Getting people to laugh is amazing – local stand-up comic
Local comedian believes that laughter is the best medicine. He said he did not know that he was destined to be on stage until the pandemic happened.
Vije Vijendranath always understood since he was young that laughter is the best medicine when he had those around him in stitches for most of his time.
However, the 42-year-old never imagined that he would have to wake up one day and go out to put smiles on a large crowd of people’s faces gathered in Fourways to watch him perform.
He said it all began in 2020 during the pandemic, but by then, he had already been bitten by the comedy bug.
“I enjoyed being funny for many years because friends and other people have told me, but I never thought of it being formal. I just knew that I enjoy humour.”
What Vijendranath loves about comedy is that it relieves stress. “Getting people to laugh is an amazing thing because you are helping them to find joy through your words. When you tell your own authentic stories, it is always amazing how they respond and how comedy helps you connect with other people.”
He told us that he jokes just about anything. He said that is mainly because he loves telling stories through his work.
“I do family-orientated comedy, which is also called social commentary. So, I comment about how people do things, their behaviour, or what I have experienced for instance, what happens when you stand in a queue outside an ATM, what people do when they go to the police to file a report or something, etc. I do my unique perspective out of that social commentary.”
And after Vijendranath had found his new niche on stage, he said he has not looked back.
“I remember the day I first performed on stage; it was just before Covid. It was exciting and I had about 50 to 100 people who came. I remember just being natural and talking about myself, how people find it funny and they were laughing and connecting with it.”
Vijendranath added that he is still learning the ropes of his craft and spending time rehearsing because his love for being on stage is something that he had recently discovered about himself.
“I am still learning the basics like how to do my line, and know when to throw a punchline as people call it but this is something that I enjoy doing. I did it a lot more regularly after that.”
He resides in Fourways but has also gained popularity through his shows in Randburg, Bryanston, and other parts of Johannesburg.
“I usually perform in small kind of places, because I am still trying to make a name for myself so that it extends outside the community.”
He said after he had achieved his heart’s desires, he wishes to perform overseas. “I look up to a lot of local and international comedians, some young, some old, some have been around while some are still starting mainly because they are great storytellers. I look up to Trevor Noah as well, he has been doing amazing.”
He added that he has always been passionate about updating people on the events happening around them through comedy. “It is important to tell these kinds of stories because people get to forget a bit about how it negatively affects them, for instance, the traffic during load-shedding. This is something I always loved.”
To watch him as he struts his stuff, Vijendranath said that he has a website where he keeps people up to date about his comedy specials which is vijev.com.
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