“When it comes to English stand-up comedy, Indians have only seen the best – Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, and the like. So, when someone claims to be an English stand-up comedian in India, he’d better be very good if he’s going to make a life of it.”
– Vir Das
English as a language in India has contributed immensely in bringing people and their cultures together. After playing a big part in creating history, now it is being used in various arrangements and one of those is Comedy. The scene of Indian comedy has seen a sudden rise in the 20s with many comedians becoming the icons they are today. English comedy among the Indians started emerging in the 2010s and ever since then it is only growing.
Comedians from different backgrounds use English as their medium to reach a wider audience, not only in India but all around the world, and because of that, now Indian comedians are making a mark on the global stage and have fans in different countries. There is no doubt that even though there are fewer English-speaking comics in India, their talents are extraordinary and they definitely have a class.
If you’re looking for a good laugh and prefer an English-speaking comedian, this is just the list for you!
Kenny Sabastian
Kenneth Sabastian is a famous Indian comedian and musician who performs not only in India but all around the world. He mainly performs in English, sometimes switching to Hindi for visual effect. He was also a judge in Comicstaan, a comedy reality show. Not many know, but he also has his own production house named SuperHuman Studioz and has also done subtitling work which has given him full control and comfort of language. If you’re thinking, we’d just advise you don’t and watch his Netflix special, “The Most Interesting Person In The Room” which will blow your minds.
Vir Das
Vir Das is one of the best English-speaking comics in India. He has a way of not only astonishing the audience with his brilliant storytelling but also enlightening them by revealing some hard-hitting facts. After beginning his career in stand-up comedy, he moved to Hindi cinema starring in many successful Bollywood movies. Das became the first Indian comedian with a comedy special on Netflix after the release of his Netflix special ‘Abroad Understanding’. Now Vir Das tours all around the world, and with his talents achieves his dreams. He was also named one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch in 2017”. He was also nominated for his comedy special, Vir Das: For India, on Netflix at the International Emmy Awards. He is known for his compelling messages in a comical form, his jokes are relevant in more ways than one can imagine, especially with generations across X Pats.
Rahul Subramanian
Rahul Subramanian is a famous stand-up comedian who is popular with Gen Y. The man has left no stone unturned when it comes to the artistry and skills and we can affirm that he is perfect at what he does. He has performed at the Kala Ghoda Festival and the Pajama Festival 2015 in “Comedy Race”, where 30 of the top Indian comics enthralled the audiences. He has won the open mic contests at the Canvas Open Mics, Pajama Fest, and East India Comedy Virgin Pants. His accomplishments and experiences in his past life help him be relatable to audiences from all age groups and backgrounds. He is a distinctive English comedian best known for his comedy that revolves around the middle-class lifestyle. We’ll just say, if you want any sort of entertainment in your life, his comedy show is the best place to be.
Kanan Gill
Kanan Gill is a YouTube sensation and a leading stand-up comedian of the current generation. A former software engineer, Gill took to comedy after winning competitions like Punchline Bangalore and Comedy Store in Mumbai. He is one of the first few comedians to gain a star status as an English stand-up comedian. His stand-up specials ‘Keep it Real’ and ‘Yours Sincerely’ are worth every second of laughter.
Atul Khatri
Atul Khatri is a veteran among the Indian comedy circuit. He started his comedy career at the age of 43, whilst still being engaged in his family business. His comedy has a very natural essence to it, as if one day he just got up, and decided to do English stand-up comedy and was gifted with the talents needed to do that. He was the only Indian to perform in the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival in 2014. Once rated among the top Indian comedians by CNN-IBN, Khatri is also the winner of the CEO’s Got Talent Season 1. Atul Khatri is an entertainment party and you might end up being his fan after watching his show cause we certainly are!
Abish Mathew
Abish is one of the most versatile & popular stand-up comedians in India, best known as a former member of ‘All India Bakchod’ and as the host of his own comedy talk show ‘Son of Abish’. He is one of the best English-speaking comics in the comedy scene and we can bet you don’t want to miss out on his jokes. He has worked with a number of popular Indian comedy companies including East India Comedy, Weirdass Comedy, and The Papa CJ Comedy Company. He was featured in Forbes India’s list of successful artists, 30 under 30. He has performed at many notable comedy venues like New York Comedy Club, Lifelines Canada, and Utrecht Comedy Festival. Popular for his versatile one-man sketches and Improv comedy, he is a guy with multiple talents and a long list of achievements.
Aditi Mittal
Aditi Mittal is another name who is thriving in the English-speaking comedy circuit. She is one of the first female stand-up comedians in India who has been rated amongst ‘India’s top 10 stand-up Comedians’ by The Times of India and is also featured in CNN-IBN as ‘Top 30 witty, intelligent and incredibly funny Indian women to follow on Twitter’. In 2009, she was one of the first 5 Indians to be featured in an Indians-only stand-up show called Local Heroes, organized by the U.K based ‘The Comedy Store’. In 2013, Mittal was invited by the BBC for the prestigious 100 Women conference in London. She has also been featured in the American documentary, Stand-Up Planet, along with American & South African comics. She is famous for her unconventional take from the female point of view and hilarious takes on political issues. Her narration of social issues like feminism and misogyny through humour is a treat to watch. Not only known for her comedy but also for intelligence which she blends well with her comic style and it only gets better.
Neeti Palta
For Neeti Palta, the world is her oyster. She is one of the best English-speaking talents in the industry and we are not the only ones to say, her achievements speak for themselves! She 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 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. It’s only fair to say, Neeti Palta is a force to be reckoned with.
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’. He has a knack for kicking off a laugh riot with his English comedy. 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. If there’s a word that can define him, it’s only “Perfection”.
Sorabh Pant
It’s no understatement when we say that Sorabh Pant is a master of laughter. His english stand-up shows are hilarious and will leave you doing nothing but laugh. “One of India’s top 10 comedians” (Times of India), Sorabh Pant has done over 2000 shows in 100 cities across 12 countries. He has toured through India, South East Asia, the U.S, Canada and also became the first Indian comedian to have his own show in China, Singapore, and Bangladesh. He’s also an author and has written 3 novels, as well as 1 non-fiction book. He has been highly appreciated by audiences and fellow comedians; Rob Schneider called him “Very Loud! Killed in every city”, Wayne Brady said, “He is the second brilliant Indian comedian I’ve seen, after Russell Peters.” He is also a columnist and has written columns for The Times of India, Mid-Day, Hindustan Times, and has a weekly column with Deccan Chronicle and Asian Age, amongst others, which explains his flair and fluency of language and his jokes.
Daniel Fernandes
Leave it to Daniel Fernandes, to make everything sound funny. One of India’s leading English stand-up comedians, he is known for his dark and surreal style of comedy which will leave you in splits of laughter. The guy is nothing less than an entertainment package who regularly performs at comedy clubs including Canvas Laugh Club, Blue Frog and High Spirits. He is known for covering social issues like free speech, marital rape, student suicide etc in his comedy. His comedy style and wits are just what a person need to cheer up at the end of the day.
If you haven’t watched these comedians, we advise you to simply drop everything and watch! They have a flair for creativity, fun, laughter, and obviously the language. These folks are taking over the world stage and we’re only proud and here for it.
When it comes to booking top-class comedians of India, you can book it via team engage4more’s passionate team. We have working relations with over 500 talented artists of India and assure you best-suited artist suggestions for your event with pacy booking at great prices. Also, enjoy our value adds like complimentary quizzing for your events along with free publicity by our post-event coverage via our social media handles!
