When They Were Young(er): First Videos By Top Indian Comics
Comedy
Of course, they're all comic superstars and famous now. We dug up the first comedy videos from an era when Sachin was still around, Aadhaar a novelty and 'demonetization' a word only Scrabble nerds knew. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.
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Zakir Khan's first stage show (2012)
Today he sells out massive auditoriums, but long back, few knew of his awesome talent. In this video, he shows signs of what would make him kvlt later - his bilingual delivery, his self-deprecatory third-person comments, sowing the seeds of 'sakht launda'-ness. Gold!
Kenny Sebastian's baby-faced debut
The oldest YouTube channel in this list goes to this paavam boy, who, at 17 (!), put this sketch together with Aniket Dasgupta. 9 Hours To Live, perhaps, but 9 years later, he's selling out auditoriums and has his own special.
#SastaFallon's lessons on pranks (2012)
Abish's first proper video (his actual first ones were family trip videos) revolved around pranking on April Fools' Day. The innocence in those eyes - who'd have thought he'd have his own talk show 5 short years later, eh?
AIB start their Bollywood trolling (2013)
In 2017, the comedy scene and Bollywood rub shoulders frequently. But back in 2013, it seemed the two were like chalk and cheese; like EDM and metal; like, er, Indie and mainstream. This promo for the Royal Turds show was the first video by AIB (which quickly evolved from a podcast) which came a full circle a year later - and how!
Vir Das on weddings (2009)
8 years ago (!), a clip of Vir's hilarious sketch on friends getting married surfaced. The grainy video has full last decade feels.
Aditi Mittal on certain body parts (2013)
Fans who have seen her stuff over the years know that she's quite unafraid to talk about things 'her male counterparts would shy away from'. This sketch from four years ago is an example.
Kanan Gill teaches you to speak with an Indian accent (2013)
Before there was Pretentious Movie Reviews, there was this madcap sketch which proved Indian comedy videos on YouTube were more than Delhi-Bombay stand-up videos. Kanan's gone on to do several sketches, but this was his 'Please Please Me'.
Also featuring Kenny. You know, that other comic.
The first random sketch by Them Boxer Shorts (2013)
The madcap videos put out by these lads couldn't have had a better or more surreal start. 4 years ago, Them Boxer Shorts debuted with this. Much surreal hilarity has ensued since.
SnG's got balls! (2014)
Long before Vicky Malhotra (yes, himsulf) was an idea, Varun Thakur's hilarious take on fairness creams gave SnG their first major viral video.
