Once the audience loves you, you can get away with murder : Papa CJ
He's taken Indian comedy global, earning ovations from New York to New Zealand. But for Papa CJ, Still Standing Up is more than a tour-it's a homecoming. The world knows him as the sharp-tongued comic who once ruled the UK circuit.
But here, he's the boy who cracked jokes during load-shedding. 'Kolkata lets me be wicked,' he says in a candid chat about growing up here, finding his voice, and never holding back. Let's dig in.
'If you grew up in Kolkata in the 80s with 18-hour power cuts, humour wasn't a luxury—it was survival.'
Papa CJ doesn't just claim Kolkata, he wears it like a badge. 'I lived in Calcutta for 19 years and my heart belongs to the city,' he says. 'When I meet someone who's grown up here, the connect is instant—we're cut from the same cloth. The warmth, the resilience... you don't find that everywhere.' The comic instinct? Born in blackout. 'In those days, you had an inverter that let you run
either
two fans and a light,
or
one light and two fans.
So you had no choice but to laugh through the absurdity.'
'Indian comedy was once a community. Now it's an industry.'
He may be one of India's earliest stand-up pioneers, but CJ isn't nostalgic. 'When I launched the open mic scene in Delhi in 2009, we were a tight group of performers. Now it's a content economy. And that's great—because the internet has given so many comics a stage they might never have had.' Still, he's stayed loyal to the mic. 'I don't miss the old days. I do what I love—live stand-up.
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That's where I thrive.'
'I haven't done a public tour in ages and this tour is just my way of telling the audience that I'm still here. Still slick. Still funny. Still savage'- Papa CJ
'That Kama Sutra
joke
wasn't to push boundaries. It was a love letter to India.'
Long before it was cool to be
edgy
, Papa CJ dropped
the
line that made rooms gasp and howl in equal measure:
'I come from the land of the Kama Sutra. I can f
* you in more ways than you can count.' But for him, it was less shock-jock, more soft power. 'Back in 2004, I was the only Indian comic in the UK. I wanted to represent India well. That joke? It wasn't about being crass. It was pride, served with punch.'As for cancel culture? He's never been caught in its claws.
'I do live shows—so people feel my intent, not just my words. Plus, I never punch down. I'll tease, I'll embarrass, but never hurt.
'And the secret to walking that line? 'Once the audience likes you, you can get away with murder,' he laughs. 'Even I'm surprised sometimes by the things they let me say.'
'They may not remember my name. But they remembered the Indian who made them laugh.'
He's headlined
Just For Laughs
, Melbourne, Broadway, and more, proudly claiming many firsts as an Indian comic. But now, he doesn't wear the title like armour.'Earlier, I was very aware that I was representing my country. It reflected in my sets. Now? I just want to make people laugh. If they walk out happier than they walked in, I've done my job.'
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