Queensland comedian Sandeep Totlani gets what’s coming to him when he presents his new show ‘Brown Privilege’ at Brisbane Comedy Festival.
“This is my second solo show, and it is about me trying to adjust to my Australian-Indian life,” Sandeep explains.
“In this show, I have no intention of defying my stereotypes as an Indian person, but on the contrary, I try to reinforce them and, in the process, realise my privileges and how to use them to my advantage.”
Having performed comedy in three languages and supported the likes of Danny Bhoy, Zakir Khan, Kanan Gill and Matt Okine, Sandeep straddles Indian and Western culture in his comedy, bringing a fresh perspective and affable persona to the stage.
“It has taken me more than six years to get my show in as part of the Brisbane Comedy Festival and I am really excited to perform to one of the biggest audiences I've performed to so far alongside some of the best acts from across Australia and the world at Brisbane Powerhouse,” he says.
Sandeep’s comedic take on the cross-cultural divide in ‘Brown Privilege’ will give audiences at Brisbane Comedy Festival a whole new reason to laugh and look at themselves.
“I sincerely hope they laugh. Because if they don't, it would be worse than being smacked on stage,” Sandeep laughs.
“But in all sincerity, I hope that the audiences can connect to my experiences and no matter what culture/background they come from, they can realise that irrespective of our differences, deep down we are all the same.”
Born and raised in India, Sandeep Totlani is a dentist and a pizza-eating competition winner. He discovered stand-up comedy when he watched Russell Peters and entered Australia’s prestigious RAW Comedy competition.
Since then, Sandeep has been handpicked among the top five comics nationally in Nova FM’s Comedic Free Thinker Competition 2018, performed at Sydney Comedy Festival Gala, sold out festival shows, been a Queensland RAW Comedy 2018 (MICF) finalist, and can often be seen performing at major Australian comedy venues including the decorated Sydney Comedy Store.
Sandeep discovered how to take advantage of his particular privilege while traversing the many hurdles to gaining permanent residency in Australia.
“I was stopped by cops for speeding and actually got out of a speeding ticket by pretending to not know English because the cops had better things to do,” Sandeep says.
“This is the incident that made me realise that indeed your privilege may not be traditional in nature but rather is subjective. One just needs to discover their own privileges and ways to use them to their advantage.”
Sandeep Totlani plays Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane Comedy Festival) 21-22 May.
