Comicstaan

Comicstaan is an Indian stand-up comedy competition television series created by Only Much Louder for Amazon Video.[1] The show brings together seven Indian comedians to find the next big name in stand-up comedy.

Comicstaan
Promotional poster
Directed byKhuzema Haveliwala
Presented by
Judges
Country of originIndia
Original language(s)
  • English
  • Hindi
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes17
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Adit Tulsyan
  • Shweta Chavan
Producer(s)
  • Ajay Nair
  • Dhruv Sheth
  • Vikram Singh
  • Kreeti Gogia
Production location(s)Mumbai
Running time55–71 minutes
Production company(s)Only Much Louder
Release
Original networkAmazon Video
Picture format4K (UHDTV)
Audio format5.1 Dolby Digital
Original release13 July 2018 (2018-07-13) –
present
External links
Website

The series premiere, and three following episodes, on 13 July 2018 and, in its first week, Comicstaan became the most watched show on Amazon Video in India.[2] The judges for season 1 were Biswa Kalyan Rath, Tanmay Bhat, Sapan Verma, Kaneez Surka, Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian, and Naveen Richard and it was hosted by Abish Mathew and Sumukhi Suresh.[3] The grand finale of season 1 was released on 17 August 2018 and Nishant Suri, a contestant from Noida, emerged as the winner.[4]

On 6 August 2019, Comicstaan was renewed for a second season.[5] Comedian Zakir Khan was reported to be included in the lineup of judges and mentors for season 2 with Sapan Verma and Naveen Richard not expected to return.[5] Additionally, Tanmay Bhat was dropped from season 2 on 14 November 2018, a month after he was ousted from All India Bakchod due to allegations of inaction against sexual harassment.[6] Season 2 premiered on 12 July 2019 with the addition Neeti Palta and Sumukhi Suresh (who co-hosted season 1) as judges and mentors and Urooj Ashfaq joining as co-host.[7]

Comicstaan Season 2 premiered on 12 July 2019 where it released its first three episodes along with one bonus episode. This season includes Biswa Kalyan Rath, Kaneez Surka, Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian as judges. Reportedly, comedians Zakir Khan, Sumukhi Suresh and Neeti Palta have been included in the lineup of judges and mentors for season 2 and Tanmay Bhatt, Sapan Verma, and Naveen Richard will not return. Also, Urooj Ashfaq has replaced Sumukhi Suresh as host.

The winner of first season was Nishant Suri. The winning trophy of season 2 was jointly shared by Samay Raina and Akash Gupta.

Hosts and Judges
Starring Seasons
1 2
Current
Kaneez SurkaJudge
Biswa Kalyan RathJudge
Kanan GillJudge
Kenny SebastianJudge
Abish MathewHost
Sumukhi SureshHostJudge
Zakir KhanJudge
Neeti PaltaJudge
Urooj AshfaqHost
Former
Tanmay BhatJudge
Sapan VermaJudge
Naveen RichardJudgeGuest

Selection process and format Season 1

In September and October 2017, auditions for season 1 took place in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore in the form of open mics.[8][9] No contestants were chosen on the spot; videos of their performances were viewed by all judges and hosts together before they decided on the best 10.

During the course of the shows, the 10 contestants went through 7 rounds of performances in order to secure a spot in the grand finale. Each round, the contestants performed in a different genre of comedy and, unlike most competition television series, there were no eliminations till the last round.[10] Comedic genres the contestants performed in included anecdotal, topical, observational, improv, sketch, comedy of terrors, and alternative comedy.[10]

Before each round, the contestants were mentored in each genre by one of the judges, who is touted as the expert of that specific type of comedy.[10] The contestants had a week to prepare fresh material and practice before performing that set live in front of an audience and the judges. After their performance, each contestant was given a score, between 1 and 10, by both the audience and all the judges (except for the expert for that round). Each contestant was given feedback by the judges before revealing their score. Two separate scores were revealed to each contestant - an average of the audience's score and an average of the judges'. The mean of both scores became the final score of the round for each contestant. The finals scores were aggregated each round and, at the end of the 7th round, 5 contestants receiving the best aggregate scores were given places in the finale.

For round 4 (improv), the 10 contestants were separated into 2 groups of 5. Each team was scored and their team's score also became the contestant's individual score. For round 5 (sketch), the contestants were paired up and there were 5 performances. Similarly to round 4, each pair was scored, which then became both contestants' individual scores. Aggregates of the points received by all performers each round were given to the mentor of that week. The best mentor was revealed in the grand finale and Naveen Richard came first and Kaneez Surka and Kenny Sebastian were first and second runners-up, respectively.

For the grand finale, the top 5 contestants performed in the Royal Opera House, Mumbai on 20 December 2017.[11] They were allowed to perform in any of the 7 forms of comedy they were mentored in, including a combination of them. They were scored in a similar process as the previous rounds however, the scores were not aggregated with their previous scores. At the end, Nishant Suri, the contestant with the highest score, won the competition along with prize money of ₹10,00,000.[4]

Selection process and format Season 2

On 10 October 2018, auditions for season 2 took place. This year the top 22 applicants auditioned for the judges in Mumbai itself on the main Comicstaan set. Applicants had to submit an application to the comicstaan website and then the shortlisted few (around 100 people) met with producers and submitted themselves for vigorous background checks. The top few were invited to Mumbai to audition for the judges. The judges debated and scored the top 22 and based on an 8-hour grueling debate session, they select the top 10 contestants.

During the shows, the 10 contestants went through 7 rounds of performances to secure a spot in the grand finale. Each round, the contestants performed in a different genre of comedy and, unlike most competition television series, there were no eliminations till the last round. Comedic genres the contestants performed in included anecdotal, topical, observational, improv, sketch, comedy of terrors, and alternative comedy.

Before each round, the contestants were mentored in each genre by one of the judges, who is touted as the expert of that specific type of comedy. The contestants had a week to prepare fresh material and practice before performing that set live in front of an audience and the judges. After their performance, each contestant was given a score between 1 and 10, by both the audience and all the judges (except for the expert for that round). Each contestant was given feedback by the judges before revealing their score. Two separate scores were revealed to each contestant - an average of the audience's score and an average of the judges'. The mean of both scores became the final score of the round for each contestant. The final scores were aggregated each round and at the end of the 7th round, 5 contestants receiving the best aggregate scores were given places in the finale.

For the grand finale, the top 5 contestants perform in any of the 7 forms of comedy they were mentored in, including a combination of them. They are scored in a similar process however, the scores were not aggregated with their previous scores. In the end, the highest scorer wins the competition along with prize money of ₹10,00,000.

Contestants

Season 1

Season 2
  • Shreeja Chaturvedi (from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
  • Joel D’Souza (from Mumbai, Maharashtra)
  • Rohan Gujral (from Mumbai, Maharashtra)
  • Aakash Guptaa (from New Delhi) (Winner)
  • Supriya Joshi (from Mumbai, Maharashtra)
  • Samay Raina (from Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir) (Winner)
  • Raunaq Rajani (from Mumbai, Maharashtra)
  • Ramya Ramapriya (from Bangalore, Karnataka)
  • Devanshi Shah (from Mumbai, Maharashtra)
  • Sumit Sourav (from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand)

Summary

Season 1
Episode - 1
(Auditions)		 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2-8
(Total Score)		 9
(Grand Finale)
Genre none Anecdotal Topical Observational Improvisational Sketch Terrors Alternative none
Mentor Biswa Tanmay Sapan Kaneez Naveen Kanan Kenny
Mentor Score 70.8 79 78 80 83.6 75.2 79.8
Nishant 6.6 7 7.5 8.6 8.2
(8.6+8.8+7.3=24.7)		 9.4
(Paired with Shashwat)		 7 9.8* 56.9 9.2 Winner
Rahul 7.5 6.5 8 8.5 7.4+1=8.4
(6.2+7.7+8.2=22.1)		 9.2
(Paired with Prashashti)		 9 8.8* 58.2 8.4 Runner-up
Prashashti 8.3 7.8 7.4 6.5 8.2+1=9.2
(8.6+8.8+7.3=24.7)		 9.2
(Paired with Rahul)		 8.4 9.5* 57.5 7.9 2nd Runner-up
Saurav 7.7 7 9 8.2 7.4
(6.2+7.7+8.2=22.1)		 7.2
(Paired with Rueben)		 7.8 9* 55.2 7.8 4th Place
Shankar 9.1 7.8 7.4 8.9 8.2
(8.6+8.8+7.3=24.7)		 8
(Paired with Arnav)		 8.4 6.5* 54.7 7.6 5th Place
Shashwat 8.3 6.6 8 8.5 8.2
(8.6+8.8+7.3=24.7)		 9.4
(Paired with Nishant)		 7.2 7* 54.6 Eliminated
Aishwarya 6.4 7.2 7.6 7.6 7.4
(6.2+7.7+8.2=22.1)		 8
(Paired with Sejal)		 7 10* 54.2 Eliminated
Rueben 5.9 7.3 8.4 6.4 8.2
(8.6+8.8+7.3=24.7)		 7.2
(Paired with Saurav)		 7.8 8.7* 53.5 Eliminated
Sejal 9.4 7.6 8 8.6 7.4
(6.2+7.7+8.2=22.1)		 8
(Paired with Aishwarya)		 6.2 7.2* 52.6 Eliminated
Arnav 5.3 6 7.7 6.2 7.4
(6.2+7.7+8.2=22.1)		 8
(Paired with Shankar)		 6.4 7.5* 49 Eliminated
Eliminated/
Final Result		 none Arnav Shankar
Sejal Saurav
Rueben Prashashti
Aishwarya Rahul
Shashwat Nishant
Mentor Winners none Kenny
Kaneez
Naveen
     Team Bananas
     Team Ek Sithaphal
Red numbers Lowest Score
Green numbers Highest Score
Note (*): This episode score is excluding the Audience's Average Score and only Judges' Average Score.
     Eliminated
     Winner
     Runner-Up
     2nd Runner-Up

Season 2
Episode - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1-7
(Total Score)		 8
(Grand Finale)
Genre Observational Anecdotal Improv Topical Sketch Terrors Alternative none
Mentor Kanan Zakir Kaneez Neeti Sumukhi Biswa Kenny
Mentor Score 79.1 78.7 80.5 81.1 77.2 78.4 84.5
Samay 8.9 9.4 8.3
(7.7+8.4+8.9=25)		 7.7 6.6
(Paired with Joel)		 8.2 8.7* 57.6 9.1 Winner
Aakash 9.5 8.6 7.8
(7.2+8.1+8.1=23.4)		 9.6 7.9
(Paired with Devanshi)		 9.5 8.8* 60.9 9.1 Winner
Raunaq 8.6 8 8.3
(7.7+8.4+8.9=25)		 8.9 8.4
(Paired with Ramya)		 8.9 8.3* 59.7 8.1 3rd Place
Sumit 7.8 7.4 8.3
(7.7+8.4+8.9=25)		 8.9 9.2
(Paired with Rohan)		 6.3 8.5* 56.3 8 4th Place
Supriya 8.1 7.6 7.8
(7.2+8.1+8.1=23.4)		 8 6.5
(Paired with Shreeja)		 9 9.8* 56.5 6.5 5th Place
Rohan 7.6 6.5 8.3
(7.7+8.4+8.9=25)		 8.2 9.2
(Paired with Sumit)		 7 8.8* 55.6 Eliminated
Ramya 7.1 8.5 7.8
(7.2+8.1+8.1=23.4)		 7.4 8.4
(Paired with Raunaq)		 7.2 7.3* 53.7 Eliminated
Joel 7 8.7 7.8
(7.2+8.1+8.1=23.4)		 8.5 6.6
(Paired with Samay)		 7.3 7.3* 53.2 Eliminated
Devanshi 5.9 7.4 8.3
(7.7+8.4+8.9=25)		 6.7 7.9
(Paired with Aakash)		 6.6 9.7* 52.5 Eliminated
Shreeja 8.6 6.6 7.8
(7.2+8.1+8.1=23.4)		 7.2 6.5
(Paired with Supriya)		 8.4 7.3* 52.4 Eliminated
Eliminated/
Final Result		 none Shreeja Supriya
Devanshi Sumit
Joel Raunaq
Ramya Aakash
Rohan Samay
Best Mentor none Kenny
     Team Kadak Khopdis (English Translation: Hard Headed)
     Team Lazy Lakadbagghey (English Translation: Lazy Hyenas)
Red numbers Lowest Score
Green numbers Highest Score
Note (*): This episode score is excluding the Audience's Average Score and only Judges' Average Score.
     Eliminated
     Winner
     3rd Place
     4th Place
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References
  1. "Tanmay, Kenny get together for 'Comicstaan'". Business Standard. ABP Group. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. "Comicstaan emerges as the most watched show on Amazon Prime Video in its first week". DNA. Diligent Media Corporation. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. "Nishant Suri declared winner of Amazon Prime Video's Comicstaan; Rahul Dua is runner-up". Firstpost. Network 18. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. Farzeen, Sana (17 August 2018). "Comicstaan: Nishant Suri declared winner". The Indian Express. Indian Express Group. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  5. Arora, Akhil (6 August 2018). "Amazon's Comicstaan Renewed for Season 2, Taps Zakir Khan". Gadgets 360. Red Pixels Ventures Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  6. Arora, Akhil (14 November 2018). "Amazon Drops Tanmay Bhat, Keeps Kanan Gill for Comicstaan Season 2 Over #MeToo Concerns". Gadgets 360. Red Pixels Ventures Limited. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  7. Sharma, Sampada (12 July 2019). "Comicstaan 2 first impression: Light comedy that requires some patience". The Indian Express. Indian Express Group. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  8. "Comicstaan Open Mic, Mumbai". Insider.in. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  9. "Comicstaan Open Mic, Bangalore". Insider.in. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. Arora, Akhil. "Inside Amazon's Indian Original Comicstaan, Which Wants to Make You Laugh and Learn". Gadgets 360. Red Pixels Ventures Limited. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  11. "Comicstaan Finale, Mumbai". Insider.in. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
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