As the first official stand-up comedy club of Nepal, Comedy Circle has been gaining quite the popularity since it was formed in 2017. But the co-founders of Comedy Circle, Suraj Khadgi and Anup Ghimire, claim that they started the club randomly and hadn’t expected it to amount to much.
Before the launch of Comedy Circle, Khadgi had been working as the editor of Viewfinders, an advertisement, social media and digital marketing company founded by Ghimire.

After working together for over four years, the two decided that, rather than just channeling all their energy on making content for other brands, they wanted to create content for themselves as well. Khadgi, who claims to have enjoyed stand-up comedy since he was young, pitched the idea of creating a comedy club to Ghimire and the two started working on the idea immediately. They launched Comedy Circle in December 2017 as a subsidiary of Viewfinders.

Because the Viewfinders team already had a production crew of its own, Khadgi mentions that the only thing Comedy Circle needed were comedians. Kshitiz KC, Khadgi’s classmate, who has a knack for comedy and could make people laugh within minutes, was the first person to join their team. After posting their first video on YouTube, featuring KC, and promoting it on different digital media platforms, a lot of people contacted them to join the Comedy Circle team. 

Since then, Apoorva Kshitiz Singh, Sujan Zimba, Dhimant Adhikari, Himesh Panta, Namuna Giri, Ajay Shrestha, Sandip Pandey, Sanju Katuwal, Utsav Sapkota and Simran Pandey have all joined the Comedy Circle team as artists. Before getting to join the team, the artists have to go through the audition process that takes place every one or two months. Interested individuals can sign up for this via links shared through Comedy Circle’s social media pages. At their last audition, Khadgi mentions that though over 200 people had signed only 40 showed up at the venue. Among them, the Comedy Circle team selected five individuals for an open mic session. If these selected individuals perform well during that event, they will join the ever-expanding team of artists under Comedy Circle. 

Currently, Comedy Circle organizes two regular events: a weekly open mic session at Sports Hive Bar and Lounge in Jhamsikhel and an actual comedy event that happens once every two weeks at Alpas Restaurant and Bar in Lazimpat. Khadgi explains that the open mic sessions are more like grooming sessions or rehearsals than actual events where the whole Comedy Circle team – including the management team and other artists – analyze the performance and delivery of artists – both old and new – and give them helpful tips to improve their performance. The fortnightly event at Alpas is the actual show where selected artists perform their skits that last anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes.

Their YouTube videos are also recorded during these fortnightly shows by the Viewfinders production led by Hari Basnet the chief cinematographer and Rohel Bajracharya, chief editor and cinematographer. “But we still need to cut out a lot of content and select the best performances to upload on YouTube,” says Khadgi adding that they update their channel every Wednesday with a new video. 

Till date, the biggest problem faced by Comedy Circle has been its inability to monetize stand-up comedy. Khadgi reveals that since the team puts in a lot of effort and the production team spares no expense to create quality content, a lot of budget is required for shows and videos. Sprite joined in as their first sponsor a few weeks ago and since their videos do pretty well on YouTube, Khadgi says that right now Comedy Circle is self-sustainable but they struggled a lot with monetization during their initial days.

Regarding the appetite of Nepalis for comedy, Khadgi comments that our culture is always accepting and enjoying comedy in various forms. “Sometimes people do take comedy too seriously and that can create a tension but for the most part, we tend to digest comedy well,” he says adding that some videos are sometimes criticized as being offensive. He further mentions that the whole team then reviews content that has been called out for being inappropriate. If they feel like it was genuinely offensive, they learn why someone might have been offended and take note never to include something like that in their scripts again.

“I also wish more people would show up at comedy events instead of watching recordings online as these content are so much more enjoyable when you experience them in person,” claims Khadgi. He further states that although he is glad that people like their online content and support them there, they are missing out on half the fun by not being present as a part of the live audience.
As for the future, Khadgi reveals that the Comedy Circle team will keep focusing on developing the comedy scene of Nepal to the best of its ability. They are planning to host stand-up events at other countries too. They are also looking to make a quality comedy movie of their own but Khadgi mentions that, since that’s an ambitious goal, they aren’t really sure when it will happen. 

The Grand Stand-up Comedy III
What: The biggest stand-up comedy event hosted by Comedy Circle till date that features performances by eight of their artists – 
Kshitiz KC, Apoorva Kshitiz Singh, Sandip Pandey, Himesh Panta, Ajay Shrestha, Sujan Zimba and Dhimant Adhikari.
When: Saturday, June 29, 2019
Where: Outdoor Adventure Centre Nepal, Thamel
Time    :     4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Entry: Rs 300 (Rs 350 for door sales) | Available at Viewfinders, Kupondole, and Outdoor Adventure Center Nepal, Thamel or through Khalti app
 

 
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