Stand-up comedian and storyteller Shanti Charan is used to getting laughs, but at the next “In a Nutshell” storytelling event in Sacramento, she’s excited to find a different connection with the audience.
Charan, who has performed stand-up comedy for 15 years across the Bay Area and beyond, will step into a different spotlight this month; one less focused on punchlines and more centered on presence, vulnerability and the rhythm of a well-told story. We spoke with Charan about her comedic journey, the differences between stand-up and storytelling, and the kinds of stories she hopes to share with the world.
Charan, who has performed stand-up comedy for 15 years across the Bay Area and beyond, will step into a different spotlight this month; one less focused on punchlines and more centered on presence, vulnerability and the rhythm of a well-told story. We spoke with Charan about her comedic journey, the differences between stand-up and storytelling, and the kinds of stories she hopes to share with the world.
What first drew you to comedy, and how has your relationship with it changed over time?
I just love the idea of connecting through laughter. So I already loved that, before I even knew that stand-up was a thing that I could want to do. Laughter was just something that appealed to me.
When I started stand-up, I was in college. I had the energy and the absence of financial responsibilities. … But I think as I’ve gotten older and as life expectations change … so do financial expectations. Now, it’s learning how to balance while pouring into the other cups that I now have.
How does your identity as an Indo-Fijian woman and second-generation American shape your storytelling?
Me being Fijian and Indian — it comes in here and there. I do love taking a cultural look into things, but as far as my Indo-Fijian part of my identity [influencing] that content: not so much.
But really, sometimes I just feel like I just talk about whatever I’m living day to day, and that could be based on ethnic culture, but also Bay Area culture, and also whatever culture it may be; maybe dog culture. I have a dog and so I always think that is a part of my identity, too. I talk about that on stage, because it’s just whatever is in my everyday life. [Charan and her pit bull mastiff, Bernie Mac, have frequented stages across Northern California, including the Punch Line Sacramento.]
What’s the difference between stand-up and storytelling for you?
With stand-up, you’re looking for laughter … but with storytelling, it’s like … everyone’s intently listening, the story in itself is enough of a vehicle.
I don’t want to say it’s fine dining compared to fast food, but in regard to fine dining, people are willing to wait a longer time to get somewhere. With storytelling, you could be laughing about something, and then you can maybe be tearing up about something else, and I think that’s a cool feeling.
Do you find it harder to be vulnerable when storytelling versus stand-up?
It feels harder because I still don’t feel like I am a storyteller. With stand-up, if we’re too vulnerable, the ability to laugh may be challenged. I’m not trained to be as vulnerable, so I would say it is challenging because I haven’t normalized it yet. I’m so used to the equation of x plus y equals laughter.
In your opinion, what does a great story need that a great joke might not?
I love when a story can teach me something … either it be about how something logistically works or someone’s personal experience — same thing with comedy. In both mediums, I love callbacks. It feels like a flow … that you then can pull back from something and bring it back, and that has a big impact.
Through [storytelling], we can create more empathy, and through that, we create a better world. But you know, dick jokes can do that too!
What kind of connection are you hoping to build with the audience at “In a Nutshell”?
I’m telling a story for the first time about a new experience. I’m just really looking to connect on a human level … like our vibrations, our wavelengths start waving together. Once you vibe with an audience, and an audience vibes with a performer, it really makes the performance amazing.
What kinds of stories are you excited to tell next through stand-up or storytelling?
At the jail that I work at, where I teach college-level courses, it is also a bird sanctuary, and it’s just like an interesting juxtaposition about the birds and freedom and flying, but we have people who are incarcerated and don’t have access to the care that they need.
Storytelling allows the space to kind of dissect things in those ways. I’m excited to really understand how to talk about my experience of teaching within incarceration, more in a storytelling way.
Charan will join three other storytellers at the upcoming “In a Nutshell” show on Friday, July 25, at The Sofia in Sacramento. The theme of July’s show is “The Soundtrack.”
Editor’s note: Solving Sacramento is a co-presenter of the “In A Nutshell” series.
I just love the idea of connecting through laughter. So I already loved that, before I even knew that stand-up was a thing that I could want to do. Laughter was just something that appealed to me.
When I started stand-up, I was in college. I had the energy and the absence of financial responsibilities. … But I think as I’ve gotten older and as life expectations change … so do financial expectations. Now, it’s learning how to balance while pouring into the other cups that I now have.
How does your identity as an Indo-Fijian woman and second-generation American shape your storytelling?
Me being Fijian and Indian — it comes in here and there. I do love taking a cultural look into things, but as far as my Indo-Fijian part of my identity [influencing] that content: not so much.
But really, sometimes I just feel like I just talk about whatever I’m living day to day, and that could be based on ethnic culture, but also Bay Area culture, and also whatever culture it may be; maybe dog culture. I have a dog and so I always think that is a part of my identity, too. I talk about that on stage, because it’s just whatever is in my everyday life. [Charan and her pit bull mastiff, Bernie Mac, have frequented stages across Northern California, including the Punch Line Sacramento.]
What’s the difference between stand-up and storytelling for you?
With stand-up, you’re looking for laughter … but with storytelling, it’s like … everyone’s intently listening, the story in itself is enough of a vehicle.
I don’t want to say it’s fine dining compared to fast food, but in regard to fine dining, people are willing to wait a longer time to get somewhere. With storytelling, you could be laughing about something, and then you can maybe be tearing up about something else, and I think that’s a cool feeling.
Do you find it harder to be vulnerable when storytelling versus stand-up?
It feels harder because I still don’t feel like I am a storyteller. With stand-up, if we’re too vulnerable, the ability to laugh may be challenged. I’m not trained to be as vulnerable, so I would say it is challenging because I haven’t normalized it yet. I’m so used to the equation of x plus y equals laughter.
In your opinion, what does a great story need that a great joke might not?
I love when a story can teach me something … either it be about how something logistically works or someone’s personal experience — same thing with comedy. In both mediums, I love callbacks. It feels like a flow … that you then can pull back from something and bring it back, and that has a big impact.
Through [storytelling], we can create more empathy, and through that, we create a better world. But you know, dick jokes can do that too!
What kind of connection are you hoping to build with the audience at “In a Nutshell”?
I’m telling a story for the first time about a new experience. I’m just really looking to connect on a human level … like our vibrations, our wavelengths start waving together. Once you vibe with an audience, and an audience vibes with a performer, it really makes the performance amazing.
What kinds of stories are you excited to tell next through stand-up or storytelling?
At the jail that I work at, where I teach college-level courses, it is also a bird sanctuary, and it’s just like an interesting juxtaposition about the birds and freedom and flying, but we have people who are incarcerated and don’t have access to the care that they need.
Storytelling allows the space to kind of dissect things in those ways. I’m excited to really understand how to talk about my experience of teaching within incarceration, more in a storytelling way.
Charan will join three other storytellers at the upcoming “In a Nutshell” show on Friday, July 25, at The Sofia in Sacramento. The theme of July’s show is “The Soundtrack.”
Editor’s note: Solving Sacramento is a co-presenter of the “In A Nutshell” series.
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.