This comedy collective is bringing laughter to Mira-Bhayandar

Akash Purohit at the pilot event at the new studio; The team work to reshape the fitness studio in Mira Road into a venue; Ravi Gaikwad performs at the repurposed space

By the time the audiences sink into their cosy seats to laugh the workday's stress away in Bandra and Andheri's popular comedy clubs, Mumbaikars from the far-flung suburbs are usually still elbowing their way through packed local trains. On most days, they won't find a seat to sink into. "Leisure is not wired into the average Mira-Bhayandarkar mind. We're simply not conditioned to make time to unwind and laugh," shares Rohit Pandey, showrunner for the NoBo Comedy Club.

To bring the stand-up scene to the suburb, Pandey and his co-founders and comedians Ravi Gaikwad and Akash Purohit have pulled all strings; from handing out flyers on the streets of Mira Road (where locals mistook them for real estate agents), to inviting comedians from across the city to feature on the line-up. Their latest experiment is turning a local fitness studio into their stage. "The unusual venue works in our favour. During a pilot run, we found that the absence of a physical stage lent a personal vibe to the whole show. As for the sound, we carry our own sound mixer and engineer to the venue," Pandey shares.

Rohit Pandey

Purohit, who has performed at numerous open mics across the city, knows he's walking a fine line. The audience, he admits, can be brutal in the far-off suburbs. "While a crowd in Bandra might laugh through a joke they don't understand, just to keep the spirits high, the audience here [in Mira-Bhayandar] is unforgiving. If a joke falls flat, the silence is twice as loud," he reveals. The comedian has a trick or two up his sleeve, though. Jokes about the constant hustle to earn a living and the taxing daily commute - the elbowing and all included - are crowd favourites.

With the open mics set to take place every Sunday at the studio, the duo hopes it helps live comedy find a footing in their home turf. "The biggest hurdle right now is accessibility and visibility. The studio is a larger space than our older spot [a coffee shop] and the ticket prices have been lowered to encourage the audiences to walk in. We hope our people reciprocate," they sign off.

Siddhartha Shetty performs at the club's older venue

ON Every Sunday; 6 pm (open mic) and 7 pm (set show)
AT Soul Beats Dance and Fitness Studio, Shish Mahal, Bhaktivedanta Road, Mira Road East.
LOG ON TO @nobocomedy on Instagram
ENTRY Rs 99