"We live in a world that takes offence", says Andy Zaltzman

Ahead of his stand-up gig today, Andy Zaltzman speaks on his journey with John Oliver, the present state of political comedy, and the Indian circuit

It's not always easy to match a comedian to his writing material. But Andy Zaltzman isn't just any other comedian. In 2007, he created The Bugle with John Oliver, a satirical news podcast that found great success globally. And it is so hard to not laugh at Zaltzman's topical pun runs — from fish and trees to Russia and North Korea — that even his sister and podcaster Helen of The Allusionist argues that the family should be tested for Witzelsucht disease, a rare neurological condition where one makes too many puns in socially inappropriate situations.

Asia, by word

"What is there to say about Asia? Chi-know what you're thinking. Do you praise it, Japan it?...We've all got a view on it, even animals. Even my dog has an opinion on it, and Macau. We'd be Laos without it," Zaltzman babbles in one of his Asian country pun runs on The Bugle, before pausing to apologise to co-host Oliver, who sighs in the background.

The Bugle team at the Udderbelly festival in London: (from left) Helen Zaltzman, Nish Kumar, Andy Zaltzman, and Chris Skinner

"Sorry, John, I'm not feeling good today, I'm suffering from some kind of malaise, yeah?" he says. We'll leave you to figure out the pun in that one (hint: Truly Asia). After Oliver quit in 2016, the podcast was revamped with a rotating set of co-hosts from different countries. One of them being Anuvab Pal from India, who Zaltzman will be performing with today along with Anirban Dasgupta at a Bandra venue. "I first met him at a fundraising show in 2012, and it was nice to witness his smart way of doing things. He was also well-informed. Of course, I had a great time all those years with John, and at the end I had a choice whether I wanted to end the show or relaunch it. So getting to do this with a range of different people from all over the world makes for an interesting perspective," Zaltzman tells us.

Politically speaking

It was 1999 when Zaltzman started his stand-up comedy career in London's tiny clubs with an avid interest in political comedy, albeit clarifying that he had no intentions of becoming a politician himself. "In the early stages, my content wasn't that political. Eventually after three years, I found the confidence to do more. Writing for podcasts and comedy for me is now an exercise on generating new ideas," he explains, adding that the biggest learning has been to trust his own comedian instinct. "It's different with podcasts because you cannot hear the audience laugh and there are largely two different audiences. There are the committed listeners and then you've got people who will give it a try, and never return. But the good thing is that it's a mixed group of people from all over the world, so you can build on a following."

But with Zaltzman's seemingly never-ending love for the genre, we wonder if today's political climate has made it more difficult to host one? He remains optimistic. "Today you have a life beyond TV shows, so your content becomes shareable across the globe. This makes it effective to raise awareness on political issues. We live in a world that takes offence, but that hasn't affected me. I do not believe that you should deliberately set out to offend people. That said, you should do what you believe in," he replies.

Laughs in the city

Today, in an effort to crack up Mumbaikars, Zaltzman will be talking of India-Britain relations, and of course, cricket — being a cricket lover and fine writer himself. "There's always the challenge of trying to amuse the Indian audience. So, I'm not going to talk about Indian politics because that's too complicated," he says while mentioning the bustling Indian comedy scene, having interacted with Varun Grover, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba and Aditi Mittal. But Zaltzman would refrain from joining the web show bandwagon. "The style here is really bold. I enjoyed Grover's comedy although most punchlines were in Hindi when I saw him perform. There are too many people competing for web shows while there really is quite nothing like stand-up. I would like to talk more about cricket, and maybe venture into television at some point."

When: Today, 8 pm to 10 pm
At: The Cuckoo Club, Pali Hill Road, Bandra West.
Log on to: bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 499 onwards

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