Anuvab Pal
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Anuvab Pal (born 27 April 1976) is an Indian
stand up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehea ...
,
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
and
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
. He is occasionally featured as a rotating co-host on season 4 of the podcast ''
The Bugle ''The Bugle'' is a satirical news podcast, created by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman in 2007. It is currently hosted by Zaltzman and a rotating cast of co-hosts including Alice Fraser, Nish Kumar, Anuvab Pal, Hari Kondabolu, Tom Ballard, Tif ...
''.


Career

Pal co-wrote the 2007 Indian comedy ''Loins of Punjab Presents'' with
Manish Acharya Manish G. Acharya (14 June 1967 – 4 December 2010) was an Indian film director and actor. Acharya was best known for '' Loins of Punjab Presents'', the film he co-wrote with Anuwab Pal, directed, acted in, and co-produced. Released theatrical ...
which ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called 'a witty musical comedy'. In 2009, his play ''The President Is Coming'' was made into a
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
film, ''
The President Is Coming ''The President Is Coming'' is a 2009 Indian English-language Satire, satirical mockumentary film directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur based on his play by the same title which premiered at the Royal Court/Rage Theatre Festival in Mumbai in January 2006. ...
'', made by producer
Rohan Sippy Rohan Sippy is an Indian film director and producer, he worked as a director in films like ''Kuch Naa Kaho'' (2003), ''Bluffmaster!'' (2005), ''Dum Maaro Dum (film), Dum Maaro Dum'' (2011) and ''Nautanki Saala'' (2013). Early life He is the ...
. As a stand-up comedian, Pal started out with the British Comedy Store when it opened in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
in 2010 and has since toured across the nation with his one-man show ''The Nation Wants To Know'' in Mumbai,
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...
,
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, and
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
. His first play, ''Chaos Theory'', a love story between two Indian professors, was written in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, and performed in various productions around the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', while writing about the Artwallah Festival, a South Asian cultural festival where the play was performed in 2003, said "Pal's characters are professional immigrants whose questions may not be so much about economic survival as intellectual and spiritual survival." The play received its first professional production in New York City in 2010 starring TV and film actor Rita Wolf, directed by Alexa Kelly and produced by The Pulse Ensemble Theatre. The India production of the play happened in 2008 and starred TV and theatre actor Zafar Karachiwala and TV, film and theatre actor Anahita Oberoi directed by theatre director Rahul Da Cunha and produced by his Rage Productions. In 2011, Pal was featured in a ''New York Times'' video, ''A Night At The Comedy Club''. CNN Go, a travel website of
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
, mentioned him on a list of 20 Mumbai People To Watch. He was also interviewed in the BBC News segment titled ''Having A Laugh In India'' and was, along with comedian and presenter
Cyrus Broacha Cyrus Broacha is an Indian anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is best known for his show ''Bakra'' on MTV India and '' The Week That Wasn't'' on CNN-News18. Early years Broacha was b ...
, the only Indian comedian on the popular
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
show ''
Just A Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...
'' with
Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' S ...
. That episode also featured famous British comedians
Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known by the stage name Paul Merton, is an English comedian who is best known as one of the two regular panellists on the television show '' Have I Got News for You''. Known for his improvisation skill, M ...
and
Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian and actor. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is the son of N ...
. He contributes columns often to magazines like ''Time Out Mumbai''. Three of his plays, ''Chaos Theory'', ''The President Is Coming'' and ''1 888 Dial India'' have been published as novels. He has also written a non fiction book on the Bollywood movie, ''
Disco Dancer ''Disco Dancer'' is a 1982 Indian dance-action film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with ...
''. Pal had his stand up special ''Alive At 40'', featured on
Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
. In 2018, his eight-episode comedy ''Going Viral'' starring
Kunaal Roy Kapur Kunaal Roy Kapur (born 13 February 1979) is an Indian people, Indian actor, best known for his roles in ''Delhi Belly (film), Delhi Belly'' (2011), ''Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'' (2013) and ''TVF Tripling'' (2016–2022). Background and personal l ...
was also produced by Amazon Prime. In Feb 2018, Pal did his stand up special ''The Nation Wants To Know'' at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
, as part of the Harvard South Asia Conference. In May 2018, Pal premiered his stand up special, ''The Empire,'' at London's
Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...
. Followed by this, in August he made his debut at
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
with the same show which was met with good reception. In 2018, Pal appeared on four different shows for the BBC. He debuted on BBC's ''Fresh from the Fringe'', performing highlights of his Edinburgh Festival show. He made an appearance on BBC 2's ''Big Asian Stand Up'' as part of BBC's ''The British Asian Summer''. His two-part radio series with
Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and statistician. His comedy largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Dep ...
titled ''Empire-ical Evidence,'' tracing the legacy of The Empire in London and Kolkata was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018. In December 2018, Pal was invited by the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
Arts Hour to The Arts Hour New Year International Comedy Show. He also appeared on '' QI'', on the third episode of the 17th series, on the topic of "Quarrels". In late summer 2018, Pal became the first Indian comedian to perform before a sell out crowd at the Lund Comedy Festival in
Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and
) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...
, Sweden. In 2019, he performed for the first time at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in a show titled ''Indian All-Star Comedy Showcase'' The
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, V&A in London, did a permanent exhibit titled 'Laughing Matters: State Of The Nation' under the heading 'Cruel Brittannia'. It featured clippings and writings from Pal's stand up show 'The Empire'. In 2020, his long running podcast ''Our Last Week with Anuvab and Kunaal'', also featuring Bollywood actor
Kunaal Roy Kapur Kunaal Roy Kapur (born 13 February 1979) is an Indian people, Indian actor, best known for his roles in ''Delhi Belly (film), Delhi Belly'' (2011), ''Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'' (2013) and ''TVF Tripling'' (2016–2022). Background and personal l ...
, produced by Audiomatic, was picked up by
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
as a Spotify original exclusive for India. ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' newspaper, referring to the podcast, called the hosts "The Kings of nonsensical banter" The podcast was also featured by
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
in a show titled ''Code Switch'' in August 2016. The segment was titled ''What's so funny about The Indian Accent?'' In 2020, Pal wrote a sitcom for Amazon Prime India directed by
Rohan Sippy Rohan Sippy is an Indian film director and producer, he worked as a director in films like ''Kuch Naa Kaho'' (2003), ''Bluffmaster!'' (2005), ''Dum Maaro Dum (film), Dum Maaro Dum'' (2011) and ''Nautanki Saala'' (2013). Early life He is the ...
, with the pandemic as the backdrop. It was titled ''Wakaalat From Home'' and starred
Sumeet Vyas Sumeet Vyas (born 27 July 1983) is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter who works in Indian films and television. His breakthrough role was as Mikesh Chaudhary in TVF Media, TVF's 2014 web series ''Permanent Roommates''. Vyas has sinc ...
,
Kubbra Sait Kubbra Sait is an Indian actress, TV host and model who has appeared in the films ''Sultan'', ''Ready'' and ''City Of Life''. She gained widespread recognition for her performance as ''Kukoo'' on the First Season of Netflix original show '' Sac ...
, Nidhi Singh and Gopal Datt. ''
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
'' in its review, called it "a must watch show". In 2020, he was also a panellist on the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
show ''
The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hogg ...
'' hosted by
Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and statistician. His comedy largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Dep ...
In 2021, according to an article in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', the BBC announced that Pal's sitcom pilot titled ''Empire'' would feature as part of ''Festival Of Funny'', on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
. ''Empire'' starred famous British actor, comedian, writer, presenter
Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
. In 2022, post pandemic, Pal returned to the
Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...
with his Edinburgh show ''Democracy and Disco Dancing'', which received a series of four-star reviews. Reviewers said the show was a "laugh a minute" and "hilariously absurd". He also appeared as a panellist in a number of BBC radio shows including The
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
show ''The Good, The Bad and The Unexpected'' and ''Comedians Vs The News'' on
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
. As an actor, he played Mr. Mukherjee in the
Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...
directed
A Suitable Boy ''A Suitable Boy'' is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. ''A Suitable Boy'' is set in a newly post-indepe ...
by
Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Awar ...
for BBC 1.
Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the C ...
, the British comedy website, announced on 22 December 2021, that Anuvab Pal and
Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is an English comedian, novelist and producer. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh people, Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul Watson (footba ...
would be part of a
Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...
line up of stand up comedy specials on
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
UK. Pal's show ''The Empire'' was recorded at the Soho Theatre in London in January 2021 for release on May 6, 2022. In June 2023, Broadway's The Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City, did a staged reading of ''Chaos Theory'' starring American-Indian actors
Manu Narayan Manu Narayan (born August 16, 1973) is an American actor, film producer, singer, songwriter, composer and saxophonist. He currently guest stars as Hari Sahni on the hit Apple TV series Your Friends & Neighbors (TV series), Your Friends and Neighb ...
and Rita Wolf directed by Arpita Mukherjee as part of 2023 Refocus Projects. In September 2023, Pal was featured in a Sky History documentary titled "Why Does Everyone Hate The British Empire" hosted by comedian
Al Murray Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Murray's comedy career began by working with Harry Hill for BBC Radio 4. He regularly performed at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...
. In a
Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...
review of the show, Anita Singh, said Mr. Pal was 'witty' In 2024, Anuvab featured in the TV series ''Freedom'' ''at Midnight'' produced by
SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...
and created by Bollywood directed Nikhil Advani, playing the controversial Chief Minister of pre-independence Bengal, S Hussein Surawardhy. In June 2024, his 16-city UK tour of his new stand-up special The Department of Britishness, (ending with a sold out run at London’s Soho Theatre), earned him recognition, with ''The Guardian'' calling him ‘one of the founding fathers of Indian stand-up’ and The Daily Telegraph, in their profile of him, calling him ‘lovably modest’.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pal, Anuvab Indian stand-up comedians Living people Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 1976 births