TVF's new web series Humorously Yours is a look at the life of a stand-up comic

If you want to know how Louis CK came up with his iconic stand-up routine; or what the inspiration behind George Carlin’s ‘ A Place For My Stuff’ was; this web series should be on your must watch list. Welcome to Humorously Yours, the life and times of Vipul Goyal; a stand-up comic who is on the brink of stardom. We see how his real life becomes immensely interesting material for him to perform onstage; the ups and downs of his relationship with his wife Kavya (played by Rasika Dugal); who happens to be the partner with a more stable income and job in the family. His friend Bhushi (played by Abhishek Banerjee) tags along with him; providing a cynical yet amusing take on his life. Director Amit Golani (TVF Pitchers) tells Firstpost that the idea of the show came about when Vipul Goyal used to share amusing stories from his early days with them. “We found that all stand-up comics had faced similar problems, like the same problems with booking a show, getting a payment, be it someone who was just starting out or someone who had already made it big,” says Golani. “We thought it was quite evident that there’s a fun story to be told. That’s how we came about writing the script.” In actor, writer and comedian Vipul Goyal’s own words,  the show is about “A stand up comedian and his journey — not only his professional life but it is also about his friends and family. He (the protagonist) is three years into comedy. He is popular among his fellow comedians as a good comic, but he hasn’t had that breakthrough yet.” Is it a more dramatised version of his own story? “Well I can say that 90 percent of the material is based on incidents of my life.” He adds, “Exaggerated versions, of course.” Goyal is also one of the writers of the show; along with director Amit Golani, Anant Singh and Anandeshwar Dwivedi. He says about the writing process, “My role in scripting was narrating the funny incidents to them; and that is where their scripting expertise came into play. We took around 10 to 12 months to write the episodes for the first season.” For the stand-up comic, it is also his first full fledged acting role. He tells us about the difference of being cast in a web series as opposed to doing a stand-up routine in front of a audience, “I wouldn’t want to compare the two. Stand-up is completely different. Here’s a pun: it’s the difference between watching porn and having sex. Stand-up gives you instant feedback from the live audience. It’s a one-take show. What I realised is filmmaking and acting wise you get many more chances: there are multiple takes and you have the edit table. And it is a whole different process of feedback because I will know how the audience reacts to it later. There’s a lot of anticipation here while comedians are used to instant gratification with feedback. " Rasika Dugal, who plays Vipul’s wife Kavya in Humorously Yours, says about the series, “I have been wanting to be a part of something light-hearted and comic for a while now. So far, much of my work in films and TV has been on the serious side. It was a relief to finally do something slice of life and who better than The Viral Fever to explore comedy with. I think they have done some path breaking work with Pitchers and _Permanent roommate_s and continue to approach their new projects with a rigorous scripting process.” The show also has the who’s who of stand-up as guests. Tanmay Bhat, Kanan Gill, Abish Mathew, Sapan Verma, Zakir Khan, Varun Thakur and Kenny Sebastian are all set to make an appearance in the five episode stint of the show. The first episode talks about the pros and cons of hiring a manager. Does a manager actually help get you more work? Does he do more harm than good? ‘M for Manager’ is a fun start to the show: the jokes are relatable, the leads are a delight to watch.  Oyo Rooms and One Plus mobile phones also make their debut in the series. Could we please have a little more toned down version of the brands who have sponsored the show?

Other than that, the show is one of the best Indian web series out there. Goyal and Dugal share great chemistry and are fun to watch on the screen. Tanmay Bhat as always is fun to watch on screen. Here’s the trailer for the series, and the next episode airs on 18 December 2016 on TVFPlay.