URVI MAJUMDAR

((She/her)
Arts worker and stand-up comedian

25 September 2020
Boon Wurrung Country

My name is Urvi, and this year I started my job as the Creative Workshops Program Producer at Footscray Community Arts Centre. Previously, I’ve been a high school English teacher as well as [a] Department of Education Policy Officer. I do stand-up comedy and writing as well. There was a pretty big impact in the comedy community. I remember distinctly the day that the Comedy Festival was cancelled, just because in the lead up to it everyone underestimated how big of an impact COVID-19 would have. That was a pretty devastating day, and I think everyone just felt really low in spirits. Because I mean, I’ve got other income, but for full-time comedians it’s a big part of their yearly income.

The first few weeks felt really strange, because I’m used to maybe practising between three to five times a week, so it was really strange not having that. It’s been really sad. I think it’ll be one of the last industries to pop back on its feet. In terms of that live element, there’s nothing really that replaces it. I’ve done a few gigs on the internet, but I think nothing replaces that. A lot of the comedians I know have been sort of re-skilling and doing video editing and other digital things. So, if you’re trying to be positive about it, I guess it’s a good chance to learn those skills that you’d be too busy to otherwise.

In my producing job, we’re trying to plan these school holiday programs [that] we are in the middle of delivering. Initially we thought we’d have takeaway packs for the kids and then stage four lockdown hit so we couldn’t do that either. Leading up to it, I was really nervous about whether the kids would be engaged, how they could concentrate online and whether they would find it fun. But it helped a lot that most of the kids had parents That were helping. We got really good feedback from the parents, I guess because it was all about using tactile things and refurbishing stuff from your house, so using food dye for paint and going outside and doing alternative painting with like pebbles and waves and stuff. And we had really great tutors. In the end when we saw the success, it was really rewarding.

I guess this year has been a good lesson that nothing is permanent. And I guess there is a general anxiety of how everything’s going to be when we get back. I’m trying to think what the main lessons have been, and I think it’s been probably the closest thing to a paradigm shift I’ve experienced in my life. I remember those first few weeks [when] everything was happening, it just felt like this huge reshuffle that made us question everything. Like your whole outlook in life has changed. It’s been kind of cool living through that, and it’ll be interesting to see if stuff changes after. And if not, at least we kind of got to question it for a bit in between.