Pune-born Tarang Hardikar performs all around the world as a stand-up comedian, but he grew up as a shy kid.

“When you’re shy you don’t always speak but you observe a lot. That will come out on stage later,” the 27-year-old explains.

This weekend, Hardikar will be performing at the New Zealand Comedy Festival. When he delivers his gig from May 7–9 at Q Theatre in Auckland, it will be his first time performing in the country.

When going to new cities and countries to perform, Hardikar says the nerves are still there, even though he is not new to the comedy world. He started performing in his home country at the age of 18.

“What gives me the nerves is that I don’t know what the style of laughter is here, and I must figure that out during my first show,” Hardikar explains.

He recalls a performance in Prague that had him at his wit’s end.

“I had the feeling the audience did not like my show. But after my show I got a big applause, they were just silent laughers.”

His show in Auckland will start as a reflection on his childhood. He will go on to talk about his school experience and how he wanted good grades but was not able to achieve that.

“I liked observing things when I was a kid and I love to talk about maths, numbers and deconstruction of language.”

Hardikar says childhood hobbies like building pillow forts will also feature in his gig.

The beginnings

As a child, Hardikar thought he would become a musician or a game designer, never a comedian.

“I liked writing music, so I dreamed of becoming a music artist. After I passed that phase I was obsessed with game design, so I wanted to become a game designer,” he explains.

Hardikar started his career at open mic events to build his following.

“I still remember I was so nervous the first time, but at the same time I could not wait to go on stage.”

His first show was an event with poets and comedians.

“I was the first comedian after some poets and I was like, ‘Oh no, what if they don’t like this, because they are not in the mood for this now’. But the audience absolutely loved it.”

Melbourne Comedy Festival

Hardikar performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival last month, where he joked about Subway and how hard it is to order there.

“Because you have to say so many things in a short period of time! I felt nostalgic and decided to put that joke back in my set again in Melbourne,” he says.

Even though his script does not change much when he travels to new places, Hardikar likes to add new observations sometimes.

“When I was in Australia, I went to an AFL game for the first time and it got me confused for most of it. I knew that I was going to discuss sports in my show, so I decided to say something about this experience. The audience liked it, so then I told them my full experience.”

Performing in Melbourne was also one of his favourite experiences.

“A lot of my favourite comedians were on the same line-up. So I just liked to interact with them, and everyone was in such a good mood.”

Another favourite spot for Hardikar is performing in Bangalore.

“In India, we have this running inside joke with comedians. If your joke works for 70 per cent in any city, it will work for 120 per cent in Bangalore. Performing there is always an ego boost,” he says.

Hardikar has a word of advice for budding comedians.

“Please don’t pay too much attention. A lot of people will give you advice and it’s important to filter out the advice. Everybody has their own style of comedy. The only way you figure out your own voice is if you do what feels right to you without following a strict format or rules.”