Is 'Comedy rap' the new fad at luxury weddings?
Wedding season is here, and we cannot get over the fact that grand events and wedding functions are ruling the market now. While Sangeet and Mehendi are common events where family members perform, some hosts prefer to hire professional artists like singers, comedians, and dancers to perform at the occasions. Let's see how "comedy rap," a rather new act is taking over.
How often do people hire professional artists?
Wedding curators Prateek and Aaradhana Kashyap say, functions and performances usually last for 60-90 minutes, at wedding-related events. "About 10% of the wedding clientele, with budgets above one crore, want artists performing at the wedding. For example, among 100 weddings about 9-10 will go for performing artists like comedians and singers. This is more into the luxury wedding market," they explain.
Comedy Rap at weddings
Siddharth Sood, popularly known as The Comedy Specialist, has been performing comedy rap at weddings for some time now. Talking about comedy rap as a career option he says, "Especially in the comedy scene - things are very subjective and Indians love to get offended, so balancing the fine line of humor and not offending people is a massive challenge."
How did comedy rap come into being?
"Listening to Eminem in 2002 I used to download songs, print out the lyrics, and try to rap along. One day, some friends asked me to rap... Since I forgot the words I made some up, most of them couldn't differentiate. This gave me an idea to continue but with an Indian funny touch," says Siddharth. "Comedy Rap" happened after a lot of experimentation.
What's in demand among guests?
Talking about in-demand acts, he says, "People want a lot of interactive acts now - singers and instrumentalists have become passé." "Our audiences want something fresh and want to feel more involved in the performance - hence acts such as mine are much more in demand." "I actually pick on people in the audience and make fun of them while rapping!" explained Siddharth.
Do audience requests come by?
"Once people understand fully what I do they want me to rap on them." "People say 'make fun of me, I want to know what's the worst you can come up with about me'," said Siddharth. Guests also get offended sometimes. "Once a guest pulled a gun on me! However, youngsters are starting to understand roasts, and it's being accepted at weddings as well."
