Stand-up comedians for private events in Bengaluru

How a comic's price usually works. It is per show, and it moves with the length of the set, the date, how well known the comic is, and who is paying. A company usually pays more than a friend's party, and December weekend nights book up first. Nobody publishes how comics set their prices, so take this as our advice.

The cheapest way to have a comic at your own party is a newer one from an open mic, messaged directly. Many will do a short private set for a fee you agree between you. This comes from how these bookings usually go. Nobody publishes a rate for it.

If you'd rather see a price before you ask, a comedy magic show is a different act with prices on file, from ₹6,000 (question 3).

Where comics are

• Open mics. New comics get 5 or 6 minutes each. Watch who gets the room laughing, then message them.
• Club nights. More practised comics, with a paying crowd. Clubs in Koramangala and Indiranagar run shows most evenings.
• A club's booking form. One club takes private and company bookings through its own site, and picks the comics for you.
• Instagram. Most comics post clips and take bookings by message. Searches for Kannada comics mostly show lists of names, so start with a clip you liked.

What to ask before you pay

• A long clip from a private show, a home or an office. A club crowd that came for comedy is easier than your guests.
• A clean clip, if you need a clean set (question 6).
• One or two people they've done a private show for, whom you can message.
• Whether they come themselves. An agency can send someone else from its list. Get the name in writing.
• Whether a new comic has 20 good minutes yet. Five minutes at a mic is not the same as a 20-minute set.

What the acts are

• Stand-up: one person talking, with a mic. It lives on words, so the room has to share a language.
• Mimicry: voices of film stars and politicians everyone knows. It travels well across ages.
• Improv: a group making scenes up from the audience's suggestions. It needs a crowd that will shout ideas.
• Comedy magic: tricks with jokes and volunteers from the room. People laugh at what they see, so language matters less.

Rajan on his hour, in Tamil:

In English: if I do a one-hour show, they'll be laughing the whole hour.

Why one magician's stage show starts at ₹25,000 and another's at ₹35,000. Both are comedy magicians, and both sell a show on a stage for a company. Rajan's starts at ₹25,000 for his show on a large stage you build, and the headcount doesn't change it. Pradeep Tyson's is ₹35,000 to ₹70,000 for 45 to 60 minutes of magic and mind reading, sold as clean comedy for a company, and it can end with a reveal of your product or message. He told us his price rises with the size of the show and the number of acts, and ₹70,000 is the most he has charged. Over 100 people adds ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 to his price. For a smaller room his 45-minute set at an adult party is ₹15,000. No comedian prints a fee, so we can't set two comics side by side.

Say who's in the room when you ask. A Hindi set with Kannada and Tamil aunties in the front row means 40 minutes of polite smiles. A comic who knows that can lean on the language everyone shares, often English or Hinglish.

Kannada stand-up exists here, with groups that do Kannada stand-up and improv. Watch a Kannada club night to find one.

For a family that truly splits, Mohammed Idris works in English, Kannada and Hindi, and Rajan in Tamil, Kannada and English. Both are comedy magicians.

• Seats. Close together, all facing one clear wall. A comic who does well with 150 strangers in a club needs a front and a back in your living room too.
• Food. Not during the set. Half the room ends up with their backs to the comic at the buffet.
• Drinks. One round before helps people laugh. After the fourth, they talk over the comic.
• Sound. The kitchen and the kids will talk. A small speaker and a mic fix that. Ask if the comic brings one.
• An introduction. Someone stands up, turns the music off and says who's next. Otherwise nobody stops talking.
• An office of 200. A hall where people sit facing the stage. On a lawn by the bar, only the first two rows hear.

Start by 9 pm. Search summaries of a May 2022 Karnataka circular say loudspeakers aren't allowed from 10 pm to 6 am, except in closed halls, banquet rooms and auditoriums. A terrace or garden set with a speaker after 10 is the risky one, and your apartment association may have its own rule.

• Who checks the set. You won't get a whole set word for word. Ask for the topics and a clean clip, and have a 10-minute call.
• The late shout. After dinner and drinks, an office crowd sometimes asks for adult jokes. Agree beforehand that the comic says no, and who in the room has the final word.
• Crowd work. The comic will talk to the audience. Say who not to pick on (a shy friend, a teenager, the boss) and who will enjoy it.
• It's a normal request. A list of what's off limits doesn't say you think the comic is rude. Good comics ask for one.

Of the three people who asked mytribe for a stand-up comic, one family wanted 20 to 30 minutes at a golden anniversary, with a singer and a host on the same evening. One company wanted 60 minutes, with the comic hosting too.

Ask what happens if the room wants more. Some stop on the minute, some charge for extra time.

• Book the call when you book the comic. If you don't have time for it, ask for their regular set instead.
• For a roast, choose who gives the material. One friend who knows where the line is. Read it before it goes to the comic.
• Think before a surprise. A roast of someone who hates attention can go badly. If in doubt, tell them.
• Filming. Ask before you post the set. That material is how the comic earns.

• Length. What the fee covers, in minutes.
• Clean or adult. In writing (question 6).
• Language. For the whole set (question 4).
• Sound. Whether they bring a speaker and mic, or need yours.
• Travel. Inside the city is often free. A resort an hour out is worth asking about.
• GST. If your finance team needs a GST invoice, ask before you book.

The advance. The three comedy magicians we work with ask for 30% to 50% upfront. No comic publishes their terms. A company that pays in 45 days should say so early, because the comic will usually want the advance before your finance team releases anything.

Direct or agency. Booking direct, you know who's coming and who to call. An agency may add its own fee and can send someone else, so ask for the comic's name and the full price in writing. None of the agency pages we found printed a fee of their own.