journey of a management graduate to a full-time comedian | Angad Ranyal | TEDxNMIMS
Anga Singh ranal, who details his unconventional path from engineering and e-commerce to stand-up comedy, argues that pursuing passions requires self-initiative and viewing oneself as a marketable product. He supports this by illustrating his career pivots and the discipline gained from performing, ultimately advising the audience to blame themselves rather than others for inaction.
## Speakers & Context
- **Anga Singh ranal** — Speaker; comedian.
- Speaker's personal journey: Average student, electronics and communication engineer, worked for 21 months as a network optimization engineer for a telecom firm, completed an MBA majoring in marketing, and worked in an e-commerce firm for 15 months.
- Current state: 27 years old; aspires to quit a stable paying job to become a stand-up comedian.
- Relationship with comedy: Was introduced to stand-up comedy at age 17 after illegally downloading a torrent of Russell Peters.
## Theses & Positions
- *My story is nothing like* the narratives of others who talk about passion since childhood or fighting against all odds.
- Stand-up comedy is an art form where the comic directly expresses opinions, likes, and dislikes in a funny manner.
- Improv involves audience suggestions, making each show unique as the performer thinks on the spot.
- Stand-up is highly rehearsed and scripted, performed with audience energy.
- A joke starts with a simple, often illogical idea (e.g., asking for beer to be chilled).
- Ideas must be developed by taking them to an "excessive rant" or a "complete different Zone" to become a joke.
- A comedy set requires structuring multiple jokes into a narrative that appeals to people of all ages.
- To pursue a creative path, one must first test oneself repeatedly, even using platforms like SoundCloud or YouTube.
- The only reason to act is personal desire; one must "blame yourself" for inaction, not others.
- Education remains vital because it builds intelligence, responsibility, and discipline, which provides an edge in any field.
- One must position oneself as a product; if a passion is undesired, it must either become massive or someone else must do it.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Stand-up:** An art form where the comic directly talks to the audience, expressing opinions on issues.
- **Improv:** A style where the audience suggests topics, and the performer thinks and acts on the spot, making each show unique.
- **Sketches:** Small comedy acts or short films, popular on YouTube.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Joke construction:** Start with a simple, often illogical idea (e.g., questioning why a waiter asks if beer should be chilled). Then, expand this idea into an "excessive rant" or by relating it to a bizarre situation.
- **Set building:** Collecting several jokes and structuring them into a narrative flow so the audience can follow the sequence.
- **Refining a set:** Testing jokes in different audiences over time, dropping weak jokes, and building up on funny moments to create a solid set.
- **Personal growth:** Developing skills by engaging in activities like dramatics or writing a blog (Funny Stein Terrible), which builds confidence, voice modulation, and content.
- **Marketability:** Viewing oneself as a product that must be positioned in the market, understanding that the audience is the consumer.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Circa '60s-'80s:** Stand-up in India was present, but it was predominantly "mimickry," not modern stand-up.
- **2012:** Speaker started doing stand-up comedy.
- **First 5 minutes:** Performance was "terrible," with only one joke getting laughs.
- **Progression:** Improved from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, then to 15 minutes, eventually reaching 30 minutes.
- **Time taken:** Took **18 months** to go from 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
- **Blog start:** Started the blog *Funny Stein Terrible* in **2007**.
## Named Entities
- **Russell Peters** — Comedian whose torrent was illegally downloaded by the speaker.
- **CN and Ian** — People who believed the speaker was among the top 20 stand-up comics in India.
- **Rahul Gandhi** — Political figure mentioned as an example of shifting consumer perception.
## Numbers & Data
- Age of speaker: **27**.
- Duration of work as network optimization engineer: **21 months**.
- Duration of work at e-commerce firm: **15 months**.
- Age started stand-up comedy: **17**.
- Years ago stand-up was mimickry: **'60s-'70s and 80s**.
- Joke building progression: From **5 minutes** to **10 minutes** to **15 minutes** to **30 minutes**.
- Time to reach 30 minutes: **18 months**.
- Blog posts written: **50 posts** on *Funny Stein Terrible*.
- Testing period for set refinement: **three different audiences**.
- Number of people who remember the speaker after reaching 30 minutes: enough for people to "remember you."
## Examples & Cases
- **The Beer Waiter Incident:** Being asked if beer should be chilled, prompting the idea of suggesting the beer be heated to **100° Centigrade** to create vapor.
- **Movie Hall Friend:** An old friend asking the speaker, "what are you doing here," when the speaker is clearly watching a movie.
- **Dramatics Performance:** First big role involved dressing up as a horse-headed man, walking like a horse on stage for **2 hours**.
- **MBA Friends' Skepticism:** Friends assumed an MBA graduate would not perform at a wedding.
- **E-commerce Job Task:** Spending a whole weekend clicking on **1,000 links** sequentially just to verify product information.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Torrents:** Illegally downloaded source material for comedy.
- **SoundCloud, YouTube:** Platforms used to test talents (singing/dancing/etc.).
- **Blog:** *Funny Stein Terrible* (personal blogging platform).
## References Cited
- *"The announcer said that CN and I been red me as one of the top 20 standup comics in India."*
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- Some people believe that creative pursuits require a traditional path or pedigree (e.g., "you're a BTech you're an MBA, what about these degrees").
- The risk associated with pursuing a passion is that one might fail to achieve the level of recognition expected ("The packaging might look bad").
## Methodology
- **Comedy Skill Building:** Identifying an idea, expanding it into an exaggerated premise, and then structuring several of these premises into a coherent "set."
- **Performance Improvement:** Repeatedly performing in front of various audiences (open mics) to test material and improve delivery over time.
- **Self-Analysis:** Analyzing audience reactions (low likes/comments on a blog post) to improve the next attempt.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- If pursuing a creative goal, do it; do not find excuses.
- When making a life change, the sole deciding factor must be personal desire, not external validation.
- If something you dislike about your situation cannot be overcome, try to make it so big that it requires outside resources, or else leave it.
- Final guiding principle: "if there is something you want to do in life just do it don't blame others blame yourself for not doing it."
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I was an average student an average Sports person."*
- *"my story is nothing like that"*
- *"standup is an art form in which the comic is directly talking to the audience expressing his opinions in a funny manner"*
- *"it's a very recent phenomena"*
- *"the performer thinks on the spot"*
- *"it's kind of a scripted show but it is performed with the energy of the audience"*
- *"The idea is to take a step back is that people ask you illogical questions"*
- *"I want my beer to be heated at 100° Centigrades then bring it to me i'll take beer vapor from it"*
- *"there's something for everybody"*
- *"what I do is you basically drop the weak jokes and you're left with a strong solid set"*
- *"you should test yourself"*
- *"don't find excuses to miss out on it"*
- *"I'm my own product"*
- *"I need to know what is trending whether it is Facebook Twitter or Tender"*
- *"I'm doing that because it's part of my responsibility to grow myself up"*
- *"don't blame them that they didn't let me do it if you're not doing something blame yourself"*
- *"if there is something you want to do in life just do it don't blame others blame yourself for not doing it"*