Nine Indian comedians come together to release web shows as part of the Laughter Games campaign

In a major boost for online comedy, nine Indian comedy groups are coming together to launch nine individual web series on their respective YouTube channels as part of the new Laughter Games campaign.

The creators are a mix of established names and newcomers, such as SNG Comedy, East Indian Comedy, Anuvab Pal, Enna Da Rascalas, Kenneth Sebastian, Random Chikibum, Them Boxer Shorts, Put Chutney and Arre. The shows made under the #LaughterGames campaign vary in terms of the brand of humour, with satire, news comedy, sketches and goofy web series, as well as themes.

"Comedy and music are the two biggest genres of content in India and some of the top original content creators in India create comedy content," Only Much Louder COO Ajay Nair says. "Comedy has taken off in the last two years online in India and will continue to be one of the biggest content genres going forward. The digital medium allows for lots of experimentation with comedy in terms of formats and type of content -- so it's a natural medium to release comedy shows."

All the shows, except for East India Comedy's popular news format show Outrage are new and will have six to eight weekly episodes. Their themes range from SNG Comedy's hypothetical comedy show What If, to Kenneth Sebastian's science fiction Star Trek spoof Starboyz with three "south Indian boys", to Random Chikbum's office humour in Random Daftar. 

The diversity isn't just restricted to themes but also extends humour in local languages, with channels such as Put Chutney and Enna Da Rascalas focusing on south India and being especially popular among Tamil-speaking viewers.

The collaboration not only promises to tickle India's funny bone, but also reflects the massive popularity of online comedy on YouTube. "Besides being amongst the top genres in terms of consumption amongst millennial audiences," Culture Machine founder and CEO Sameer Pitalwalla says, "comedy has grown steadily into longer form programming, from being a short-form sketch based genre." 

Many comedians attribute India's online comedy boom to the lack of relatable shows on mainstream Indian TV. "The only place where you can have uncensored content is stand-up shows and YouTube," Sebastian says. "It is one of the few sources of raw and honest entertainment in India, and that really resonates with the young people."

Appropriately, one of the shows in the #LaughterGames campaign is Arre's satire I Don't Watch TV, which mocks mainstream Indian television's bizarre storytelling and stereotypical characters with a cast of real-life small screen actors.

"We are in the digital boom. We are bored of TV. The Internet lets you watch what you want," Varun of SNG Comedy adds. "You are not restricted by norms and boundaries. People can speak freely and in a fun way."

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.