Chennai: Powerful are the pre-conceived notions in our society that often we find youngsters not be able to come to a conclusion about what they want to do in life. But Karthigeyan differs. When he was two years into engineering, he found that his passion was elsewhere. He realised that he wanted to become a film director.
“I had no contacts of people working in the showbiz. But I was good at visualising things and I started writing scripts. It was then I watched a video of a stand-up comedian performing at his best that I wanted to have a crack at it,” says Karthigeyan who goes by the name Karthi Durai in Facebook.
Slowly he saw that his jovial nature went hand-in-hand with the comedy theme and he decided to try his hand at it. “It was hard work. From my house at Pattabiram, I used to travel to Besant Nagar and perform. I observed how others performed and got to know the tactics. Now I am a comedian,” says the beaming youngster.
Now, he goes by his stage name KD. Ironically, he carries the name of his father with him, who is concerned about the uncertainty that is the nature of job.
“My professional career started exactly two years ago. I did my first show in January 2017. I started performing in English and slowly realised that I could do better in my mother tongue for it was natural,” he said.
Becoming a comedian has not been easy on the soon to be 25-year-old. “Imagine travelling all the way from Pattabiram everyday to Besant Nagar and back. At one point, I was not getting anywhere with English. It was at that time that Tanglish became a theme. I was good at it. I kept practising and when it came to performing in Tamil, I became a true professional,” says KD.
Had he not took a different route, he would have ended up different, the youngster reveals. “Not being able to perform in English affected me. My health deteriorated. I was in no man’s land. But, I found my way,” he smiles.
It is cliched to say making a person laugh is tough. But when asked how it feels for a comedian to see that his jokes are not working with the audience, KD says, “It is tough to see them not laugh. But it doesn’t mean that your jokes are bad. Your delivery could have been better or you wouldn’t have given a pause, there are multiple factors.”
But practice makes a man perfect and KD is no exception. “It is important for a comedian to get stage time. Only by performing do we learn trade tricks and you get better and better. You learn that people will laugh even if you just use your body language. It comes with practice,” says KD.
KD’s goal he says is to keep cracking jokes. “I want to make people laugh. That is the only aim,” he states.
But he has one request to put forward and it was seeking encouragement from people. “People need to encourage newcomers as well. Not only in comedy, take any art. Your encouragement is everything. The moment they see a packed audience, performers give their best. Support those who are yet to find their footing,” signs off KD.
He can be contacted at 9840698667.