SEASON 2 EPISODE 7
To speak more authentic Punjabi, I have to include more English wordsComedian Guneet Kaur on travelling in Punjab
Aditya Gautam
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land I'm recording from. I pay my respect to the Cammeraygal people and their Elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the traditional owners from all Aboriginal and Torres State Islander lands you're listening from. Coming up in this
episode.
Guneet Kaur
Because he thought that my partner was paying for everything. and I found out it wasn't because he thought that the man should pay for everything. He was upset because we weren't financially entangled in a way that would make it difficult to leave the relationship. Like to him the idea of marriage
is very much like, it's gotta be hard to leave. And he was like, but you could just leave at any given point then. And then I had to be like, oh. Actually for me to seem more authentically speaking, like in my Punjabi, I need to incorporate more English, was the realisation I had at some point. I
was like, this seems backwards. I remember when I got like that five star review in "The Age" I called my mum. I was like, mum, this is amazing. I got a five star review in "The Age" and she kind of was like, cool, yeah, whatever. And then... Dad hated Bollywood. He hated, he was like, they're three
hour movies and they're ridiculous and no one breaks into song.
Aditya Gautam
Hello everybody. Welcome to Comedy Karma season two. I'm your host, Aditya Gautam. In this podcast I talk to comedians from all over the world who now live and perform in Australia. In today's episode, I'm talking to Guneet Kaur. She is an Indian origin Australian comedian and writer. She's been
performing her comedy shows all across Australia for a few years now. Her debut solo show got a five star review from "The Age" She was also the national finalist for the Raw Comedy competition. We'll talk to her about all sorts of things. Let's start the show with one of her jokes.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I am Indian. My grandma is also Indian because that's how that works. She's been pestering me a lot recently. I say recently... it's been since I was 19. Ever since I was 19 she's been like, when are you getting married? Like you're old. The time, it's running out. She's like, very
conservative. I don't know, she got married when she was 16. It was a different time. She's been bugging the fuck out of me. She's like, when are you getting married? And I thought maybe it was about time that I introduced her to my 6 foot tall Lebanese boyfriend. And I did. And it turns out she no
longer brings up the whole marriage thing. You know what they say, modern problems require racist solutions.
Aditya Gautam
Firstly, welcome to the show.
Guneet Kaur
Thank you. Good to be here.
Aditya Gautam
I really like that joke. The first thought I had was that, man, we all grew up, I think universally with grandparents, or that generation, that was way more just racist and bigoted and stuff. But also I was thinking this whole idea that they were racist or bigoted in their ideas is such a new idea.
That was the normal idea forever since humanity existed. And only like the last 20 years we were like, oh, no, that's not cool, is it? Do you, for me, when I think about that, and when I think about that as a perspective to looking at my grandparents, I go, man, it's all right. They're kind of cute.
They're just a product of their environment and stuff. How do you see that aspect of it?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I, like, obviously, you know, I think it's fun to make fun of.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
Honestly, it is kind of varied because, like, the joke is partially a lie. Okay, peek behind the curtain. Originally I thought that she didn't approve of my boyfriend because for, the one of the few times, that she met him, that was like one of the few times that I'd been with her and she hadn't
actively brought up marriage. But I think later it turned out she was just being polite, you know, like, she wasn't trying to scare off this man. And then when he, when I saw her again and he wasn't there, she was like, so are you marrying him? Like, when, like, it's still on. I was like, the
wedding's still on. I thought for a moment I was off the hook. I was not off the hook at all. But yeah, it's weird because, like, I'm also quite lucky in the sense that I think my family is relatively pretty progressive even by, like, Indian standards.
Aditya Gautam
Sure.
Guneet Kaur
My grandfather, recently was like, he kind of told me, because I'm living with my partner, he kind of said, well, we consider you married. It doesn't matter if you're married or not. To me, we consider you married. And then later, we were talking about finances and stuff, and he kind of was
criticising me for doing comedy. He was like, how are you going to earn money? You know, how are you going to pay for your life?
Guneet Kaur
And I was like, well, I'm already earning money and paying for my life. You know, I'm paying my share of rent and stuff. And he got upset at that, because he thought that my partner was paying for everything. And I found out it wasn't because he thought that a man should pay for everything. He was
upset because we weren't financially entangled in a way that would make it difficult to leave the relationship. Like, to him, the idea of marriage is very much like, it's got to be hard to leave. And he was like, but you could just leave at any given point then. So that was, like... I was like, I
can't tell if you're progressive or not. Like, I don't know what's happening anymore. But I was like, oh, he doesn't mind. I don't. Like, just, like, minds things for the different reasons that I didn't think.
Aditya Gautam
That's actually so interesting and funny to me, because, you know, that was... that's primarily one of the reasons why, like, even now, if you'll see someone making a case for marriage, like some really sorted and smart people, that's the case they'll make.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Like, my sister makes that case for marriage. She'll be like, it's just like, you're so... It's just so much harder to leave. Which is a good thing, she says, because you don't want it to make it easy. And with the finances, too, because me and my wife, we keep our finances separate. And, she... my
sister, actually suggested, you know, you probably shouldn't, because, again, it's... it's like, it just makes it, like, more, you're more invested.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
It's like, man, I don't know if I want to go that far. But I guess I get it, though. Like, where they're coming from.
Guneet Kaur
Sure. I just have never thought that that should be the way I would do a relationship. I would never make it harder for someone to leave. Like, if you don't want to... If you don't want to be with me, that's fine. Doors over there. You know? What? All right. You own half the bed frame. Fine. Here's
$50. I'll help you undo it. You know,
Aditya Gautam
Is your, I don't know, maybe you don't want to talk about your, partner's family is okay with it?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. They've been really lovely.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Okay, sweet. Your grandparents moved to, Australia or your parents?
Guneet Kaur
My parents.
Aditya Gautam
Okay, wait, which, when? What year was this?
Guneet Kaur
1999.
Aditya Gautam
99. Wait, so you were not born. I'm sorry, I'm asking your age.
Guneet Kaur
I was four.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, okay. You were four,
Guneet Kaur
But thank you.
Aditya Gautam
Okay. So another thought that I had when I heard the joke was that, you know, till I'd come to India, and I don't know if you can... I think people can relate to this, but I want to know what your thoughts are about this. Was that I... So we all know Australia can be very racist, right? Like, that's
the outside world perspective even once you're here.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
I was like, all right, Australia can be pretty racist. But also another thought that I have had was that I feel the racism here more because I'm at the receiving end. And in India, also, we were being racist, bigoted, homophobic, but because I was never at the receiving end, I didn't feel it.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Have you thought about that? And, in terms of, like, I'm sure you visit India and, versus there, and I'm sure if you'd lived there all your life. You might have had some episodes where you felt that you were at the receiving end. And you think about it that, you know, it probably would happen
everywhere, but maybe it's... we're at the receiving end because we're brown here.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah. I also feel, like, really out of place in India as well, though. Cos I think I, you know, come from Australia, I've grown up in Australia. I view myself very much as Australian. I can speak Punjabi, but very much in a weird Australian accent. I, like, I just go there and, like, I try and blend
in, but it doesn't work at all. And then I look, like, just visibly different, like, with the short hair and stuff. So people can immediately often tell that I'm not from there, which often I find even a more jarring experience because I'm like, racially, I'm the same as you guys. Why am I being
Aditya Gautam
Treated differently.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, othered immediately, you know? Why do I have to pay the, like, foreigner entry fee for this museum? You know? so I like -
Aditya Gautam
Which, by the way, interesting fact, all museums in India have a foreigner entry fee. Like, a lot of parks and stuff too.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah. So I'm like, what am I, I'm like, well, but I'm Indian. And they're like, mmm not Indian enough. And I'm like, okay. And then I've had that weird experience of being like, well, if I'm a foreigner here and a foreigner there, like, if I'm experiencing racism, it's not racism I guess in India,
it's just a sense of otherness, I guess. If I'm experiencing that in India and then also experiencing that, I guess because of racism in Australia, I'm like, where am I meant to be?
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
Has been largely my experience of like. Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Is it, so, you know, I, spoke to, interviewed Suren in last season and he told me something very interesting was when he first went to Sri Lanka. And he went to Sri Lanka for the first time quite late in life. Like he was already like 21 or something. He instantly, when he went to Sri Lanka,
he was like, oh, shit, this is like, this is where I'm supposed to be. But he's like, that lasted for, like, a very short time because as soon as he started interacting with people, this is exact thing that happened to him. They also saw him as an outsider.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
And so he was like, oh, man. Like, I look like them, but I'm not.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Is it? Is that similar to the...
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, exactly. And there's just, like, other stuff that's kind of untangible or like, you wouldn't necessarily think it, but it just makes you stand out. Like, one thing that I thought was really, silly is I, do this thing right, where, like, in a desperate attempt to try and blend it, if I'm in
Punjab, I'm gonna try and speak as much Punjabi as possible. Is my Punjabi great? No.
Guneet Kaur
But also, that is just not how other people speak Punjabi. Like, if you talk to a Punjabi person living in Punjab speaking Punjabi, they're just gonna blend in some English words, you know, no one is saying "dhanvaad". They're saying "thank you". Right? So when I go around saying "dhanvaad" to
people, they look at me like they've seen, like, this Western-ish Australian person speaking Shakespearean Punjabi. Like, it's like, archaic. I've just said the most crazy thing to them and they're like, why is that coming from you? Do you know what I mean?
Aditya Gautam
That's so weird that you have that experience.
Guneet Kaur
And then I had to be like, oh, actually, for me to seem more authentically speaking, like, in my Punjabi, I need to incorporate more English, was the realisation I had at some point I was like, this seems backwards.
Aditya Gautam
Has it been, ah, difficult just from you personally dating people from other cultures? Or is it like, is it difficult, is it weird or is it not?
Guneet Kaur
For me, I, like, again, like, have grown up in Australia my whole life. I view myself very much as Australian. I'm happy to date anyone from any culture, really. I guess if anything, I've leant a little bit away from dating Indian men in particular, just because, I think my fear was, and I'm sure
this isn't like, you can't, you know, make generalisations for a homogenous group. You can't. I can't say, you know, there's like half a billion Indian guys out there. I can't say what they're all like. But my fear was very much that, like, they would have these expectations of me in terms of, like
what an Indian woman should be and like, more rigid gender roles, I guess. And I didn't want any of that. I didn't want to date someone who was looking for like an Indian wife in particular. Do you know what I mean?
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Yeah. Firstly, you're not the... I've... In this podcast, I've had two other Indian female comedians who said the exact same thing. So you're not the only one. That's why, that's why they stay away from dating Indian men.
Guneet Kaur
Not that I would necessarily like, have ruled it out, but it was just, more. with a lot more caution, I guess, because, yeah, we can admit there's like a good amount of misogyny in the culture as well.
Aditya Gautam
100%. And I guess there's that baggage of you being perceived as an Indian woman and then them expecting certain things, because of that.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah,
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, for sure. Is it then is it like. Because I'm asking more because I haven't really dated anyone who's non-Indian. Is it then also kind of fun dating from some... another culture? Because you get like this insight to their... Like, for example, right now you're dating, someone who's Lebanese
because it's such a different culture. Like, so are you like "oh, this is fascinating". Like how they do things and how about their food and other stuff. You get to -
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, absolutely. And like, I think cultural differences are fun. I also feel like cultural similarities are fun. Like, I actually didn't expect this, but I think Lebanese culture and Indian culture have a fair amount of overlap. There's like a lot of hospitality in both cultures where, like, if you
go to someone's house, they're gonna feed you. Well...
Aditya Gautam
They'll force feed you.
Guneet Kaur
Like, there's stuff like that where like, yeah, I think, you know, family's important, that kind of stuff.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Nice. Sweet. I, will play your second joke.
Guneet Kaur
Are we all getting those scam texts recently? Like the ones that are like, oh, your package wasn't delivered. Yeah, I've been trying to work out who actually, like, falls for scams, but then a friend of mine, he fell for a scam. His one was a bit more complex, though. He was messaging someone online
who he hadn't met before, right? It's getting a bit flirty. It was getting a bit steamy. And they, were messaging back and forth. And she asked for a dick pic. Which, by the way, is your first sign that something's up. She hasn't met you, she doesn't want to see it, okay? She has met you, she
probably still doesn't want to see it. I dunno. Sometimes I'm having sex with a guy, but still, part of my brain is like, put it away. But she asked for a dick pic, right? And because this has never happened to him and it will never happen again, probably, right? So he goes all out. Like, he goes
all out, you know, like he's calling up Quentin Tarantino. He's like, we've got a project. He's waiting for sunset hour to get - He's getting the cameras out, the ring lights out. He's doing everything, you know, Like, he's going the whole nine yards. Sorry, the whole five and a half inches. Like,
he's going as far as he can go, okay? He's going for it. And then he finds out that the person he was texting, right? It wasn't even a woman. It was just someone who wanted to blackmail him. Yeah, pretty terrible. Pretty awful. It is the first time someone got scammed, though, because the package
was delivered.
Aditya Gautam
That's funny. You know why that was extra funny? Firstly, I'm hoping, when we do actually edit it, I don't know how much we'll have to beep out. We'll find out. But extra funny to me right now because I got scammed three days back.
Guneet Kaur
Did you?
Aditya Gautam
Yes. $2,000.
Guneet Kaur
How do you get scammed for $2,000?
Aditya Gautam
It's so stupid because the... When I'll tell you, you'll realise the only person who comes out looking bad in this story is me for being dumb. I got a WhatsApp message from this cousin's sister of mine in America. So it was her photograph. Her name was written there. Meenu Sharma. That's her name.
Guneet Kaur
Yep.
Aditya Gautam
And it was an American phone number. And she was like, hey, how are you, doing these days? I was like, hi, I'm fine. Haven't spoken to her in a few years. But, she was like, oh, actually I haven't... but she's a close first cousin. There is an emergency. I need to send some money to India to
someone as medical emergency. Can you help me out with it? I'll pay you tomorrow. I was like, I was just so surprised that someone in my family thought I could help financially that I was like, I have to take this and do it. Cause like, no one in my family thinks I am financially stable.
Guneet Kaur
Oh no!
Aditya Gautam
So it's like, finally someone thinks... I immediately transferred the money.
Guneet Kaur
Do you think you'll get it back?
Aditya Gautam
Oh, I'm definitely not getting it back.
Guneet Kaur
Oh, God!
Aditya Gautam
Because I also transferred it from like an Indian account to them.
Guneet Kaur
Oh, no.
Aditya Gautam
And as soon as I transferred it, sent them a screenshot. This person, whoever... No, they were like, oh, thanks for this, but can you actually transfer 1.7 lakh rupees more and I can transfer you 2.7 tomorrow? And that's the first time in my head I was like, oh, is this a scam? Because before that
it didn't even cross my mind. And then I was like, I was looking for a number. I texted her and she was like, no, I never messaged you. I was like, oh, shit, I just got scammed.
Guneet Kaur
See if you can call your bank or something. Oh, that's terrible.
Aditya Gautam
Have you ever been scammed?
Guneet Kaur
I don't think so.
Aditya Gautam
Okay, that's good.
Guneet Kaur
There's been like one or two close calls.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Is it? I wanted to ask you, is this a real story?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah. Yeah. I met someone who told me that. Yeah, the thing happened to them. Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Is it tricky doing a joke about something that has actually happened? Like, what. How did this joke even come to be? How did, how did you make this joke?
Guneet Kaur
Literally I was talking to like, a friend of a friend at a bar who told me this happened. And I thought that was like, I guess, it's quite nice because, like, people don't normally, tell you something so vulnerable.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
But I thought it was really funny and it kind of stuck with me. I think I was telling my partner about it and he basically ended up giving me a punchline. And I was like, all right, cool, this is just the joke done then. And then I ended up, you know, fleshing it out. But yeah, I was like, oh. Like,
yeah, it just came together because it was definitely someone else's story, but also I thought it was funny, so I took it.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, I think you can take it.
Guneet Kaur
And it's... Yeah, I feel like, as you say, like, everyone's. It's happening to everyone. Like, it's so common, and I think it's only gonna get worse with, like, AI and everything.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, 100%. Is it... So when you're, doing a joke like this or working on a joke like this, what is it in your head? Do you... And you said your partner gave you the punchline. Do you... Do you still sort of workshop it in open mics and try to, tweak it or... This is one of those jokes, you're like,
ah, okay, I got it. And then you keep it like this.
Guneet Kaur
A bit of both, but for this one, I definitely workshopped it a bit. Tried to, like, you know, get the rhythm of it, add a punchline or two here and there.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, just, like, add tags, add little things until it's kind of where you want it to be.
Aditya Gautam
Okay. Would you... At what point do you go, okay, this is done. I don't want to work on it anymore?
Guneet Kaur
I don't know if there is an exact point, because sometimes, like, I'll, say, for example, I'll write a joke, right? And then maybe two years later, I'm like, all right, I guess I'm doing a show, a solo show. At that point I may then be like, all right, well, I haven't touched this joke in two years,
but can I relate it to another joke? Can I add something to it? Can I, you know, tweak it so if it's better in the show or whatever?
Aditya Gautam
Sure.
Guneet Kaur
So, like, yeah, even, like, a joke that I did, it was one in my RAW [Comedy] set. So I've been doing it for at least, like, four or five years now, and I haven't done it in years. I've started doing again recently just because, I'm writing a new joke that fits really well with it.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Guneet Kaur
And I'm like, okay, cool. Well, I guess, you know, I can, you know, add on to it and play with it.
Aditya Gautam
Sure.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah. So I don't know if there is a set amount of time. I'm always happy to come back to stuff and add to it, bring it out of the closet, dust it off, give it a new, you know?
Aditya Gautam
Would this be one of those jokes? Because it seems like, again, scamming is just such a big topic and it, it's happening more and more now. It happened to me. It's happening to everybody. There's so many different threads you could take to it, right? It's like, because I always think, like I was
even doing this joke, in some of my shows that connected, to some joke that it's so easy for old people to get scammed, because they don't know anything about anything, when it comes to technology.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
But now that I've gotten scammed, I don't know if I can confidently say that, that it's just old people. I think it's all of us can get scammed. Is it, so, would it have to be like, do a lot of your jokes are connected to like, real life events, or like stuff that's happened or stuff that you've...?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I guess so. I guess a lot of it is observational and like, a lot of it is like stories about myself and then stories about other people I know. But I also do other stuff, I guess. I think, I think I'm a bit all over the shop. Like. Yeah, my... I did a solo show recently called 'In Defence of
the Pigeon' and a lot of it was like animal based jokes, which was fun to do, but, yeah, usually, I guess, especially in a club set, it's going to be more about me.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. Animal based jokes is just like. It's just. You're just coming up with like just a funny thought and you turning that into joke versus like a real thing that's happened and you're turning into a joke.
Guneet Kaur
This is gonna sound so nerdy. So the show, I think I was like, all right, it'll be fun to play with, like the fact that I've got a psychology background and stuff. So I, did a bunch of, I pulled a bunch of, like not just articles, like news articles and stuff, but also like research things, about
pigeons and about rats. And I was like, making jokes about that. So...
Aditya Gautam
Because you're into rats and pigeons?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I just think they're cool.
Aditya Gautam
So interesting.
Guneet Kaur
I was like, people think they're pest animals. I think they're nice. And that was also part of the show was, me advocating for them. But like, yeah, some of it was just like, you know, like playing with words or whatever. But other parts were like, oh, this is a real thing I read. Here is either why
I think it's funny or here's what's wrong with it? Or here is, you know, me making a joke about it.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. So you're still sort of picking on like this weird interest of yours, which is an actual interest, and then taking funny out of that.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Okay, cool, cool, cool. So it's kind of still rooted in, I don't know, reality or whatever.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I think everything I write is probably rooted in some kind of reality.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, okay.
Guneet Kaur
I don't know.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. What... Sorry, go on.
Guneet Kaur
No, no, I was gonna say maybe I've got some jokes that are, I guess essentially, like based on a story but so, like devolved completely. Do you know what I mean?
Aditya Gautam
Sure, yeah, that happens sometimes because it just takes you...
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
The funny takes you to this weird place.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
What made you want to start comedy in the first place, and do this weird thing about, like trying to make things funny? It's a weird thing.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, absolutely.
Aditya Gautam
Why are you doing it?
Guneet Kaur
Like, for me, it was an accident. I didn't mean to. I've been trying to stop and I don't know how! They won't let me! No, a friend of mine, she started, she signed up for like a comedy thing and she was like, why don't you sign up as well? And I was kind of was like, sure, I'll sign up. No one is
going to put me on. No one who knows who I am. This, like, this sign up thing looked curated as well. So I was like, fantastic, I'll sign up. And I can say that, you know, I did something nice for my friend out of solidarity and no real consequence will come of it. And then they put me on and I was
like, shit. And so I panicked for like a while. I like got, again, really weirdly into it. Like, I was too into the research aspect of it. I quite like research, is what I've learned about myself recently. So I like... I went to see comedy live. I was like, I'd already seen, you know, stand up on
Netflix and stuff, but I was like, all right, I'll go to some live nights, see how it is... See what the difference is. See what the... See how it's different. I, wrote out a set, I performed it in front of like two friends, took notes from them, and then I actually, after that did the actual gig
that I had a five minute spot for. And then of course it went really well. It was like, you know, the perfect audience as well. It was like a very like left wing women's comedy night vibe. And then after that it was just kind of like chasing that high again of doing a really good set. It was the
adrenaline.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. That's it. You're hooked.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
I guess first gig being really good is like the death nail.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
You can't never stop after that anyway.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I think, like, any comedian who's had a really good first gig is just, you know, like, you're gonna be chasing that again and again.
Aditya Gautam
What keeps you wanting to do it? Is it... Which part of comedy is it the part that you enjoy the most if you had to pick one?
Guneet Kaur
I don't know, because I... I want to say performing because that's like, the most fun part. Right. But I think I also really like the writing, so I don't know how to pick between the two. They're both really good.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. Because you just said you really love research. So is that all, like, a really fun part for you? The researching the joke and trying to...
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, I think that can be fun. Yeah. Like, yeah, research, writing, I think that's all kind of in the same vein, but, like, yeah, I think I could very happily, if I had to quit stand up, I would really struggle with that. But if I feel like, I could do well writing jokes for other people quietly.
Aditya Gautam
I think I'm the same.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
I've thought about it and I wouldn't. I would be okay to stop doing stand up, but I want to keep writing jokes.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah. I think that's where I'm at too. If it was the vice versa, if someone was like, well, you can keep doing stand up, but none of the writing's yours, I don't think I would want to do that at all.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, agreed. 100%.
Guneet Kaur
So maybe if it was clear cut, maybe the writing aspect is more important than the performing.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. How are your you know, Indian parents and grandparents, how are they... You obviously already alluded to them being fairly progressive. But, when you started taking stand up a bit more seriously, I'm guessing, which is a few years into it and started doing your solo shows and stuff, how is
their perspective, towards it?
Guneet Kaur
I think the vibe is that I should move on to something more stable. And I think, honestly, I'm gonna be doing this until I'm like 80. And they're still gonna... God bless, they're gonna be 120. They're gonna be calling up, being like, why haven't you found something, you know, more reliable? I don't
know. Like, yeah, they've always. And I understand it like, you know, it's out of love for your kid. You want them to have, be settled in life.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
I think my mum just wants me to do like a 9 to 5 and I haven't done that yet. I haven't found like a career career, I guess, aside from comedy. Like I do, I have a day job. I do disability support work. I think she'd love for me to move into something where I can climb some kind of ladder.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Guneet Kaur
Which I've not done. But otherwise, like, they can be supportive. But also it's just like the thing I think sometimes about like family is they don't really know what's important. Do you know what I mean? I remember when I got like that five star review in 'The Age' I called my mum I was like, mum
this is amazing. I got a five star review in 'The Age' and she kind of was like, cool, yeah, whatever. And then 20, 30 minutes later I got another call from her. I got a call from her and I'm like, okay, weird, because we've just spoken, whatever. She's like, Guneet, I'm looking here. And a lot of
the other shows, their reviews, some of them have like two stars or three stars. It's not just that. They're not just handing out all five stars. I'm like, I know that. But she, for whatever reason, didn't know what like that meant to me and was like, okay, you know, it's some publication, whatever.
In her mind she was like, oh, I guess they're just handing them out. And then later she had to be like, wait, there's only one or two other shows that have a five star review. This is actually quite difficult to get five stars it looks. And I was like, yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you is I
did really well.
Aditya Gautam
Then she was impressed.
Guneet Kaur
Then she was impressed. It took her like an hour.
Aditya Gautam
That's so funny to me obviously, because again, being a comedian, I was like instantly impressed by the five star. Because we're chasing that five star.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, exactly.
Aditya Gautam
And it's so hard to get.
Guneet Kaur
Like, yeah, I was like getting like, you know, congratulations messages from all these other people. I told my mum and she was like, ah, okay, cool.
Aditya Gautam
That's funny. Have they seen you perform?
Guneet Kaur
No.
Aditya Gautam
Do you... Is that intentionally not wanting to invite them or...?
Guneet Kaur
Like, yeah, I can be a bit, the material could be a bit much. So just kind of have told them probably best not to go, but maybe one day I'll write like a PG rated show.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
And that'll be fun.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. Is it, is it one... one of them which you'd be more okay with coming to non PG rated? Like, for me, I'm thinking about it, like, I'll be okay with my mum coming to like a non PG rated, but not my dad.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, right.
Aditya Gautam
Like, I think my dad would get really uncomfortable if it was not PG. But my mum I think will be fine. Like, it's weird.
Guneet Kaur
I think my mum would probably do better as well. Not that dad would be uncomfortable. I just don't know if he'd enjoy it. Yeah, I feel like he'd enjoy my comedy less, which is like, fine. Different strokes for different folks.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, fair, fair. Okay, cool. I will play your third joke, which is...
Guneet Kaur
I don't think this is relatable. But let's pretend that it is. You know how every now and then someone will come up to you and say something to the effect of, you know, how you're autistic, right? I kind of brushed it off the first couple times and then around the third time I was like, wait, is
there something other people know about me. That I don't know about me? I think, you know, we're in a period where, like, people are realising now, you can still have autism. You can still be smart, you can still be funny, you can still be sexy. So I was trying to work out why
it bothered me so much. And I think the reason, or at least part of the reason is right, like autism is associated with worse social skills. Like a lot of autistic people don't understand social cues intuitively, right?
Guneet Kaur
And when I say something rude to someone in conversation, I would love for them to know I mean it.
Aditya Gautam
Man, out of the jokes we played, my favourite joke out of the three, because I, I love it when comedians say something in the joke which is so honest. And I freaking love that moment. And I felt that moment is that final punchline of you saying that I want them to mean it. Is it... How... Okay, so
I, I was thinking about it when I heard this joke that comedy seems to attract mostly people with some sort of mental issues or like, you know, problems, neurodivergence, something. Yeah. Ah. And it's, but it's a tricky thing to talk about, on stage because you're kind of dealing with it in your
head. But you want to talk about it because you want to be real and you want to be raw, but also you don't want to traumatise, people who are listening. It's, like, a very weird thing to talk about. Mental illness. Is it something you'll find, because you, again, like, most of your jokes seem to be,
like, very real, and very honest. Is this something you find it easy to talk about? Or you have to find ways to make it work?
Guneet Kaur
I don't find it difficult to talk about, but at the same time, I'm also, like, careful, not to, like, as you said, trauma dump on stage. You never want to talk about anything that is, like, too fresh or if it's still actively upsetting. Obviously, you want to give, like, people say in that thing
What is it? Trauma plus time equals comedy or something like that.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
The time component is very real. So, I think, yeah, like, I can talk about stuff that... Anything that might be upsetting, even. But it needs to be at a point where I'm no longer upset by it at all, even slightly.
Aditya Gautam
Okay, that's interesting.
Guneet Kaur
And then, yeah, I'm not really particularly upset about any of my mental health stuff. I'm pretty comfortable and cosy at the moment, which is good.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. Is it - so I did a clowning course recently, like, a workshop two day, and that's what they kept saying in that clowning workshop, too, that you, you didn't, you never want to talk about or portray any of your traumas and dump it on stage. You need to deal with it first and then portray it or
talk about it. But also, because I've been thinking about it for myself, that also there's, there's an element that you want to tap into when you're doing comedy where you're tapping into, like, the raw and real. Like. So have you heard of Tig Notaro?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
So, you know, this. This thing of hers that had gone viral, this set of hers where she, she'd gone through a lot of things in that one year. Her mother had passed away, she'd gotten cancer. And then she spoke about it on stage. And, it was so raw and it was so real and it was so funny. So there's
sort of a balance where you do want to make it raw and real, but also. Is that something like, you're still sort of something you're striving to do in the future? Something you've thought about, how to do that?
Guneet Kaur
I don't think my goal is to make the most raw comedy ever. At the moment, anyway. I'm just trying to have fun right now, I think. But also like, you do want to be yourself. And I think every joke that I write is like, I'm writing it in my own voice. Do you know what I mean? And so... But I also
like, in the way that I am quite blunt, I'm quite like, I'm always very much me. Like, I have friends who are like, oh, if you want an honest opinion on something, something you should ask Guneet, for better or worse, she'll like tell you, you know. So like, and that's also just kind of comes across
I think in my writing as well, when I'm writing for me. So I think that's kind of how my material reads anyway.
Aditya Gautam
So, who are your, sort of... Did you have growing up, did you have sort of comedians you looked up to or what was... Actually I wanted to ask you, what was humour like when you were growing up at home and stuff? Was it like, how did you get like, what was your exposure to humour in general?
Guneet Kaur
I don't think there was like a lot of it. I don't really remember. Like, this is the thing about like accidentally falling into comedy rather than being one of those comedians who grew up watching it on TV and seeing the gala and wanting to do it. I couldn't tell you comedians that I watched a lot
that I was striving to be like. I remember Kitty Flanagan on the TV I guess when I was younger on 'The Project' and stuff. That was nice. Dave Hughes. That's also crazy is like when you end up with lineups of people that you saw on TV growing up. But at the same time I didn't have comedy influences
too much as a child. Except maybe in writing, more from a writing aspect, I really enjoyed comedy writing. I remember reading Douglas Adams, who is a sci-fi writer and just so funny. Like some of his books were just like laugh out loud funny at certain points. And I didn't know that you could
actually... you were like allowed to write books like that. And I remember being like, oh, I want to write like this. And I remember my English teachers at the time being like, yeah, try not to though because, you know, it's hard to do comedy writing. So just like leave that for now. And I was like,
okay, I guess we won't do any comedy writing. But I do remember like actively looking for that kind of stuff. I really appreciated, yeah, comedy writing more than comedian comedians, which I guess I just hadn't found.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. The thing about comedy is, versus maybe some other genres is that it comes across as very easy.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
But when you do it, you're like, it's so hard.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, absolutely.
Aditya Gautam
But it does come across as easy, which is part of doing it right. It has to come across as easy.
Guneet Kaur
Well, yeah, it's like when you see, an actor acting, it's like if you notice that they're acting, you know?
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Guneet Kaur
It's like, oh, Ah. Ideally, a good performance is you forget they're performing, right?
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Yeah. Did you have any, like a... Were you watching any, like, Indian Punjabi content growing up? Or was it mostly Australian TV and stuff?
Guneet Kaur
Mostly Australian, honestly.
Aditya Gautam
Bollywood?
Guneet Kaur
Dad hated Bollywood. He hated it. He was like, the three hour movies and they're ridiculous and no one breaks into song. And, he hated the surrealism of it. He couldn't get past it. So I think we'd watch the odd one that my mum bought home. But really not much Bollywood at all. Just because dad
hates Bollywood, and respect to him for having a vendetta and sticking to it.
Aditya Gautam
That's fine. So I think about this... Mostly I realise probably, it's stupid of me too, but I do. And so I wanted to ask you if that crosses your mind and if you think about it, like on stage, that, like, even at the back of my head, maybe it's not very conscious, is that I feel like I might be
representing when I'm doing comedy, I'm representing India, Indians, brown people, men. And I was thinking, do you feel that with, like representing, you know, Indians or queer people or just women? Like, do you have this thing at the back of your head when you're performing?
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, absolutely. I really hate when I'm the only woman on a lineup.
Aditya Gautam
Because you're definitely representing.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so then like... And that also happens quite frequently as well. I think the only thing worse than having, one woman on a lineup is having none. But, the pressure of being the one woman is... If I'm just having a bad day, if I'm tired, you know, I'm just trying new
material, the material doesn't quite land. Then I feel like I'm therefore reinforcing these stereotypes that women aren't actually funny. And it's like, oh, I'm not doing that. Women are funny. I'm just tired today, you know,
Aditya Gautam
That's gotta suck, having that weird pressure.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Because I don't feel that. I always have eight men with me.
Guneet Kaur
Well, that's why I love running 'The Other Girls' [comedy night] as well, is because, then I just put one man on per show, and I'm like, see, this is how it feels. Enjoy being the token man of tonight.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, it's so funny that you do that.
Guneet Kaur
Well, it's been a really fun exercise in empathy, I think, for men, because, like, a lot of them get there and they're like, wait. Like, they're just looking over all their jokes. They're like, what do women like? Will they like this? Like, they're just, like, pacing back and forth like. Yeah, this
is kind of what it feels like.
Aditya Gautam
That's so funny. Yeah. What are your plans for stand up in the next one or two years? What... What's... What's the goal? Or what are you planning to do?
Guneet Kaur
Probably, write another show at some point.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Guneet Kaur
I've just finished a, well, I guess a national tour. I've just finished a national tour. So, going to rest for a minute. Yeah, take maybe a few weeks off. Chill out. But, yeah, write another show. I'm touring a bunch more this year, actually. I forgot that, when I said that I finished a national
tour. I'm not doing my solo show as a tour. I'm touring with, some other people. So gonna have a lovely time doing that and, you know, seeing... It's a regional tour, so just seeing lots of regional cities.
Aditya Gautam
Nice.
Guneet Kaur
Should be fun. Looking forward to that. And then, yeah, just making more jokes, doing the grind.
Aditya Gautam
Sweet. If people who are listening to this want to follow you, what's your handle? Where do they find you?
Guneet Kaur
@guneet_ofkaurse Of course. which is a pun because my name is Guneet Kaur.
Aditya Gautam
It's nice. guneet_ofkaurse.
Guneet Kaur
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Guneet Kaur
On Instagram.
Aditya Gautam
Thanks for doing this, Guneet.
Guneet Kaur
Thank you so much for having me.
Aditya Gautam
It was a fun chat that, and, hope you do great things in comedy.
Guneet Kaur
Thanks so much.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Thank you, everybody. Thanks for watching Comedy Karma Season 2 with Guneet, Kaur. I'm your host, Aditya Gautam. Go see other episodes where I'm interviewing other comedians from different parts of the world. Otherwise, have a good life. Have a good, time. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Comedy Karma is
an SBS original Podcast. It was created and produced by me, Aditya Gautam, with editing help from Tarun Tyagi. I would like to give a huge thanks to the SBS teams at the Melbourne and Sydney offices, and to Joel Supple for her guidance. You can find Comedy Karma on SBS or on any other platform where
you get your podcasts. Go listen to more episodes and listen to more jokes. Go do it.
