gupta started performing at the Toastmasters Club. He has performed in more than 1000 shows in India and abroad since then, including corporate performances for Airtel, Tanishq, Adobe, Amex and Radio Mirchi, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Jodhpur. He has written 3 solo shows Appurview, RelationShip Or RelationShit, and Laugh with an Engineer 2.0, which has garnered over 10 million views on social media. His most applauded act is Appurview-Laugh with an Engineer which describes life from the point of view of an engineer. Gupta was ranked second in “Top 20 Indian stand-up comedians in 2014” by CNN-IBN and was shortlisted in the Forbes India 100 Celebrity nominees list of 2015 by Forbes India.
These talented stand-up comedians from the capital city have it all it takes. They are some of the most talented and popular stand-up comedians and can give anyone a run for their money.
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