Baring your soul on stage

Stand-up comedian Papa CJ tells the author about his autobiographical show, Naked, and other facets of his life

"I am in the happiness business and not comedy business. Seeing people happy and playing a part in that is something that I love." In a career spanning 12 years where he has performed 2,000 shows in 20 countries, this is what keeps 39-year-old stand-up comedian Papa CJ motivated to keep going back on stage. (Papa CJ is his stage name; he does not reveal his real name.)

His latest show, Naked, which plays tomorrow at Mumbai, is arguably his most acclaimed work. It received two standing ovations during its Broadway debut in New York earlier this year. It is the only show from India to premiere at the Soho Theatre in London where it was sold out. It is also the only show from India to be invited to the Just for Laughs festival this July in London. And, it is the only English show from Asia to be invited for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Naked, as the name would suggest, is about baring oneself to the outside world. An autobiographical story, it is about the walls that human beings keep between themselves and others, and in this show Papa CJ exposes all his vulnerabilities and pains.

He says, "Performing this show was at the same time a terrifying and an exhilarating experience; at the end while I am completely naked, I am also completely free."

  Years of experience and performing in front of live audiences helped him create Naked. "I doubt if I would have had the skills or emotional ability to do justice to this show five years ago," he says.

The idea of Naked bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the iconic Hindi movie Mera Naam Joker (1970) directed by Raj Kapoor, a commercial disaster when it released, but one that has become a cult classic over the years. The analogy comes across in comedians having to make people laugh through their personal insecurities and flaws. CJ says, "Comedians have the ability to take the worst in life and find humour in it."

Unusually, for one who has acquired so much fame as a stand-up comedian, Papa CJ began as a management consultant in London armed with a degree from the prestigious Said Business School in Oxford University. On moving away, he says, "I was terribly underutilised, every day that I set an alarm to wake up in the morning and go to the dreadfully grey office building, a little part of my soul died."

Comedy, while his main calling, isn't everything for him. He does motivational speaking and executive coaching with the objective of making others achieve their dreams. He also has a charity in the UK called One Child that he set up with a fellow Oxford alumnus. It has supported an NGO in India that focuses on bringing children out of child labour and into the formal schooling system.

What is the USP of Naked according to CJ? "The raw honesty, vulnerability and emotional connect with the audience, which makes it my most compelling show to date."

Hopefully, it will have a compelling impact when it plays in Mumbai tomorrow.

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Naked is playing at NCPA, Mumbai on Sunday, June 5, 8 pm onwards.
Tickets available on www.bookmyshow.com