Stand-up comic Kunal Kamra on Wednesday informed that all his shows in Bengaluru, which were scheduled over the next 20 days, have been cancelled. Kamra gave two reasons behind why the shows have been scrapped, one of which included him receiving threats to shut down the venue if he were to ever perform there. “I suppose I am seen as a variant of the virus now,” the comedian said sarcastically in a tweet, adding a word about Munawar Faruqui, another stand-up artist who was recently faced with a similar fate, wherein all 12 of his shows in the past two months – the latest of which was a Bengaluru event – were cancelled because of threats.
In a post captioned “Cancelling comedy shows 101”, stand-up artist Kunal Kamra wrote, “They [the shows] have been cancelled for two reasons. Firstly, we didn't get special permissions to seat 45 people in the venue that can seat more. Secondly, threats have been made to shut down the venue if I were to ever perform there. I guess this is also part of the Covid protocol & new guidelines. I suppose I am seen as a variant of the virus now.”Kamra had issued a statement when Faruqui's shows were cancelled. He said that comedians were now telling their jokes to their lawyers and showing their videos to a legal team before making them public, which he said was costing them their spontaneity and impulse. "The impulse of any artist to be so calculative...is the slow death of the art form," he had said.