“Live shows - that’s where the art is”: the Prague Comedy Festival brightens the dark winter months
The 2nd Prague Comedy Festival is back in November with plenty of laughs to warm you up in the cold. It is organised by the team behind the Prague Fringe held every May and offers a rich programme of comedy from around the world. Radio Prague International spoke with three guests: the festival’s founder, Steve Gove; co-director Simar Singh; and one of this year’s headliners, Tarang Hardikar.
I began by asking Steve for a quick introduction to what is happening in Prague over the next few days and what we can look forward to.
“Unlike the May edition, the autumn edition is only comedy. Usually during the main festival in May we've got a variety of theatre, dance, comedy, and storytelling. But this season we're just focusing on laughs to get us through the winter. We have a star-studded line-up of acts from all over the world,”
The line-up includes comedians from India, Portugal, Australia, the UK, and Singapore — all performing in Prague in English. Some have been in the business for years, while others are still early in their careers, offering a wide range of styles. Simar, who is not only co-director of the Fringe but also a part-time comedian himself, shares why the international nature of the event is so rewarding.
“There's a lot to learn, a lot to enjoy. And at the end of the day, it's kind of a great place to exchange ideas and understand cultures through jokes, which is one of my favourite things — traveling with comedy.”
One such performer who travelled to Prague for comedy is Tarang Hardikar, who recently committed to comedy full-time. This is his first time performing in Europe. He has been doing stand-up for eight and a half years in India and has built a substantial online following. I asked him what a full-time life in comedy looks like.
“Full-time comedy looks like a lot of traveling around, a lot of waiting in airport lounges, a lot of gigs and shows, and a lot of last-minute writing.”
Most of Tarang’s shows are scripted and carefully prepared. But each comedian has a different style and approach. Simar, for instance, prefers to improvise a little more:
“I feel like I have a few jokes that I will always do. Like usually when I get on stage — because the crowd is mostly a lot of expats who don't look like me — I start by saying ‘hello white people,’ and they all laugh. So I immediately address the fact that I look different. And then I have a bunch of standard jokes about race and about being from India. But then I usually kind of go into more crowd work rather than what Tarang does — he has a fixed set. Mine is more improv because I'm hosting the show and making sure everyone's geared up for the main acts.”
One of the Prague Comedy Festival events is hosted by Simar, who describes it as a “taster of the entire festival” — a showcase where all artists perform 10-minute snippets, offering an ideal way for audiences to get a taste of different comedy styles.
The Prague Fringe has been a major success throughout its 25-year history, bringing English-language theatre — and increasingly comedy — to Prague. The city’s venues offer a relaxed, intimate atmosphere that makes for an ideal setting for comedy. As Simar explains:
“Prague Comedy has been very interesting. I remember the month I started doing comedy here is when the first comedy club in English opened, which was Metro Comedy Club. And it's very weird to see how many people whose first language is not English come out to see shows regularly there. So it's a lot of fun interacting with them. It's always fun talking to audiences because everyone's from a different culture. Everyone has a different life background, but they all kind of laugh at the same things, which just shows how similar we still are. I really enjoy that part of it.”
Tarang says he is curious about how performing in Europe will differ from performing in India. The new audience may require some adjustments, but English promises to bridge the gap.
“I think it will be different. Most of my jokes are like around the language itself, around English itself. So hopefully it will translate. But I will have to discover.”
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Looking beyond Prague, the festival organisers are also preparing to launch the first Fringe in India, set to take place next January marking a new creative journey from Prague to Mumbai. Steve explains how the idea began:
“It's exciting. I think I sort of fell in love with India about five or six years ago. And I think before I even first visited India, I paid for three URLs: I paid for Delhi Fringe, Jaipur Fringe, and Mumbai Fringe -not knowing what any of these cities were like. I thought, there are no Fringes in India — what's that all about?”
To find out more and have some laughs you can listen to the full interview.
The Prague Commedy Festival (https://www.praguefringe.com/)
November 19-22
Metro Comedy Club, Tequila Tales
