Tamil stand-up comic Praveen Kumar on ‘8’ and writing family-friendly jokes

Tamil stand-up comic Praveen Kumar on his new show, ‘8’, which features humorous tales from his life.

If you follow the Tamil stand-up comedy scene, you probably know all about Praveen Kumar’s life. That he has a daughter who shares his birthday. That he loves biryani and hates upma.

Popular Tamil stand-up comic Praveen Kumar — aka The Family Man — is now back on stage with a brand new show, titled 8. Inspired by Rajinikanth’s popular song in Baasha that divides a person’s lifetime into eight stages, Praveen’s 8 is a collection of incidents that happened in his life, narrated in humorous fashion.

“These are stories from eight stages of my life,” says Praveen. These include his experiences going to karate class when he was a little boy, college tales, staying with roommates, his first on-stage outing and how he taught his daughter to ride a bicycle. It does not talk about the most significant story of his life — his marriage — but that is because it has already been explored in his previous stand-up special, Kancheepuram Maapla.

How comfortable is he sharing a large part of his life with the public? “If I write a joke about a common topic, there are many comedians who would have thought on similar lines. I remember wanting to write a set about a Taj Mahal visit, but saw another comedian who had presented something similar. With general issues, it is difficult to avoid a clash of ideas. The only thing that differentiates you from other comics and memes is your life itself. Also, if someone has to get offended with my jokes, let it be me,” he laughs.

8 was initially conceptualised to revolve around seven stories, but that was before Praveen decided to do The Family Man Returns, a second part of his hit show. “I wanted to establish that brand in detail, like Singam 1 and Singam 2. I don’t think anyone has done a part two in the stand-up scene before,” says Praveen, whose latest show is about 90-minutes long.

While he is looking to stage this show in multiple locations, including towns like Tirunelveli, Thootukudi, Namakkal and Neyveli, Praveen is firm on one thing: that his content will always be family-friendly. “I cannot write an adult joke. I also believe that people who see my face in the posters trust that this will be a family-friendly show. I don’t want to break that trust. You don’t need to make arrangements for the kids to be at a grandparents’ house while watching 8; you can bring them along.”

On the subject of kids, Praveen has a show targetted at children that is in the works. He is also writing an entire stand-up set on Tamil cinema, a subject close to his heart. Does he dream of a step into Kollywood as an actor or director someday? “I have starred in a small role in the upcoming Tamil film Kadhalika Neramillai, directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi,” he reveals, “But I wish to write a movie script sometime. It is a dream.”