The mother of all jokes

In the run-up to Mother's Day and as a tribute to the woman who stepped in for her biological mother, Aditi Mittal gears up for for a trial show with a brand new set

Eight toxic patterns in mother-daughter relationships; 15 insights on improving mother-daughter relationships; 48 mother and daughter quotes; how to navigate tricky mother-daughter relationships — We are not blabbering, these are legit articles, and also the top searches for "mother-daughter relationship." We won't hold it against you if you think we're entirely jobless, but we can, in fact, explain why we were Googling such a seemingly cheesy thing.

It was because stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal told us, "just type the words and you'll see what I mean," when we called her up to find out the story behind her upcoming show in the city, Mother of Invention.

"Motherhood is one of the most exploited-yet-celebrated dynamics of humanity. And that's what I am exploring here, along with my own relationship with my mother, who is my birth-mother's sister. She took over when my mum passed away when I was three. And for me, it boils down to the fact that she was 31 when she did that in 1988, and as a single woman, too," Mittal tells us explaining where the concept for her show stems from, which she'll be trying out before the Mumbai audience this Thursday, before heading to Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

While researching for the hour-long set, Mittal was appalled to find that all the Internet had to offer on the topic of mother-daughter relationships was a uniformly negative narrative, essentially suggesting that it's one of those bonds that require reconciling. And so, the comedian set out on a mission, tapping into real-life stories. "I ended up talking to all my friends' mothers. And one of the more interesting stories I heard during the course of this was about a woman who walked away from her marriage because she gave birth to a girl, and her husband and his family weren't ready to accept that. It was fascinating to me that she just walked the f*$k away," she shares.

At the crux of Mittal's write-up for the show lies a genuine attempt to look beyond stereotypical notions that seem to suggest that mothers and daughters are perennially at loggerheads and examine the reasons that compel mothers to make the decisions that they do, their largesse and the meaning of motherhood through the lens of comedy. But this is a topic that is innately tear-jerking and emotional, so how does the artiste hope to syncretise a naturally sentimental subject with humour? "See, that's the thing. The saddest and scariest things in life are the funniest. Humour is at the far end of all the other emotions," she argues.

Elaborating on how she went about putting the sketch together she tells us, "Frankly, in my head, I started writing this a year ago. But two months ago, I started putting pen to paper and that's when I realised that what makes a performer is their ability to bring their own journey into the subject they're talking about."

When asked about the most challenging bit about this set, Mittal informs it's the part where her mother listens to it. "I think I am going to die trying to impress her," she quips, which ironically makes it the mother of all jokes.

On: May 2, 6.30 pm to 8 pm
At: Standup Labs, 401, Spenta Building, Khar West.
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 300

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