Parvinder Singh, one of the 5 finalists of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 2017 has paved his way to success with his utter wit and humor. He may not have won the Title but he has won many hearts. Popularly called “Amritsar Ka Gabru” in the show, Parvinder is an Engineer – turned – comedian, who can make people laugh effortlessly at his jokes.
He was working with a private company before he got selected for the show and now he has planned to make a life out of his newly found promising career. Even in his school and college life, Parvinder had an artistic knack. He was a theater artist, a comedian and an actor. It was later in his job when he realized that he is not meant for a job but to contribute to the artistic industry.
Ahead of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 2017 finale, we had a chance to interview him. He has shared his experience of the show and his journey from a full-time sales employee to a full-time comedian.
Q: Were you sure about your selection for the show?
I have been doing shows for some time. I even hosted a comedy show for NDTV. Star Plus team called me for an audition in Mumbai. There were many comedians from Amritsar but I got selected first which was a good start. However, I was very skeptical before doing the show on TV as I was looking for popular individual channels such as TVF and AIB. It was only because of the fact that TV comedy is very different than what I have been doing, but then I decided to give it a shot.
Q: Who was your biggest competition in the show?
The biggest competition was undoubtedly Nitesh Shetty. He was the local hero and a threat to everyone. He had all the cards in his deck, it was his audience, he was extremely creative, his personality was impressive, his content was humorous. I guess he was the biggest competition for every contestant in the show.
Q: What were the challenges you came across while doing The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 2017?
It was a little difficult to start with owing to the fact that my genre was storytelling but I had to change it into one-liners jokes, satires.
Q: What’s one context that you absolutely avoid in your content?
I absolutely hate involving fictional jokes where I had to ask my audience imagine something that is not derived from experience. I just can’t do it.
Q: One thing that you did not like about the show and one thing that you liked about it.
We had to sit and watch other performances which in my belief had a negative effect on the performers. I would rather prefer sitting backstage and relaxing before I come to stage, rather than sitting on the stage and comparing my content to other performers. It put a lot of pressure on contestants mind and it was exhausting, but it was the format of the show, so we had to follow it.
One thing that I liked about the show is that there was a fair judgment as all 5 of us who were in the finals were deserving and had our own comedy style.
Q: How does it feel to gain reputation at such a huge platform?
As soon as I reached Airport, I was given a priority check-in because the woman recognized me and said that her sister is my huge fan. I felt like a celebrity and realized that investing four months at this show was worth.
Q: How was your experience with Akshay Kumar during the show?
The actor is enigmatic. He has a different aura. He is extremely caring and makes sure that people are having a time of their life with him. He provides a comfort level to everyone. He is an exceptionally great human being.
Q: When you have not had a very nice day but have a show in the night, what drives you to perform?
I do a lot of meditation and yoga. There are times when my life seems like a mess and I had to perform but as soon as I step on the stage, the thought that people came to have a good time and I have a responsibility to deliver my best, makes me forget everything. The thing is I am my biggest advertiser and if I am unable to make people laugh, they would not come back. The commitment towards my passion drives me to perform as best as I could.
Q: What Is The Best And The Worst Memory Of The Show?
The best memory is indeed the day my family came to watch me perform and Akshay sir danced with them. Three generations of my family have watched him act in movies and we all are his fan. Sharing a stage with Akshay Kumar was literally a dream come true for my family. They were so thrilled that they told me “Tu jeetega nahi jeetega ye alag baat hai but humne Akshay kumar ke saath dance kar liya humara to ho gaya”.
The worst memory was when I came into the danger zone. I guess that was just not my day. Ii had a bad headache and nothing from my meditation to yoga to hugging a couple of people seemed to take my attention off it. I had a very low energy so much so that even judges could see that.
Q: Are You Planning To Do Movies In The Future?
I have always been a theatre artist so naturally, I have thought about it. I want to be a character artist in movies, other than that I am very interested in writing and I want to write movie scripts in the future.
Parvinder Singh’s journey from being a full time sales guy to becoming the Great Indian Laughter Challenge 2017 Finalist is indeed a topsy turvy one but as he said, after this show, his life is definitely going to change and he will surely get the deserving appreciation for his work in the future.
We wish him all the success for his future endeavors and hope to come up with another such interaction for our readers.
Until then, Adios!!
Avni S. Singh