In 2016, whereas recovering from a fracture and binge-watching stand-up comedy on YouTube, Sweta Mantrii had a revelation: “I’m witty too. Why not merge that with comedy about incapacity?”
This sparked her journey into utilizing humour as a instrument for change.
Sweta, now 36, was born with spina bifida — a situation the place the backbone and spinal twine don’t develop correctly, leaving a niche within the backbone. Simply earlier than beginning college, she underwent surgical procedure and physiotherapy, which enabled her to stroll utilizing crutches. Girls with this situation sometimes attain a top of about 4.6 ft, shorter than the final common of 5.2 ft.
Her foray into comedy was initially impressed by her admiration for Indian comedians like Aditi Mittal, Azeem Banatwalla and Daniel Fernandes. She later explored the work of world comedians, akin to Hannah Gadsby, Taylor Tomlinson, Ali Wong, and Jerry Seinfeld.
Whereas Sweta began with the intention of channelling her private struggles as a disabled girl into comedy, her goal quickly advanced. She wished to show that folks with disabilities cannot solely make jokes but additionally chortle at themselves.
The primary few performances have been downers
When Sweta first ventured into stand-up comedy in 2016 in her hometown Pune, she seen folks usually pulled again after they noticed her on stage. “It was powerful as a result of folks weren’t used to the thought of a disabled girl doing comedy; it was an actual downer,” she remembers.
In the present day, she has carried out at over 300 venues, together with Boka E-book Cafe, Classic Comedy Membership, Traditional Rock Cafe, House Comedy Membership, Hippie at Coronary heart and The Comedy Clubhouse in Pune and has been an advocate for incapacity inclusion for over a decade.
“There’s a working joke in my household, and it’s not me,” she jokes on her WhatsApp standing.
Throughout her early comedy years, each audiences and friends usually requested her why she selected to handle her incapacity in her act quite than sticking to common jokes.
Again then, she was fairly blunt along with her comedy. One in every of her opening traces is, “For those who really feel awkward my crutches, you may ignore them — like your crush ignores you.” Whereas this may look like darkish humour, it was her approach of addressing ableism in the direction of folks with disabilities.
She quickly realised that getting folks to just accept her as a comic book who centres her acts on her incapacity can be an extended journey. So she started her units by studying the room and tailoring her jokes to match the viewers’s temper. It took a while to grasp which jokes landed and which didn’t. “There have been occasions when folks appeared to really feel awkward to look at a disabled particular person go on the stage and get uncomfortable to chortle at their jokes,” she shares.
Wanting again, Sweta acknowledges that her jokes may need been a bit harsh as she was nonetheless studying the subtleties of comedy and efficient supply. Now, she spends the primary couple of minutes easing the viewers into her efficiency earlier than delivering her strongest jokes.
‘Will I even be capable to attain the stage?’
When a comic is obtainable a gig, they normally ask: What number of minutes will I be performing for? How a lot does it pay? Sweta’s issues are centered extra on the difficulty of accessibility: “Is the venue accessible for me? Is there an accessible restroom out there? What number of steps are there, and the way lengthy will it take to get to the stage? Will I even be capable to attain the stage?”
At considered one of her early comedy exhibits, she confronted a tricky setup with a mat that was slippery, making it exhausting for her to handle her crutch. When the viewers noticed her battle, it created rigidity within the room. She remembers that whereas earlier comics had efficiently warmed up the viewers, the vibe of the room modified after they noticed particular preparations made for her.
“Jokes that ought to have landed nicely ended up falling flat as a result of they weren’t used to seeing somebody like me go as much as a stage to carry out comedy earlier than,” she notes.
To sort out this, Sweta eases her anxiousness by making gentle of her battle to get on stage. If the steps are notably steep and it takes time to climb, she jokes, “Oh, thanks for clapping for 2 hundred years, guys!” or “I’m the disabled one right here — what’s improper with you, why did you cease clapping?”
Typically, she even references a well-liked meme from the 2006 movie Vivah, saying, “Jal lijiye, thak gaye honge clap karte karte.” She provides, “If the viewers sees me struggling as a result of infrastructure, I’ve to handle it. If I don’t, it impacts my efficiency.”
Selecting to carry out stand-up comedy is in itself a rebellious act
“The time period ‘stand-up’ in stand-up comedy might be seen as considerably ableist, notably from a disability-focused perspective,” Sweta muses.
“The everyday picture of a slapstick comedian entails a performer standing on stage, which may be at odds with the accessibility-centred narrative we try for at this time. Typically, folks with disabilities are imagined working from residence or, in the event that they’re comedians, acting on Zoom or writing humorous blogs. Selecting to carry out stand-up comedy in particular person is in itself a rebellious act,” she factors out.
Being the one Indian slapstick comedian with spina bifida has made Sweta conscious that her comedy has a deeper goal: to make clear the problems confronting folks with disabilities and to ask her viewers to suppose extra deeply.
In accordance with Mandar Latkar, a peer within the stand-up comedy scene who has witnessed her craft up shut, Sweta excels at addressing powerful points with humour. “Sweta boldly addresses difficult themes, together with her private experiences,” including that she’s not afraid to confront subjects that may have as soon as been uncomfortable for her. He additionally highlights that Sweta wraps up her comedy units with a phase centered on educating the viewers about incapacity and correcting widespread misconceptions.
When requested if she believes her voice has modified through the years to higher join along with her audiences, she responds, “I don’t suppose my voice has modified dramatically.” Sweta stays dedicated to her voice however has refined how she discusses her experiences. “Selecting to not speak about sure issues has by no means been an choice for me, and it by no means might be,” she states firmly.
When she’s not writing comedy, Sweta finds which means in her advocacy work for people with disabilities. Why does she do it? “As a result of incapacity isn’t the issue, accessibility, or the shortage of it, is,” she says.
It was throughout her college years that Sweta first realised how unaccommodating society might be in the direction of folks like her. She vividly remembers a second when a instructor allowed all the opposite kids to play outdoors however advised her to remain within the classroom. “Even my dad and mom let me be a part of the opposite kids in our housing colony,” she rues.
After finishing her postgraduate research at Symbiosis Institute for Media and Communications in Pune, Sweta was supplied a place at Blue Lotus Communications, a PR company in Mumbai. Her dad and mom have been hesitant about her relocating, however her boss made a particular journey to Pune to persuade them. Though she moved to Mumbai, the travelling in monsoon grew to become too tiring, prompting her to return to Pune, and she or he finally determined to stop.
“After I first moved to Mumbai for work, it took me two months to discover a hostel with a elevate,” she remembers. It was throughout this era that she grew to become resolute in her objective to carry consideration to the challenges confronted by folks like herself.
Utilizing her voice to push for larger accessibility
Sweta shares that her dad and mom have all the time motivated her to make use of her voice for change.
Wanting again at a 2007 household journey to Rajasthan, she remembers an incident the place a restaurant employees member denied her entry to the restroom, saying it was just for expats. As a 20-year-old, she was infuriated. “My dad and mom inspired me to jot down to the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister,” she remembers with a smile.
One in every of her earliest initiatives was a challenge referred to as ‘Give Some House’, which she launched along with her buddy Vishal Sawvaant, a wheelchair person. Collectively, they put in ramps on SB Highway, Fergusson School Highway, and close by areas in Pune, making it simpler for wheelchair customers to entry bookstores, eating places, and academic establishments. “The lived actuality of wheelchair customers is so ignored that they usually don’t even have the choice to go to a university to inquire about admission,” she factors out.
In 2017, Sweta and her cousin Nalini Mangwani created an artwork set up referred to as the Restroom Venture. The art work depicted a map of eating places in Pune on a cardboard canvas painted with brilliant blue strokes. The map included landmarks formed like bathroom seats as an example the challenges of discovering disability-friendly restrooms. Opening every commode lid on the canvas revealed whether or not the restaurant was accessible by folks with disabilities, whether or not there have been steps to the restroom or different related options.
When requested about how she sees her comedy progressing, Sweta says that there are numerous facets of her life that she’s but to determine, together with nuances of dwelling with a incapacity.
“I undoubtedly need to speak extra in regards to the function that upbringing and conditioning play within the context of individuals’s notion of individuals with disabilities. Typically, even after seeing me on stage, folks nonetheless consider that these with disabilities ought to keep quiet and never speak about their challenges,” she shares.
Her message to folks with disabilities fascinated with entering into stand-up comedy is easy: “Personal your house and converse boldly. Communicate your thoughts confidently, with out worrying about how others may react. Be your self and don’t change who you might be to suit right into a mould.”
You’ll be able to ebook Sweta for exhibits by contacting her by way of Instagram (@imadmantrii), LinkedIn, or electronic mail at [email protected].
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Pictures Courtesy Sweta Mantrii)
