As one of India’s prominent female stand-up comedians, Aditi Mittal has perfected her very own definitive comic timing and this was on full display during her Soho Theatre run in London this month.
‘Bad Altitude’ refers of Mittal’s not-to-be-scoffed-at mountain climbing expedition to the base camp of Mount Everest.
“A stand-up comedian went to 1st base with Mount Everest. In her new hour, Mittal takes a small trek and makes a big deal out of it,” reads her pitch for this latest show.
That this expedition would lend itself to a multitude of gags must have been the biggest draw for someone generally happier in the plains. The show began with a screening of her film ‘In That Top’, to notch up a few more eyeballs for its important social message while she had the chance. It had the desired effect of having the audience giggling away even before she stepped out on stage. As she launched into her laments about a so-called mid-life crisis and inheriting faulty fat genes, the laughs flowed easily for the full 60-minute run.
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Making her observation that “London is the city of laughs, love and lots of food” quite spot-on.
Mumbai-based Mittal’s worldwide appeal lies in her very astute observations on things that may seem humdrum and routine to most Indians. Her knack for voice modulation and accents brings an added flavour to each of her sets.
Her stand-up specials ‘Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say’ and ‘Girl Meets Mic’ are on Netflix, with ‘Mother of Invention’ on Amazon Prime. Besides her shows on BBC, Mittal’s work has been featured on multiple documentaries across the world.
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As London’s leading producer of Indian comedy and works with artists of South Asian heritage from around the world, Soho Theatre has a regular line-up of comedians generating laughs in the UK. And, there are several not-to-be-missed Indian shows lined up in the coming weeks and months, including Ahir Shah, Anirban Dasgupta and Biswa Kalyan Rath.
*Info: Soho Theatre