Comedians Supriya Joshi and Merenla Imsong open about their life in Mumbai

What does it take to be humorous women on a Internet? Comedians, writers and calm creators Supriya Joshi and Merenla Imsong open adult about their journeys in a Maximum City

Ladies who make us laugh: Supriya Joshi and Merenla Imsong open about their journeys in Mumbai

Oven-baked duck breast

Two comedians travel into a bar. One of them, Merenla Imsong, has eaten something that didn’t bode good for her stomach. She rushes to a other comedian — Supriya Joshi — and asks, “Where’s a bathroom? we consider we have diarrhoea!” A dismayed Supriya mumbles in a direction. That’s a commencement of their friendship, that is serve cemented when a dual finish adult during another comedy night, where a series of comedians, well, outnumbered a viewers.

Times have altered given then. Supriya AKA Supaarwoman, who is also a screenwriter, and Merenla, who is a calm creator and actor, now both authority a following of scarcely a million each. In fact, when we accommodate them during Loci and Toot in Khar, Supriya tells us it’s a “full-circle moment” given her first-ever pursuit was during mid-day. As dual popular, humorous and relatable women, they pierce to a list unconstrained chuckles, accessible tips on flourishing a Internet, and lessons on following your heart. Tune in to mid-day’s YouTube channel to watch their video talk and giggle along. 

Supriya Joshi and Merenla Imsong goofus around during Loci and Toot. PICS/SHADAB KHAN
Supriya Joshi and Merenla Imsong goofus around during Loci and Toot. Pics/Shadab Khan

Edited excerpts from a interview. 

Sukanya to Merenla: You were a scholarship topper in Nagaland, who complicated Zoology in Delhi, right? How did we land adult in Mumbai?
Merenla: we was always good during studies and my mom suspicion I’ll be a doctor. When we didn’t, everybody was like, “Oh, afterwards IAS officer”. You start desiring that, we know? When that didn’t happen, we followed my Masters. Meanwhile, my cousin’s marriage happened in a UK. My cousins’ relatives there asked me if we wanted to be a polite servant. we was like, “Yeah, we do” though my face lacked that conviction. My uncle said, “You’re not cut out for this; we should perform people. How most bakwaas you’ve finished given we got here!” So, we came behind assured that we will do that. My relatives suspicion it was a phase, though it never stopped. Now, when people ask them, “Oh, your daughter is a comedian?” They curtsy and say, “Yes, she’s a joker!” (giggles)

Baked falafel with labneh
Baked falafel with labneh

Sukanya to Supriya: What about we — did we always know we wanted to moment jokes for a living?
Supriya: Not during all! But yes, we knew we was funny. we like to be a centre of courtesy and make jokes. After college, we was in a really confused space. we went from pursuit to job. At my final job, we started creation Vines, that was a good platform. They started going viral. But we was usually creation them to make myself laugh. That’s when Tanmay Bhatt messaged me and pronounced we was funny; he asked me to join AIB [All India Bakchod] in 2016. It was my mangle into comedy. In 2017, Rohan Desai forcefully put my name down for AIB’s initial open mic. we was like, “Are we mad?” though that pushed me to write my initial set. we stepped on a theatre and freaking killed it. That set a round rolling.

The dishes — burrata caponata toast, baked falafel with labneh, oven-baked duck breast with furious fungus salsa and pulpy pan-seared duck in spicy-sweet jus — arrive. Supriya tucks into her gluten-free toast, claiming to be “fancy”, while Merenla enjoys a “food coma”.

Sukanya to both: Do we guys like to cook? 
Supriya: we adore cooking; even a simplest dish, if it’s done in your possess informal way, I 
like to check it out. In a lockdown, we got a event to try dishes I’ve never done before. But one thing that we can’t make is roti.
Merenla: we suffer eating some-more than cooking, though we can’t make roti either. My friends say, my food is like sanatorium food.

Sukanya to Merenla: Do we get Naga food around here?
Merenla: No, though we have all a sharp things in my fridge. The good thing is Mumbai generally smells. So we can say, “Ugh, it’s Versova beach”. In Delhi, we were once cooking, and a cops came given a neighbours complained we were eating dog meat. We had to uncover them it was dusty fish. They fined a neighbours.

Sukanya to both: As dual humorous women on a Internet, what’s your normal day like? How do we find impulse for content?
Merenla: Anything can enthuse you. Sometimes you’re immersion and an suspicion strikes you! But sometimes, you’re sitting with an open cover and half an hour later, you’re staring during a cobwebs.
Supriya: But some people do have a slight — these hustler-influencer types. When we have an idea, we have to fire it immediately. we don’t caring if it’s 10 pm and nobody’s examination it. we can’t make calm usually for a consequence of it. You can do trends, though if that becomes your usually identity, afterwards how are we opposite from each third chairman on a Internet?
Merenla: You’ve given me so many existential questions to consider about. we have a cover with scribbles that are ideas. we don’t even remember what some mean. One day we found a words, “vegan vampire”. What does that even mean?
Sukanya: Vegan vampire kills for oat milk, maybe?
Merenla: No, for beetroot!

Sukanya to both: Jokes apart, both of we have also, in your possess ways, used comedy to call out toxicity — be it body-shaming or discrimination. Tell us about it. 
Merenla: When we make these videos, we don’t think, “I will make a change in multitude today!” If something irritating happens to me, instead of meditative about it, we put it down on paper. But a critical thing is to not be angry; otherwise, a lot of hatred emerges. 
Supriya: But don’t we consider annoy is a artistic fuel? It is for me. Having grown adult being bullied, we have reached that indicate where we don’t give anybody a group to contrition me. If a 12-year-old child calls me ‘moti’, do we let him make me feel bad? If currently we write essays about being body-shamed, you’ll extol me, and tomorrow, that 12-year-old will call me ‘moti’ again. You contend what we have to, and pierce on. 

Sukanya to both: How do we understanding with trolling?
Supriya: One time this kid, who I’m certain was 12, wrote something that amounted to a genocide threat, given we was fat. So we motionless to disaster with him. we told him I’m promulgation this to a police. Within a minute, he sent me a thousand apologies. 
I asked him to write “I’m sorry” 200 times and send me pictures. And he did it!

Merenla: When we initial demeanour during a comments, we get angry. And afterwards we finish adult going to their form and see, “Who is this ******a?” Sometimes, when people body-shame you, they consider it’s a revelation. They’ll be like “small chests”! As if we suspicion we was Pamela Anderson. The peculiarity of trolling [in India] is also really basic. There has to be a trolling propagandize for them.

Log on to: Mid-Day on YouTube

Quick takes

Mumbai rains — adore or hate?
Supriya: Love it, if I’m not going out.
Merenla: Love-hate relationship. we don’t like a garments not drying.

What do we adore about Mumbai’s culture?
Supriya: How everybody minds their business. 
Merenla: The approach people assistance we on a internal trains. we remember once a sight was leaving. we done eye hit with this woman. Three hands pulled me in!

Food we adore in Mumbai?
Supriya: Vada pav, any day.
Merenla: we was unhappy with Mumbai travel food given we came from Delhi. But  I adore a prawns.

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