Daniel Sloss: ‘It’s Tougher to be an Indian Comic than a Western Comic’

The Scottish comedian and global comedy icon, Daniel Sloss, will be making his return to India for the second leg of his “Can’t” global comedy tour, organized by DeadAnt Live. In a candid video call in conversation with Rolling Stone India, he shared his thoughts and opinions about the comedy scene in India and his excitement in having his material reach Indian audiences.

Rolling Stone India: What inspired you initially to bring your comedy to India, and what are you most excited about in performing back here?

Daniel Sloss: I mean, just the response was so insane. Last time the three shows sold out in like, under two hours or something ridiculous. And then people were fucking raging in the comments devastated [there weren’t] enough tickets. When we got to go over, it was genuinely like being in the fucking Beatles. I don’t need to tell you that Indian celebrity culture is fucking ridiculous. To be on the other side of that was something very fucking new. I think the reason why so many English speaking comedians haven’t toured in India is because of ignorance — the same ignorance that I would have had four years ago. People don’t realize how big the Indian comedy scene is, and how long you’ve had it. Maybe it’s not as old as L.A. or New York’s comedy scene, but it’s older than most of Europe’s comedy scene. And Indians are a very savvy crowd. So I’m always happy to speak to a new audience.

Your subject matter has always been called “dark” comedy – which is a term I hate to use because it is so much more nuanced than that. Was there ever a point where you thought to yourself that it might not be the most accessible to Indian audiences?

No… Maybe like, several years ago, or a decade ago, I would have thought that way. When I first started touring Europe and even parts of Asia and Australia, I very quickly realized that laughter is obviously universal. But the things we laugh at, are also very universal. The names might change, and some of the cultural and local references might change, but we are human beings that will fucking laugh at a table or a chair. I was shocked at how little I had to change my jokes around the world. Sometimes, in places like India, you do a joke from one angle, and because it’s so culturally different, it doesn’t resonate the same with the audience. The challenge of that is like, ‘Okay, how do I do the same joke, but from their perspective?’ The main thing I have to focus on is that when they’re laughing, to make sure that I’m not interrupting their laughter because if I do, they’ll stop laughing. They want to listen to the next thing I say just in case — because my accent is so fucking stupid.

I was just going to come to that — not your accent being stupid — but the idea of the rhythm behind your delivery. Many comedians that have come from other parts of the world to perform in India have noticed something similar; where it’s less about the content and more about how snappy you are and how receptive you are to what the audience is reacting to. Are there any other instances where you’ve noticed that certain people in different places react differently depending on your delivery? Or depending on the style in which you’re performing?

Yeah, in Scotland, I can be very shouty and aggressive because that’s what Scottish people are. Whereas in other places a fucking white man screaming at them isn’t something they what they want to see. So there’s a responsibility to make yourself more accessible. I tend to feed off the crowd, you know. Your job is to sort of conduct them. You sort of flow together.

What has been your perception of the Indian comedy scene? You mentioned the language structure in Hindi comedians where the setup is in English and the punchline in Hindi — are there any other observations you have made? Where do you see it heading towards in the near future?

Yeah, well, I mean, what apart from the fact that you can actually get in trouble in your country? It’s fucking tougher to be an Indian comic than to be a Western comic at this point.

I could get in trouble just for having this conversation with you.

[Laughs] Yeah, I mean there are much more challenges to being an Indian comedian and a lot more hurdles and consequences. I find that so impressive. I think it’s really important, you know, that’s why the rest of the world should pay a lot more attention to the Indian comedy scene, because here’s what cancel culture actually fucking looks like. When we talk about freedom of speech, and people throw it around very loosely, it’s very important to understand the gravitas of those words and the effect.

Your Netflix special Jigsaw really hit a personal chord with me. Especially when you said, “Say you only love yourself 20%. Then someone comes along who loves you 30%. You might think, ‘wow, 30% that’s so much!’ But it’s still less than half.” That helped me break up with my ex.

Thank you so much. That has been quoted so much, it’s mad. I can’t even remember writing that fucking line. Like, here’s the thing about subjects — when you write stuff, like you put it out there, you don’t know how people are going to react. I thought that was just a completely gnarly, inconsequential fucking line. And then I start going online and my brother, my fucking wife, they start sending me all these comment with people like earnestly quoting me. Like, guys, that doesn’t make me look like a comedian. That doesn’t make me look funny. That makes me look like a fucking really wise, motivational Love Guru, which I guess I am. But I didn’t fucking mean to be.

Do you expect to be “fixing” more relationships over the course of your India tour?

No, no, I’m here to talk about how much I love my wife and how much I love my son.

What’s one message you’d like to give to your Indian audiences?

Hopefully this is the second step in many fucking steps in my journey throughout India. The plan is to… it’s not a one off, it’s not a two off, like, if this continues to go well, and we continue to get the attention and the support that we’re getting, we’ll keep building and we’ll keep coming back. And it will be a part of every single tour I do. I will always include India. Unless you’re shit, in which case I’ll never come back. So ball’s in your court.