Punchlines with Purpose: Sweta Mantrii on Comedy and Inclusion

What does it mean to truly advocate for accessibility and inclusivity? Join us on AXSChat as we spotlight Sweta Mantrii, a dynamic advocate and stand-up comedian, who has navigated the complexities of living with spina bifida while challenging societal norms. From childhood struggles and school restrictions to her parents' unwavering support, Sweta shares her deeply personal journey. Her story is one of resilience and determination as she faces societal ableism and emerges stronger, turning her life's hurdles into powerful advocacy and comedy.

Sweta's comedy isn't just about laughs; it's a platform for thoughtful storytelling and social change. Learn how she masterfully balances humor to address and dismantle prejudices, ensuring her jokes "punch up" at power structures rather than down at marginalized groups. She opens up about the unique challenges of being a disabled woman in comedy, especially in a society still learning the ropes of inclusivity. Sweta's strategies for making audiences comfortable before diving into more impactful topics demonstrate the nuanced way humor can spotlight biases and drive meaningful conversations.

In a digital age, Sweta's insights into leveraging social media platforms are invaluable for aspiring comedians. She discusses the intricacies of balancing online content creation with live performances and emphasizes the importance of representation in corporate gigs. As we wrap up, we reflect on the necessity of authentic storytelling by disabled individuals and express our gratitude to Sweta for sharing her inspiring journey and transformative humor. Tune in for an episode filled with laughter, reflection, and a deeper understanding of the power of comedy in advocacy.

Chapters

• 0:00 Journey of Disability Advocate Stand-Up Comedian
• 11:05 Honest Comedy and Punchline Ethics
• 18:31 Navigating Disability Comedy Boundaries
• 24:01 Comedy and Disability Representation
• 31:48 Closing Thanks and Looking Forward

Transcript

0:00

AXSCHAT Sweta Mantrii

NEIL: 0:01

Hello and welcome to Axschat. I'm delighted that we are joined today by Sweta Mantrii. Sweta is an advocate but also a stand-up comedian. So that you know, you write stuff, you talk about stuff, you entertain people, you challenge them. So Sweta, tell us a bit about you and your journey and how you came to both be an advocate and also how you ended up doing comedy because I love comedy and I think it's one of the best ways to challenge assumptions. So over to you.

SWETA: 0:37

Thank you so much for having me. And to be very honest, it's going to be very tough to answer that question in a few minutes because it's very difficult to summarise 35 years of existence in five or ten minutes. So I'll do my best. So I was born with a disability. I have spina bifida and I walk with a calliper and two crutches. I started walking at the age of, I would say 6 or 7, with the help of crutches and a calliper. And what I can say is, the reason behind doing what I do right now, be it advocacy or be it stand-up comedy, is the roller coaster of emotions that I experienced throughout my childhood and my teenage. So I don't I mean there is not one instance that I can talk about but multiple instances, for example, as I mentioned I started walking at the age of 7, before that my mother and my father would carry me in their arms and take me around. And when I go out people would stare with me and I would not understand why. Sometimes strangers would just come and say, oh my God you have a very strong girl. She is so strong. She is so inspiring, when I was just sitting and having ice cream. I don't know why I was inspiring for having ice cream. And cut to me being in school. I was in a so school for so called normal girls and there was one more disabled girl with me and we had this rule where we were allowed to be in school only when our helper would come in and our helper did not come in, we were sent back because the school didn't want a big responsibility and I understand that comes from a good place of them trying to you know -- I mean, I've tried to be empathic, what I've learned in my journey as an advocate is that I wanted to understand where the other person is coming from, doesn't mean they are right or wrong but understanding helps. So I knew they were scared to take responsibility. I suppose they didn't know how to handle a disabled child or so on and so forth. And when we were sent back home when help wouldn't come, I would question myself, why couldn't I just be on my own in school. I can do that at home you know. And more than that, you know, you have a lunch break and you have a short break in school and the other disabled girl that who was there with me, she was a nice quiet child and she enjoyed being in doors and I was the outdoors going in there and go out in the ground and have fun and talk to everyone and I was told not to go to the ground as frequently, in the lunch break or to have my lunch in the corridor, you know outside my classroom and this is the first time that I was experiencing something of this kind because I am the only child and at home my parents encouraged me to. They took me outside. They got me a cycle with support. I would go and play with the neighbourhood kids. So you know, these things made me angry as a child and the other aspect I would say that going to a family function and interacting with people, people would say, oh my God, like when I would be with my parents they would say, oh my God you have such a pretty beautiful child and I wish God would have been more kind to her and I just would understand and then cut to you know, like this impacted how I of course, viewed myself, perceived myself as an individual and I would say unfortunately, sometimes I also witnessed my parents being a victim of the ableist mindset like, as a family. Like, as a family I would hear them say things not to me but otherwise, that you know, we don't know if she'll get married. We don't know how she will live her life. We don't know this, we don't know that and it just -- it just made me an angry child and it was not until teenage when I realised where my anger was coming from. So these are the psychological aspects that I've spoken about but otherwise, the one physical aspect that really impacted me and I would say that I am -- I don't know if it's the right thing to say, but as a matter of fact that I feel that I'm slightly more privileged as an individual with crutches because I can at least climb steps and go to places with the help of other people. But, in India back in the '90s, we would not have a western style toilet everywhere. Even the most popular theatres, in Punay where I stay, didn't have a washroom to come out and that would really restrict my movement. It was not until I think 2003 or '05 when most places started to include barrier protocols in the interests of -- so that also made me feel left out, you know as to like, oh my God, my friends can go and I cannot go. And these might sound very simple things. But they kind of kept on building up in my mind and one good thing about my parents is that they always mentioned that I think but that we should write to X, Y, Z, person about the state of infrastructure at this place and we should do this and we should do that and we should not keep quiet about this. And I think that became a part of me, where I -- it was just normal for me.

NEIL: 7:11

Yes.

SWETA: 7:12

To not to keep quiet.

NEIL: 7:15

Yes, so that was your pathway into advocacy and self-advocacy?

SWETA: 7:19

Yes, yes. So that's how I started to do advocacy and I have been continuing to do that. However in the context of advocacy, I had released this one film which got a mixed bag of responses on YouTube and I was told that my tone was very harsh as a disability advocate, they were like, how can you crib about certain things and why don't you count your blessings. Your parents are educated, you are educated, why do you have to and all of those things and that's when I kind of questioned myself and I was like, okay, so shall I explore something else to talk about what I feel and that's how I -- my advocacy took on and I took the path of comedy and I don't think I can probably separate the two, you know, there is definitely an intersection, but yes a part of my comedy is definitely talking about the social injustice that I experience. So yes, when I started doing comedy I came across as an angry comic because I didn't know the technicalities of comedy but I have learned along the way. But now I know I've learned how to make the audience laugh and then say what I want to say because we both have to be on the same page.

NEIL: 8:53

Yes, you have to break them in a little bit first, I guess and you don't look too angry now, so I'm really glad. So you know, I love stand-up comedy. And there's definitely a big tradition of stand-up comedy both in the UK and the US. Is there an open mic scene in India or do you have to find specific places to go or where do you deliver your stand up?

SWETA: 9:27

So I am in this place called Punay, a city called Punay which is about three or four hours away from Mumbai, which you can say is the hub of stand-up comedy in India apart from Delhi. Yes, we do have open mics of course. I don't think any comic can grow without going to an open mic and bombing about five times a week. But, yes, so our scene is not as big as the Mumbai comedy scene. Mumbai they have at least four or five open mics every day because like, they have different areas. A lot of comics every area has their own clubs or venues. I think I would say, more mics on the weekend, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and about two mics on the weekdays. So the scene has kind of grown since 2018, I would say and the frequency of mics has kept changing because they were at the peak in 2020 and then, there was the pandemic and then again in 2022 there was a peak, and then right now, there is a dip. So it keeps change but open mics are there for sure. And we also have artists from Mumbai coming in so we also get a portion to open for them. So that's also one way where we can grow. Yes.

DEBRA: 11:05

Sweta, I want to pick up on something you said about the YouTube video that you did, where people said you were too angry. It's -- I've a friend of mine that kept being called an angry cripple and he's like well, you know I'm getting angry because you are calling me an angry cripple first off. But it's interesting because whenever we have bigger issues, that you were told your whole life that you were born wrong, something was wrong or somehow you did something wrong. And I know in some cultures, including in your culture, sometimes people think you do did something wrong in your past life. Great, I am being punished for something that I don't even know that I did wrong but okay. So I understand that society, especially societies that are just starting to deal with this like India, I think India is, as you just pointed out, it's in its infancy about really including people with disabilities. It is still -- I knew about -- they did a disability conference in -- I'm not going to say where in India and it was a three day conference and they had 6000 people and they had one accessible toilet, one. One and so, I was like you know, sometimes you just don't realise how much has been done, in places like the United States or the United Kingdom or others and that's one reason why we really like to talk to leaders like you because what you are having to fight for, I think a lot of our audience might not even understand, how hard you have to fight for basic, basic, basic things. And I so I just wanted to explore a little bit about how important is it to you, as an advocate and as a comic, to make people feel comfortable about their prejudices and their misinformation and so how do we not be angry when people decide your life is not valuable, you're not worthy, you're not whatever. How do we stay -- which is why I'm so glad you went into comedy, because comedy can you know, be funny and can also be edgy. So I was just wondering, it makes sense why you went this direction but I also am fascinated with it because people want you to be a good girl. You need to be a good girl and not say things that we don't want to talk about because they are you know, we are hoping societies already better but it's not.

SWETA: 13:54

If you can just?

DEBRA: 13:56

Just summarising it, why do you think it's, I am sorry, why do you personally think it's so important to be honest during your comedy and not just talk about things that don't make people uncomfortable?

SWETA: 14:15

I think it’s important to be honest because that's my story you know. I mean there is no other way to put it, that's my story. That's who I am and for me individually personally that's why I chose to do comedy in the first place, you know to talk about my life, to say what I feel, to ask people why aren't we on the same page, you know. So to me, there is no other way than being honest and about people being comfortable or uncomfortable, I try to come across in a crisp way, but I'm sure we are all aware that there is a different bias against women comics or women performers. Yes, women are not funny. Oh my God, people only talk about periods and relationships and they only cry on stage. As opposed to the guys talking about other things, you know. About having their heart broken, about their entitled lives, about how they haven't gotten what they want. And no one bats an eyelid.

DEBRA: 15:34

All right. You also have the prejudice of being a women, which is interesting. Neil had put this in the comments but because you had said this before we got On Air, but he told me to ask you this question which is a better way to ask it but you had made a comment before we had gone On Air about hitting up verses punching down. I never heard that term but thank you Neil, for reminding us.

SWETA: 16:04

So if I'm allowed I just wanted to complete the previous point?

DEBRA: 16:08

Absolutely.

SWETA: 16:10

Which is that I have a bias as a woman and I have a bias as a disabled performer who does not do normal jokes, if I have normal life why the hell am I expected to do -- I hate the word normal myself but you know that's what people use but that's a term that people use. So yes I think for me, I have now learned to balance my act, ironically because I say what I want to say. Like, I first make people comfortable. I give them what they want. I make them comfortable. I make them feel, okay, she'll not say something back and then bam. I have my guns blazing at them. So it's been a journey. I mean, I'm still growing and I am still learning but I have -- because I mean, I don't know if it's life but my experience when I put forth my video on YouTube taught me to you know, be empathic and to include both the perspectives So I have just learned to even to give to my audience and say what I want to say and with regard to punch up and punch down comedy, so there is hierarchy in the society, you know. There is the oppressed and there is the oppressor or rater there is the privileged and there is the not so privileged. So in the context of the disability or in the context of a disabled person doing jokes on disability, you know, when you make fun of the oppressor or the person who is more privileged, that's punch up comedy, you know. That's punch up humour but when you make fun of someone's lack of privilege or lack of opportunities or when you make fun of the way somebody is, that's punch down comedy, you know. So it's something like disability humour or what is disabled humour if that's what makes sense. So what I, as a disabled person do obviously is to make fun of people's perspective of disability and make fun of how people respond to me when they see me for the first time or even when my friends and family have known me. The fact that they still cannot let go of their inhibitions that's what I talk about, you know. And if I may give like a quick example. When I first wanted to do stand-up comedy, I wasn't very confident. So I reached out to a couple of people and I told them this is what I want to come away, can you please do this for to me. And they are like Sweta, we cannot do these jokes for you because as nondisabled people we doing the joke will be wrong but if you put forth this point as a disabled person that will work as opposed to us doing that and that was my first introduction to what I just mentioned, punching up and punching down. If they are entitled to say things I want to convey, it will be punching down. But if I did the same it was punching up.

DEBRA: 19:41

Oh, how interesting, thank you.

ANTONIO: 19:44

But when you are doing stand-up comedy, do you feel that there are still topics that people shocked?

SWETA: 19:51

Get people?

ANTONIO: 19:55

People get shocked about it?

DEBRA: 19:58

People get shocked.

SWETA: 20:00

I think the fact that a disabled person is getting on stage and doing comedy, that itself is a shock factor for most of the audiences, you know and that has also been a journey of learning and unlearning for me because I realised, I mean after a few months of going on stage and just jumping into my jokes, you know, I realised the audience does not warm up to me as they warm up to other people. I have to -- what do you say, I have to say a few lines. I've to cut the ice breaker and then get into my set, you know.

ANTONIO: 20:46

So do you feel that probably in that, when you are going into stage that people might feel afraid of laughing?

DEBRA: 20:58

Good point.

SWETA: 21:00

Yes, yes. In fact I think last year, I was doing an open mic, and I saw this lady in the first to second row and after the show she comes to me and she is like, I like your jokes, your sense of humour is good. But I was uncomfortable, I didn't know whether I should laugh or not laugh. And I was like, that's exactly what my motive is. It is to talk about things that make you uncomfortable and maybe laugh at yourself and laugh at the entire situation that we have bit around disability and I hope that one day instead of asking me this question you'll laugh and applaud during my set, yes.

NEIL: 21:48

So I think humour has long been a medium through which to have the discussions about uncomfortable topics that people wouldn't otherwise do so and that also people laugh when they are uncomfortable as well as when there is humour because it's a sort of self-defence reaction. So I think that you're able to utilise that tool at the boundary of humour and discomfort to you know maybe stretch the conversations. And I've seen this before with other comedians. There is a group of comedians in the UK and they are called Abnormally Funny People. And you know we have interviewed one of the contributors to that group on here a few years back. But yes, they come in and they are very, very funny and they're talking about topics related to their disability and you know, things that they encounter in life that are barriers but in a way that is really funny but also makes people uncomfortable because it makes them aware of their privilege and their biases.

SWETA: 23:02

Absolutely, and I think when I perform audience it takes a few minutes for the audience to warm up. So it's one of two things, to get the audience comfortable they also get comfortable through laughing and then we are good to go and the other thing is that when they realise that this is going to be my tone. I'm going to you know talk about disability. I'm going to have bad jokes. And once they realise I am not going to budge they say, okay we might as well laugh you know, why do I feel awkward, yes.

NEIL: 23:40

So yes, you're here to laugh about it and make jokes about it so you know, it's just, let's get into the comedy and go with it. I think that you know it's a great medium. So outside of your local community, you have done stuff on YouTube, do you put your comedy elsewhere? Are you trying to find other channels to -- audiences to reach through your comedy?

SWETA: 24:18

I think that the curse of living in 2024 in the age of social media is that you have to be active on every platform.

DEBRA: 24:26

Yes.

SWETA: 24:28

So I think YouTube videos are not enough to gain traction or followers or to be table to sell tickets, especially in India, because in the US and a UK a comedy has been you know existing for way more time for way more decades than it has in India. So I think people either separate stand up from You Tube or separate stand up from YouTube or social media. Unfortunately the growth of social media and comedy has been parallelled. So it's way more interlinked that we would like it to be. So yes I mean we do put out reels on Instagram you know, even like when you go to mics and if you're doing crowd work and if you get 30 seconds of content we do that and I have this concept show, where it's comedy and conversation. I do comedy for 20 minutes, followed by conversation, to break to smash stereotypes around disability. And I've been taking this format to corporate for the last couple of years and more. So for me, it's become even been important to put out my content on LinkedIn because that's where I will also get most of my work from. So yes, other mediums, other platforms for comedy. And apart from that, I think we like, we all know, every comedian, is venturing into other things. You know there is forecasting then there is content creation and stuff like that. I have done Podcasts, I've done non comedy Podcasts on disability. So the audience understands that there is substance to what I am saying I'm not just doing disability humour for the heck of it, there is a reason behind it and I hope I continue to explore more options as I grow. All that's exhausting but you have to do what you have to do.

DEBRA: 26:36

That's life. So Sweta, how would people find out how to hear your humour. Would you recommend they go to -- do you have a website; do they go to your YouTube channel? How do they get to listen to your humour?

SWETA: 26:52

Yes, YouTube channel.

DERA: 26:54

What is that?

SWETA: 26:56

Yes, my handle is imadmantrii. So Mantrii is my last name so, imadmantrii. That's also my Instagram handle. So I think Instagram is a more personal/interactive platform because we put out regular content which is comedy and not comedy related. I also make vlogs to talk about my life. And LinkedIn is where I get my work from. So if anyone wants to hire me you can reach out to me on LinkedIn as well.

NEIL: 27:36

Excellent I actually hired a comedian really admire. Juliet Burton, she talks about mental health and so on for our global accessibility awareness event and we did it during COVID. And she rerecorded loads of the stuff and we have got loads of material that I was too scared to use frankly.

DEBRA: 28:03

Oh wow you, should have used it.

NEIL: 28:07

I used quite a lot but there was somewhere she was -- I was wetting myself with laughter, saying this is going to really offend a proportion of my colleagues here and so we had a balance. But she was great actually and I think that was really good but she sailed quite close to the wind, even in the once that I let through. So I think it was a really good way to engage colleagues and so on. Because rather than having a serious convo, we had a mixture of comedy and then she talked mental health and in a serious way as well as cracking jokes about being locked up and so on. So I think that more companies should look at bringing with bit of humour into the way they run their events.

DEBRA: 29:01

I agree. Start your event with a comic, like Sweta. I think that's the way to do it. You know, if you're a corporation, bring in a comic like Sweta and let them break the ice so that you can really have meaningful conversations. So I am glad you all did that. I think that's important for corporations to do that.

NEIL: 29:24

Make sure that you can bring some ice cream; right.

DEBRA: 29:27

Just have some fun with these serious conversations.

NEIL: 29:32

Sorry Antonio, I cut across you.

ANTONIO: 29:35

I think sometimes we see sometimes many industry events that we are taking part and they are all very serious, so I think that they can be starting with a show and having some breaks between the events and with comedy, I think it could be a good way of going forward you know.

DEBRA: 29:55

And use our comics, use our comics like Sweta. Please don't bring in comics that don't have disabilities. We have our own brilliant comics. We need to use our comics.

SWETA: 30:07

Yes, I think representation is very important absolutely. I am always asked what do you want to say in the context of disabled people's stories and I am like, please pass on the mic to people to talk about themselves and their lives because if somebody else is to talk about me they will call me inspiring but if I am to talk about myself I will tell you why I don't want to be called inspiring, you know why I -- and how I want you to talk to me and talk about disability.

NEIL: 30:40

Yes. I think this you know, we had, you know the, I'm not your inspiration from Stella Young, all of that time. And we often talk about inspiration porn. At the same time I do want to inspire people but not by just being me and living my day to day life. I want to inspire people into action and making positive change, which are different things. It's encouraging people. It's not through living and being brave; right.

SWETA: 31:12

I want to inspire people for being disabled. Not for the reason of being disabled. There is so much more that I am doing, you know. And if I may add one thing, where we call inspiring for overcoming barriers and living our lives, but my point is those barriers are should not exist in the first place. So in a way, we are forced to be inspiring, we don't want to be inspiring, we just want to live our lives.

NEIL: 31:47

Absolutely. So we have reached the end of our half hour. It passed rather too quickly. We thanks Amazon and our friends at My Clear Text for keeping us On Air and captioned and I really look forward to continuing the conversation and hopefully some jokes on social media. So thank you, Sweta. Thank you so much.

SWETA: 32:05

Thank you.

DEBRA: 32:06

Thank you Sweta.