Get ready for your funny bone to be tickled as international comedian Trevor Noah is slated to visit India this April.
Noah's Loud & Clear Tour 2020, comprising two shows, will be held in Mumbai and Delhi. Tickets for both the shows were sold out in less than 48 hours.
Tickets to the Mumbai show, scheduled for April 9, were sold out within 44 hours of the pre-sale.
The pre-sale, which was exclusive to the registered users and BookMyShow Superstars (a benefits programme for exclusive deals and content), opened to massive demand, with over 50 percent tickets being sold in the first three hours.
Noah's fans in Delhi were not far behind with over 50 percent tickets to the show, which is scheduled for April 11, being sold out in less than two days.
What is more interesting is that the Category '0' which is the category of seats that is closest to stage and is priced at Rs 9,000 in Mumbai and Rs 8,500 in Delhi was sold out first in both cities, followed by Category '1' which is priced at Rs 6,500 in Mumbai and Rs 6,000 in Delhi.
Talking to Moneycontrol, Swaroop Banerjee, COO, Zee Live, explained that the popularity of OTT platforms has given the comedy genre a massive boost.
"For OTTs, comedy is the biggest genre. Majority of their original content is comedy. Around 30-35 percent of the overall OTT genre shows are comic. The amount of people watching comedy on OTT platforms and the number India delivers on these platforms is so large that more and more international stand-up artists are looking at India realising that there is a fan base in India," he said.
He added that the Indian promoters or the organized segment is looking at comedy as mainstream.
"So, we are seeking more and more comic acts. Live Nation, a global live entertainment company that has one of the largest rosters of comedians in the world is working closely with Indian players and helping in bringing international comedians to India which is why headline acts like Trevor Noah, Russel Peters and a bunch of more people are coming to India," he added.
Before Noah, BookMyShow brought American comedian Aziz Ansari last year. His shows were also sold-out and a after the massive response, a new show was also added.
Ansari's Road To Nowhere was attended by 6,000 people across shows in Mumbai and Delhi.
When Russell Peters came to India in 2019, as many as 20,000 people had turned up to be a part of Peters Deported World Tour.
"When I got Peters, there were Bollywood celebrities like Vicky Kaushal, Janhvi Kapoor sitting in the seventh and eighth rows. Every part of the country is waking up to comedy. We sold out Peters in multiple cities both times (In 2019, Peters had come to India again in October last year). Organized promoters like Zee Live, BMS are investing in this (comedy) genre," said Banerjee.
He also pointed out that while the consumption is higher in metros for live comedy shows, there is traction in smaller markets as well.
"When we do a data dipstick we see that the OTT consumption of comic shows is largest in metros. When I opened the show in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore the response was overwhelming but when I went to smaller towns then I did see houseful venues but they were smaller venues. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune are the top markets and Ahmedabad is entering that list. The pocket size of Indian metro comic consumer is higher. Also, this consumer who watches Kanan Gill, Vir Das and Zakir Khan, is also loyal to international comic artists," he added.
