The Indian stand-up scene, which was almost nonexistent until a few years ago, doesn’t see too many female comics even today. In fact, there are only a few handfuls that can be counted on your fingers. Even out of this handful, very few are known to the mainstream aamjanta – MalikaDua, Aditi Mittal, and Sumukhi Suresh. One Indian comedienne who has been an active part of the Indian comic scene and accomplished popularity is KaneezSurka.
She started her comic journey in 2009. Though she achieved mainstream popularity with the satirical news show ‘The Week That Wasn’t’, she’s more popularly remembered for her Italian impression of Instagram in both the installments of ‘If apps were people’. Surka has also collaborated with All India Bakchod in many of their sketches often playing off-the-beat characters like Chitika from ‘A woman’s besties’.
One reason why KaneezSurka is amongst the most popular female comedians in India is the fact that she is also an improv artist. As a matter of fact, she entered the funny world as an improv artist with DivyaPalat’stroupe, Imps Trouble. In an interview with a digital daily, she even said that improv was something that came naturally to her as compared to other forms of comedy. Perhaps, it is her innate spontaneity that makes it an absolute treat to watch her perform. Such is her expertise at improv, that Surka is also a part of an improve group, ‘The Improvisers’ with Kanan Gill, Abhish Mathew, and Kenny Sebastian. As a part of Amazon Prime Original’s Comics than, she’s not just the judge on the show but also the improv specialist teaching this art to the contestants.
Check her YouTube channel and you will see that this improv loving comedian can make even seemingly awkward topics like sex, and the guilt around it, feel absolutely normal.
