Top 15 Most Famous Stand-Up Comedians in India | Indian Comedian
In recent times, Indian stand-up comedy has gained a great deal of momentum! Hilarious comedians have entered the spotlight, engaging audiences with their acuity, humor, and interesting perspectives of the idiocy of life. From small gigs to international stages, these individuals have definitely made a mark in every corner of the country, and they've inspired millions. Here are top 15 famous Indian standup comedians who have not only acquired fame, but changed the aspect of comedy and had made important place in the domain.
Top 15 Famous Indian Standup Comedians
1. Harsh Gujral
YouTube (2.6M subscribers): Harsh Gujral
Instagram (3.1M followers): realharshgujral
Harsh Gujral is a popular Indian stand-up comedian, known for his humour, as many people can relate to his concepts. He has turned people of all ages and backgrounds into his followers and fans, with people connecting with his relatability via his style of storytelling and comedy. He touches on humour regarding everyday life, Indian culture, and aspects of his own life, appealing to the wide range of his demographic. His performances show a lot of connectivity and a light-hearted mentality, while keeping his delivery of comedy smart and to the point, which is the reason why he is becoming a favourite comedian of many. People also know him as a funny Indian comedian.
Career Journey
Harsh Gujral is an engineer by education. He started out performing comedy and entertainment in his career at the open mic the beginning learning his comedy skill level. At this stage, he was only doing open mic shows, but once he had a reputation, he started performing comedy shows and became recognized on comedy stages. He received great attention from the audience and achieved fame when he launched his YouTube channel and began releasing stand-up videos. His published comedy videos went viral and introduced him to the world as a comedian, greatly. Now, he started growing and investing the effort where he can produce and do stand-up all over India and internationally. Now, after his hard work for years, he is one of the top stand-up comedians in India.
Comedy Type
Observational comedy, crowd work
Achievements/Awards
- Teamed up with Anubhav Singh Bassi and produced “Harsh & Bassi Unleashed," which has amassed over 30 million views (approximately).
- Popular videos, ‘Shadi ki Rasmein’ (2019), have over 21 million views on his YouTube channel.
- Harsh made his television debut with the comedy show ‘Good Night India’ on the Sony Sab channel, which premiered in 2021.
- Harsh hosted the comedy show ‘Madness Machayenge’ as well.
Brand Collaborations: Garnier and Beardo
2. Gaurav Gupta
YouTube (908 K subscribers): Gaurav Gupta
Instagram (1.2M followers): gaurav_comic
Gaurav Gupta is a stand-up comedian and an observer of various factors, after that he finds his comedy in the spaces where a lot of people ultimately find a common thread from which to relate. He observes the everyday behaviours in and around middle-class families to find context for observational humour. Gaurav chooses a tone and atmosphere that can be friendly or casual, and he almost always uses storytelling as a way to connect with and learn more about his audience before, during, and after his show. The observations he makes from relationships, families, and social expectations are appropriate for the broader audience because they are simply relatable.
Career Journey
Gaurav's entire journey through stand-up comedy is an example of how he sees and showcases India positively. He has never taken to comedy in scripted way, he has just started his act and comedy even now, and he always keeps editing himself on the show right there by following the people's engagement. His relativity has made it possible for him to introduce himself as one of the co-leads in the Indian comedy and now, he is also known as the funny Indian standup comedian.
Comedy Type
Observational comedy
Achievements/Award
- Won 94.3 FM LOL Contest in 2015
- Winner of Piano Man Tongue in Cheek
- Winner of Chalta Hai Comedy
Brand Collaborations: Cashify, Asian Paints
3. Bharti Singh
YouTube (7.28M subscribers): Life of Limbachiyaas
Instagram (8.9M followers): bharti.laughterqueen
Bharti Singh is a renowned Indian stand-up comedian, television personality, and Indian actress recognized for her sarcasm. Her comedy-based dialogues are mostly one-liners. Bharti's performance as a comedy character allows her to engage a much larger audience. Bharti Singh is undoubtedly one of the most famous female comedians.
Career Journey
Bharti Singh is a passionate and excited human who is hardworking as well. Subsequently, she has become one of the most recognized and loved names in India. Bharti Singh's journey from comedy to reality shows has demonstrated her ability to make anyone laugh. Her perfect timing, unforgettable expressions, and technically remarkable comedy gave her the title of a famous comedian. The comedy career of Bharti involves stand-up, television acting, hosting, and other projects on television. Bharti Singh has made herself such that she is the motivation for many. She is popularly known as a laughter queen and one of the best Indian stand-up comedians.
Comedy Type
Stand-up comedy, character comedy
Achievements/Awards
She hosted various reality shows such as India's Got Talent 8, India's Best Dancer, Laughter Chef, and appeared on the comedy show The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV as Titli Yadav.
Brand Collaborations: FirstCry
4. Sunil Grover
Sunil Grover is a popular comedian and actor with a high reputation for his characters and overall performance, especially in television shows. He is known for his timing, range, and ability to present various characters through his work. He has worked with various famous entertainers, including Kapil Sharma. He is also known as one of the top stand-up comedians in India.
Career Journey
Sunil Grover has built his successful career with his talent and hard work, which makes his performances memorable. He made his mark for the first time on television by demonstrating versatility when it comes to characters, which helped him to get known as a unique character actor because people enjoyed his characters. He has had a successful career with advancement and growth in television, live performances, and film, therefore allowing him to show his gifts in various areas as a comic and performer.
Comedy Type
Character comedy, stand-up comedy, and physical comedy
Achievements/Awards
Indian Television Academy Awards and Filmfare OTT Awards
Brand Collaborations: Filmy Channel, Mankind Pharma
5. Samay Raina
YouTube (7.4M subscribers): Samay Raina
Instagram (6.6M followers): @maisamayhoon
Samay Raina is a popular stand-up comedian and YouTuber who creatively combines his sense of humor with his passion for chess in an engaging way. He is observational and mixes chess and comedy to entertain the public. Additionally, he also involves chess, Indian culture, Indian society, and trending news in his comedy. Samay Raina is famous for the different kinds of shows he has been working on.
Career Journey
Samay Raina has mixed his profession and interest, i.e., comedy and chess. Samay initially started focusing on stand-up comedy, then got involved with chess. The intersection of comedy and chess, particularly on his YouTube channel has seen growth in followers. He also achieved popularity and fame during the pandemic, primarily with his chess-related comedy shows and videos. He is also considered the top stand-up comedians in India
Comedy Type
Stand-up comedy, conversational comedy
Achievements/Awards
• Pioneered comedy-chess fusion content in India
• Hosted high-profile online chess tournaments with celebrity guests
• Built a massive online community spanning comedy and gaming
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Red Bull India, Puma
6. Zakir Khan
YouTube (8.22M subscribers): Zakir Khan
Instagram (6.7M followers): @zakirkhan_208
Zakir Khan is a standup comedian who can express a story in a way to make you laugh, get motivational conclusions, or whatever. He knows how to express a story to make people think about the underlying logic. He also recites poetry and Khan's fusion of distinctively personal storytelling and perspectives is what earned him a ready-to-listen audience. Whether an individual is looking for emotional support or sensible comedy, Zakir is the top Indian stand-up comedian.
Career JourneyComedy Type
Observational, storytelling, and emotional humour
Achievements/Awards
• Multiple sold-out tours across globe
• Consistent place on lists of top Indian comedians
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix India, Spotify India
7. Abhishek Upmanyu
YouTube (5.26M subscribers): Abhishek Upmanyu
Instagram (2.7M followers): @aupmanyu
Abhishek Upmanyu hits you like the ball of energy you still received from relating punchlines. He's got a raw comedic pace that is fast and furious, often leaving audiences gasping for air. He takes even the dullest urban traffic and puts a humorous spin.. And his fans love the delivery speed of his comedy and his masterful mix of Hindi and English. He is popularly considered a funny Indian stand-up comedian in India.
Career Journey
Abhishek Upmanyu is a well-known Indian Stand-Up comedian known for his ability to produce humor with great quickness, and he graduated from Panjab University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Before starting his career as a professional comedian, he had spent time at several large companies, including Ranbaxy, Engineers India Limited, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, Grail Research, and Bain & Company. In 2015, he began to make his transition into comedy, getting his feet wet as a writer for On Air with AIB. While Upmanyu had a little success at the beginning, the real notoriety began when he opened his YouTube Channel in 2016. Abhishek was in the open-mic scene. He would drop these short little clips that became popular online.
Comedy Type
Fast-paced, observational, anecdotal
Achievements/Awards
• Various stand-up videos with millions of views on YouTube
• Popular tours across India’s metro cities
• Regularly being known for his comedy lineups
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Bumble India, YouTube Originals, Red Bull (Live Event Sponsors)
8. Anubhav Singh Bassi
YouTube (5.16M subscribers): Anubhav Singh Bassi
Instagram (3.6M followers): @be_a_bassi
Anubhav Singh Bassi is a master of turning the small disasters of life into huge happenings. He traffics in incomplete startups, insane college experiences, and ridiculous mistakes in everyday decisions, usually getting the most laugh-out-loud parts. He is effortless, and each of his stories is made up of this slow espionage-style wit that just pops and sneaks up on you.
Career Journey
Anubhav is a lawyer by profession who switched his career and turned to comedy, started with open mics, and went on to perform and achieve. After putting out a few viral stand-up videos, he quickly became a household name, resulting in sold-out shows and loud standing ovations. His continuous efforts have now made him a popular and funny Indian stand-up comedian in India.
Comedy Type
Narrative-driven, relatable, slice-of-life
Achievements/Awards
• Viral stand-up sets with millions of views each
• Headlined comedy festivals across India
• Known for bridging relatable experiences and modern Indian youth culture
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Tinder
9. Aakash Gupta
YouTube (4.52M subscribers): Aakash Gupta
Instagram (1.6M followers): @theskygupta
Aakash Gupta is the high-octane performer you can't take your eyes off. While he rants about the madness of the Delhi Metro or ramps up a rant about gym-showoffs, he is high energy and disarmingly infectious. Truly, watching Aakash is like going on a roller coaster that remembers to tell punchlines at every turn. He does this with impassioned facial expressions and storytelling, all while keeping the audience an hour out of breath and wondering how the temperature could rise that high. After co-winning a popular comedy clips reality show, his comedic chaos made him an audience-facing talent you cannot help but giggle while gasping at his intensity. He is a Indian stand-up comedian earning popularity abroad as well.
Career Journey
Aakash Gupta has made a name for himself as an immensely popular Indian comedian and theatre artist from Delhi. Aakash began his career in college theatre, and even had a job offered to him by KPMG, but he had an itch to perform, so he went from pretending to work at KPMG, to performing full-time in comedy and training in a variety of forms of theatre. Aakash burst into the public eye in 2018 when his YouTube video Delhi Metro went viral. After achieving success with that video, it led to him winning Comicstaan Season 2 in 2019, which helped him become one of the top stand-up comedians in India. Aakash's big break came on Comicstaan, and since then, he has been making people laugh with sold-out tours and wildly viral YouTube videos.
Comedy Type
Physical humour, high-energy, observational
Achievements/Awards
• Co-winner of Comicstaan Season 2
• Sold-out tours in India’s major cities
• Millions of views on his stand-up clips
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Amazon Prime, Cult. fit
10. Kapil Sharma
YouTube (9.62M subscribers): KapilSharmaK9
Instagram (45.8M followers): kapilsharma
Kapil Sharma, born April 2, 1981, is an Indian comedian, television presenter, actor, and producer. He is a comedian who changed the face of comedy in India. Kapil Sharma hails from Amritsar, Punjab, and his story - from a modest background to one of the most recognized stand-up comedians in India - is a classic story about hard work and talent. Kapil came to Mumbai to become a singer but realized that stand-up comedy was more appropriate for him. Kapil can connect with an audience based on humor, and this has made him competitive to the craft. Kapil became a household name very quickly and a favourite character of the nation. He is now widely known as funny Indian comedian.
Career JourneyKapil Sharma's rise in comedy began when he entered and won the third season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, a stand-up comedy reality show. Following his victory, exciting opportunities with a variety of comedy shows opened up, but his true ascent began in 2013 when he launched his own show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, and became immensely popular at the time. Comedy Nights with Kapil not only entered the homes of millions of viewers, but it also changed the face of television comedy in India, combining some elements of stand-up with celebrity guests. After finishing Comedy Nights with Kapil, he took the show to Sony TV and entitled it The Kapil Sharma Show, although varying in format, it continued his success in front of a large national audience. Beyond television, he made his acting debut in Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon and he also starred in Firangi. Recently, he launched another show for Netflix entitled The Great Indian Kapil Show.
Comedy TypeObservational and situational humor
Achievements/Awards- The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (2007)
- CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (2013)
- World Book of Records (London) as the most viewed stand-up comedian
11. Gurleen Pannu
YouTube (753K subscribers): Gurleen Pannu
Instagram (2.4M followers): @gurleen_pannu
Gurleen Pannu is a performer with an infectious spirit that makes common scenarios wonderfully silly comedy. Gurleen is specifically interested in light-hearted perspectives on the ups and downs of modern relationships, family expectations, and social norms. Gurleen's storytelling style is a casual conversation, as if everyone is sharing jokes with a friend. Gurleen puts her playful spin on recalling a wild family wedding story and an uncomfortable date story. Gurleen also creates shorter comedic videos on social media platforms. Her attitude and observations about life are so entertaining to millions of followers who can't stop laughing.
Career Journey
She began performing at local open mics and slowly gained an online following, sharing relatable and unique humour from a woman's perspective, eventually earning wide recognition and sold-out shows.
Comedy Type
Storytelling, relationship humour, and lighthearted social commentary
Achievements/Awards
- Fast-growing online presence with millions of combined followers
- Frequent headliner at top comedy venues and festivals
- Praised for her candid and conversational personality at stage
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Nykaa, Mamaearth, Lifestyle Store
12. Gaurav Kapoor
YouTube (1.59M subscribers): Gaurav Kapoor
Instagram (1.2M followers): @gauravkpoor
Gaurav Kapoor is a uniquely gifted performer who takes a dull event, like riding an Uber, and makes it sound like an epic experience. He often performs sets about life in a big city, cultural oddities, and the endless marathon called Indian weddings. His style is witty, casual and sarcastic, and he effortlessly shifts from Hindi to English. The way he describes everyday life is so relatable, its like, “That just happened to me” His unique storytelling approach, paired with humorous observations, has taken him far in the Indian stand-up world.
Career Journey
From playing smaller open mic nights in Delhi, Gaurav has now moved to major gigs around the country releasing viral stand-ups on YouTube and rapidly became a national sensation in the process.
Comedy Type
Observational, sarcastic, everyday-life humour
Achievements/Awards
• Regular performer at premier comedy festivals
• Millions of YouTube views and strong social media traction
• Featured on OTT comedy specials and TV segments
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Swiggy, Flipkart
13. Rahul Dua
YouTube (1.14M subscribers): Rahul Dua
Instagram (831K followers): @therahuldua
Rahul Dua is the man when it comes to crazy facial expressions, quick reacting humor, and sincere stories about out-of-date family functions and desi weddings. If you have ever squirmed in your seat through the hours of wedding rituals, you are going to feel Rahul. Along with the family stories, he draws from his previous corporate experiences and finds ways to take boring corporate problems and turn them into gags. His set always seemed like a warm conversation that had been distilled into a plenty of sarcastic punchlines. One of the best parts was how the audience, too, wanted to laugh from awkward observational punches to an instantly thought sarcasm. He even let the audiences curate the show with him, ensuring that all the live experiences were as unique as possible. He has also gone on to host which has given a new aspect to his personality in many different formats.
Career Journey
Rahul first gained popularity for finishing as a finalist on the show Comicstaan and subsequently landed major comedy tours and became a household name in the rapidly growing stand-up universe.
Comedy Type
Observational, expressive, family-friendly humour
Achievements/Award
• Comicstaan Season 1 finalist
• Host and performer at various top comedy festivals
• Known for viral stand-up videos shared widely on social media
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Airbnb, Ixigo, Amazon Prime
14. Ashish Solanki
YouTube (1.31M subscribers): Ashish Solanki
Instagram (437K followers): @ashishsolanki_1
Ashish Solanki is the quintessential storyteller with humour that often accentuates the comedic misadventures of his past or family lore he interprets as punch-lines that are cringe-worthy real. He loves to joke about stupid college stories, disasters in his love life stories, and more likely than not anything that could transition into randomness depending on his mood. Laying back and chill like his special theme on stage, but when it comes down to it and pens focus on all of those "we have all been there" moments he gives you strong sets. He is known for doing short-form stage sketches and reels as a quick teaser of his skill.
Career Journey
From small gigs during his college days, Ashish grew a huge online presence. He started growing and trying towards the comedy with his regular efforts while his stand-up clips took off enormously, making him one of the rising stars of India’s comedy domain.
Comedy Type
Storytelling, relatable, semi-improvised
Achievements/Awards
• Popular YouTube stand-up clips with rapid view counts
• Regular performer at clubs and college fests
• A promising talent among the new generation of comedians
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Regional Food Chains
15. Swati Sachdeva
YouTube (978K subscribers): Swati Sachdeva
Instagram (1.2M followers): @swati.sachdeva95
Swati Sachdeva is an authentic comic, focusing on what we would prefer not to talk about. Without a doubt, she will upset certain family and strangers in the name of comedy, sharing true stories based on experiences, explaining harsh family dynamics and somehow each of her stories seems funny and relatable. When you watch her perform, you will notice her calm stage presence, who opens her mind and welcomes you, and then drops her punchlines like bombs. Swati's honest observations are direct, so she has a cult following of fans who prefer authentic comedy that freely engages comedy with real-life reflections. Swati's usual online videos are all generating buzz, primarily a humorous and informative series of snippets to show her the thoughts that inspire her comedy.
Career Journey
From small open mics to a quickly growing social media presence, Swati’s journey shows the power of authenticity. Swati created an audience by publishing regular, authentic and hilarious comedy bits that people not only comment on, but share with everyone they know in their online networks.
Comedy Type
Conversational and introspective
Achievements/Awards
• Strong online growth through relatable, no-holds-barred content
• Standout performances alongside top-tier comedians at major events
• Praised for breaking stereotypes and delivering laughs with a conscience
Brand Collaborations/Endorsements: Feminine Hygiene Brands
Conclusion
Indian stand up comedy has evolved immensely and these 15 comedians, definitely contributed to that. They've not just made us laugh, but they've also made us think, and have challenged the norm and opened up conversations. With the continued development of the comedy scene, these incredible people are going to help redefine comedy in India and abroad.