Standing up for your stand-ups

Ever since more and more people have been treating politicians as a joke, the capital of comedians has been rising, if at least in circles with a sense of humour. As was the case in times when kings didn’t like to be criticised — constructive criticism then, as in some pockets now, seen as an oxymoron from ‘treacherous morons’ — it was the court jester who was allowed leeway to say ‘unpleasant truths’. With the exception of those who see Vladimir Putin as the great redeemer and liberator from western powers, the admiration (from a distance) of a former comedian-turned-president has provided comedians new relief. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s courage —rousing his people from Kyiv rather than from the safety of a ‘safe’ country — may well have been built from his prior experience as a comedian, where deathly silence after a joke means hearing the sound of professional death.

Zelenskyy’s TV political satire show, Vecherniy Kvartal (Evening Quarter), may have allowed Ukrainians to be not totally cynical, while appreciating political humour without making them as sensitive as skinless rhinos. While the likes of Kapil Sharma may be bringing out the laughing votes in India today, maybe comedians like Kunal Kamra can become prime minister of a country where humour and conscience can be seen as two sides of the same coin trick.