Shekhar Suman has expressed disappointment over the current state of stand-up comedy, saying many modern comedians depend heavily on abusive language and vulgar humour instead of strong writing. Having judged popular comedy reality shows such as ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ and ‘Comedy Circus’, Shekhar reflected on how comedy has evolved over the years and why he believes the quality has declined.the actor said today’s comedy feels less organic compared to earlier times. “It is forced now; it was simple earlier. The comedians were also good, and had fresh thinking. Comedy has gone towards vulgarity now. It’s obscene. There are double meaning, double standards now. This change came because people stopped thinking. Till the time you don’t think, read or don’t create anything new, then you will only end up stealing jokes from here and there, presenting in a different way,” he reflected in an interview with Bollywood Bubble. Shekhar further criticised the rise of profanity-heavy content online and said many creators wrongly assume abusive language automatically makes comedy entertaining. “If you go on YouTube for comedy, it is full of abuses; you can’t even listen to it. Some people think abusive language is cool and viewers enjoy it, that’s wrong. Earlier, there were also television serials that were funny, like Dekh Bhai Dekh and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, they had brilliant writing and scripting. But now, that entire thinking and approach has vanished. Comedians are only focused on making people laugh with a cluster of jokes and punch lines from here and there, it’s an easy way out.”When asked if there are any young comedians he currently admires, Shekhar avoided naming individuals and instead pointed out that audiences today support all kinds of performers. “See, both bad and good people have an audience today. I wouldn’t like to talk about anyone specifically. People who are being seen have received love from viewers, and whoever is not being seen, might not have been liked by the audience.”The actor also revisited memories from the first season of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ in 2005, where late comedian Raju Srivastava finished as the second runner-up, while Sunil Pal won the competition. According to Shekhar, despite not winning the title, Raju continued to remain deeply loved and remembered by audiences over the years.Recalling his conversation with Raju before the show began, Shekhar said, “When the show was about to start, Raju Srivastav was a great comic actor. He came to my house and asked if he should do Laughter Challenge after receiving the offer. What if I come second? I said, ‘So what?’ But, he was hesitant because Raju felt that he is a senior in the industry and has a name, and he will feel insulted if he doesn’t win, but I advised him to participate and he did.”
