The joke’s (not) on them

In a first of its kind stand-up event, persons with disability are taking chapters from their life for a comic retelling of their stories

“Understand that even though they can’t stand, their under stands”. “Drunken brawl, ran over people All’s good when you’re bhai-polar” — these are in line with the many one-liners that’ll dot Sex and Sexability — a first of its kind stand-up meet on the weekend. Taking a dig at a differently-abled person may be off limits for most comics who otherwise don’t bat an eyelid before cracking a joke about a politico or a religious head, but at Sex and Sexability, that is almost a precondition.

Rohan and his partner-in-crime, Rachana aka Ray Iyer, in association with the We Care Film Festival, came up with the idea of a stand up night dedicated to persons with disabilities. The line-up will include Neenu Kewlani, who is a wheelchair user and an avid traveller, Nidhi Goyal, an author and feminist, who is blind, Gavin aka Chubby Methalaka, who will bring in his perspective as a non-disabled person and Rohan, himself, who has been diagnosed with “six different mental disorders” in his own words. YouTube sensation Robin Lambird, who has cerebral palsy and is known for her beautiful spoken word poetry, will also be contributing a video to the event.

“One of the biggest forms of dissent is through comedy,” says popular stand-up artist, Aditi Mittal, who is all set to host the show. “People with disabilities have to face problems if they want to do something as basic as go out for a cup of coffee, because of accessibility issues. Can you imagine how sad, angry and frustrated they must be I feel that humour is the other side of every emotion and a comedy night is a great idea in that way. I am super-excited to see them all perform.”

In Gavin’s words, “People with disabilities are just as perverted as we all are, they have gutter minds like ours, and they use slang and talk in innuendos the same as us. There is no need to get into pity mode as soon as you see that the person has a disability.”

Ask Neenu. The wheelchair user wants to address the issue of how she and others like her are not looked at as a person with desires and wants — the way other non-disabled women are. “The situations that you get thrown in and the way that people behave towards you will either get you frustrated and make you want to punch them in the face or make you laugh about it because it’s just really funny how they think.” Citing an example she says, “For instance, I go to a shop to buy clothes and, since I’m in a wheelchair, I have a maid who comes along with me. So, when I went to this shop, the guy looks at my maid and asks, ‘what does madam want’, ‘what colours’, ‘what size’. She just looks absolutely stunned. I look murderously at that fellow and I ask him if his maid decides what he wears!”

Co-organiser Rachana had noticed the de-sexualisation of disabled people when she was in college studying Disability Studies. “It has always intrigued me why the crutch, wheelchair or other symbols which have been used to label disability de-sexualise the people who use them. We wanted to point this out but in such a way that people don’t come to the show thinking ‘we have to be sensitised’.”

Rohan also points out that all his comments are attributed to his disorder. “A lot of people who have no clue about mental disorders comment about it. In my case for instance, I have manic phases. But unlike what most people think, these aren’t phases of rage but of very high creativity. I get so much done during this time, that my friends sometimes can’t believe it. Satire is an integral part of any discourse and I think that we all have stories that need to be told.” It is due to this attitude that you’ll find Rohan making jokes about erectile dysfunction — a side effect of the treatment that many go through. “Imagine having to live with that for months on end. These are the things that I am going to talk about because we wanted the whole show to be raw and real without any kind of censoring.” Fortunately for him, this is exactly what the organisers of the show were looking for. “The We Care Film Festival is a specialised festival which features short films and documentaries on people with disabilities,” explains founder director of the initiative, Satish Kapoor. “When Rachana and Rohan approached us with the idea for a comedy night, we jumped at it. We’re going to be screening a couple of our short films on disability and sexuality during the event too.”

The event aims to focus on the practical/physical limitations that persons with disability face and interestingly came across one even during the planning of this event. “We went to cafés, burger joints, auditoriums and smaller venues and found that none of these places were accessible to people with disabilities.” Rachana also recalls how some of the venues, which claimed to be accessible did not have a ramp to the stage or accessible bathrooms. It’s like people can’t conceive the fact that individuals with disabilities can also get up on stage and perform.” Well, they know now.