Comedy and humour, despite being subjective and unique from person to person, has always been a big part of Sri Lankan culture in a variety of ways. Sri Lankan media has always been predominantly equal parts drama and comedy and most of our classic celebrities have always showcased a great talent for it. However, one aspect of comedy that has become a staple in other parts of the world that has not taken off in Sri Lanka is Stand Up.
While some events might pop up once in a while, it is still very niche locally and comedians don’t have the spotlight that they used to which has seriously held us back from international recognition. Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa is exceptional, much like everything else about him.
While he is currently a Berlin based comedian, he has spent his formative years in Sri Lanka. Though his career has him in and around Europe, he still presents himself as a Sri Lankan, representing his country to his international audience. Getting started was a difficult process for any Stand UpComic, but he never faced any discrimination from anyone in Berlin as he mentioned it to be quite an international city. His initial reason for getting into comedy full time was because of its growing English comedy scene.
But Vidura recognises that Stand Up is not that lucrative. Currently, he maintains his day job as a Software Engineer, but hopes to soon make Stand Up full time. Even in cities, such as New York, which has a thriving Stand Up scene, a prospective comedian needs to have at least five years of performing before they can tour and really start their career going, but Berlin is unique in that it was a good place for artistes starting out to get an audience. What would usually need five years, Vidura managed in three and now has a video special and tour in the works soon.
Despite how welcoming Berlin was for his career, Vidura said that it was still underground at the time and for the most part, still is. A comedian would need a strong online presence to even fill enough seats, but now Berlin is showing signs of the Stand Up market soon becoming saturated with new acts. Vidura feels lucky to have got a head start early. He had hoped to start up a tour for his show in London. However, the Covid-19 pandemic put the break on that for the foreseeable future. He said that while he would like to devote himself to comedy, with the tour in the works and a successful comedy special, he needs his day job as Software Engineer to get the visa to tour London as he would need a much bigger audience to get one as an artiste.
His view of the comedy scene in Sri Lanka is mixed, in that he believes that Lankans are hilarious, but comedy does not have as strong of a voice here now than it used to. He believes that while most of Sri Lanka’s comedy might not translate well to an international audience, Vidura is of the opinion that Sri Lankan artistes can make it on the global comedy scene.
While he incorporates his experiences as a Sri Lankan immigrant into his performances, Vidura hasn’t been exposed much to local comedy and takes inspiration from the likes of Dave Chapelle, Richard Pryor and other international comedy greats, creating his own style of audacious and witty, yet topical comedy. He does find some South Asian comedians, such as Jus Reign, of You Tube fame, to be great at what they do.
In the end, his goals for his career are humble in that he would be satisfied in earning as much as he would with his day job and to grow his audience, but dislikes the prospect of having much of an online presence, which is why he refuses to establish himself much on platforms like YouTube. He believes his charm comes through best live and that what little he does do online is only so that he could do off it.