Sumukhi Suresh: I am blessed with the worst luck and that's the best thing to happen to my comedy career

A creative force to be reckoned with, Sumukhi Suresh is a standup comedian, writer, and actor. Known for her sharp observations, relatable humour, and unapologetic honesty, Suresh has come a long way from her days of improv comedy in Bengaluru.

Having captivated audiences in India with her sharp wit, she recently returned from a successful stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The festival's diverse and challenging atmosphere offered Suresh a unique opportunity to showcase her talent to a global audience.

Beyond her comedic talents, Suresh is also credited with creating the critically acclaimed web series ‘Pushpavalli.' She ticked off a personal to-do list when she wrote dialogues for filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane's latest thriller, ‘CTRL' starring Ananya Pandey.

In an exclusive chat with mid-day.com, she shares her experience of performing at the international festival, advice for budding comics, widening creative horizons and crafting her own path.

Here are the edited excerpts:

What is the biggest source of inspiration for your comedy?
My life! I mean, if you would live my life, make the bad life choices I make, and act on impulse instead of sound thought process, comedy will come to you automatically. I am blessed with the worst luck, and that's the best thing to happen to my comedy career.

How do you navigate the challenges of balancing your personal opinions with the expectations of a diverse audience?
When on stage, I make sure I speak the most honest version of my opinion or take. I also keep things and jokes on me rather than people. This helps the audience to relate the way they want to. When I am writing a movie or a show, I try to layer in my opinions in the smartest way possible. No one likes on the nose preaching.

Did your experience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival influence your approach to comedy in any significant way, such as in terms of material or performance style?
Doing shows continuously, hanging with other comics, and watching other performances made me remember the reason why I love what I do. Edinburgh is a celebration of performance, and it inspires you to try different things with your craft. I definitely came back with new ideas for my next stand-up solo. And I also thought about changing up the style of delivery, maybe!

What was the most challenging aspect of performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?
I did half the run, and honestly, I had a blast. If I had done the whole run, maybe it would have got to me. But I hit the sweet spot with 12 shows.

What were some of the most memorable or unexpected reactions you received from the Edinburgh audience?
I don't stop myself from using Tamil or Hindi on my set just because the crowd won't get it. I am so glad the local audience enjoyed that! For my last show, I made the entire audience dance on ‘Kajra Re', and personally, that was the highlight of my year.

While there has been a notable increase in female comics in India, how do you perceive the overall state of diversity and representation in the Indian comedy scene?
The increase in different female voices has been the best thing to happen to the scene. Gurleen (Pannu), Swati (Sachdeva), Sumaira (Shaikh) have such distinct and young approaches to it that it's made more audiences come out to watch female comics. We are yet to hear the voices of Tier 2 girls, and that is going to change the game when it happens. There is so much gap that still exists. I hope the more the audience opens up to watching more of us on stage.

How did you transition from writing comedic material to crafting dialogues for a digital thriller like CTRL? What were the key differences in the creative process?
I love writing dialogue. I realised that when I wrote for both seasons of Pushpavalli on Amazon Prime. I would've never thought I would be approached to write for a thriller, so I am very glad I was. I learnt a lot, and it helped increase my range of writing.

I like to write dialogues that make you believe that it was almost improvised. That creative process remained the same. With non comedy genres you need to be very mindful of the emotional graph of the character and choose to move the plot ahead rather than concentrating on jokes.

What was it like collaborating with the director and other members of the creative team to bring your dialogues to life on screen?
Working with Vikramaditya Motwane has been on my to do list since Udaan. He is an icon. His writing and his direction is a master class in storytelling, and I am so glad I got to work with him. Avinash Sampath's writing and workstyle are so straight, simple, and clutter free. I relearnt the concept of keeping it simple to keep it fun. Jasmin, Motwane's DA (director's assistant), is the backbone of CTRL, and more than anything, I can't wait to work with her again.

You've been involved in various projects, from stand-up specials to web series and films. Which medium do you find most fulfilling, and why?
TOUGHEST QUESTION! Let's put it like this. Stand-up gives me validation. Writing gives me power, and acting gives me a sense of calm. I need a good mix of all of them to feel fulfilled.

What would you say to someone who is just starting out in comedy?
Do open mics. Be ready to bomb on stage. Try other aspects of comedy too to build your stand-up better.