Made of Chennai | Celebrate the city with an evening of stand-up comedy, this Madras month

Chennai's top comedians take the stage to hilariously decode the city's quirks and charm in a family-friendly comedy concert.

There is so much to love about this city — its many dimensions, people, and vagaries, and what better way to say it all than through comedy? 

Chennai, We Have A Problem…And It Is Hilarious, will have six stand-up comedians from the city take the stage as they try to decode, analyse, and most importantly, make light of all that has come to define a day in Chennai’s life. All of this will come together in a comedy concert of sorts, where the audience will be treated to an evening of laughter in celebration of the city as a part of The Hindu Festival of Chennai celebrations, to commemorate 385 years of the city we call home.

“There is a reason why Ravichandran Ashwin, Superstar Rajinikanth, or even I continue to stay in Chennai. Wherever we go, our home is this beautiful city,” says comedian-activist Rajmohan Arumugam. “I will be digging into some of my favourite memories, from my life as an Engineering student and also speak about how college life has changed over the years now,” he adds. 

Actor and comedian Badava Gopi says everything about him is Chennai. “From the language to the food, everything about me is from this city. I strongly believe that if you have lived in Chennai, you can live anywhere, given how the city nurtures and brings you up,” he says. The sounds of Chennai, ranging from the traffic to MS Dhoni in Chepauk will all feature in his set. “I have performed in many places abroad, but performing in Chennai is truly special,” he adds.

For Mervyn Rozz, the city’s traffic, the different kinds of people one encounters when stuck in a jam, and how it all adds to Chennai’s personality will be the theme of his set. “Despite planning and leaving early, most of us arrive late,” he says. The city has space for everyone and accomodates the way they all want to live, he says, and points to this being true of travel as well.

Drawing inspiration from over 15 years in the IT sector, Ramkumar Natarajan’s set will delve into Chennai’s quintessential IT crowd through his own experiences, and the corporate and IT hustle – chronicling all the highs and lows. “Chennai has been welcoming people from the South into the IT sector for a while now. The city has helped elevate these lives and this is something I will touch upon as well,” he says.

The daily lives in Chennai’s many homes will provide for the laughs in Praveen Kumar, and ‘Vikkals‘ Vikram’s comedy sets. Stories about Chennai’s families, youngsters stepping out into the real world, and all the learning and unlearning that entails will make up Vikram’s set. Praveen, who moved from Bengaluru to Chennai during the pandemic, tackles life in Chennai’s apartment complexes. “There was a big gap between what we were promised and what we ended up with, and several things like this I will speak about will be relatable to the audience,” he says.