Neel Kolhatkar On Shock, Awe And Satire In An Increasingly Polarised Political World

He may only be 23 years old, but Neel Kolhatkar has been a part of the Australian comedy scene for almost a decade. When he was 15 he took out Class Clowns, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival's annual national competition for teenaged stand-ups, and since then, he's gone from strength to strength, racking up millions of followers online and touring the country with solo shows. Most recently, his TV sitcom, Virgin Bush, has been commissioned by ABC Comedy.

Never one to shy away from a hot topic, Kolhatkar has built his brand on being brutally honest about topics that most comics wouldn't dream of touching. He chalks up this fearlessness to his early start, when he quite literally had nothing to lose.

"I think, funnily enough, starting so young actually gave me a license to really write without any boundaries. I felt like I had nothing to prove, at the time I wasn't thinking about it as a career so I just really went for it and wrote about whatever I thought was funny and what I thought was relevant to me at the time," Kolhatkar explains. "I didn't hold back and I really think that helped me now. I think I've kept that as I've gone on over the last eight to ten years. It's actually helped me quite a lot."

"I do like to push the boundaries and the line. I like to see how far I can push that line and sometimes I do go over it but that's the nature of what I do."

Satirising everything from feminists to "fuck bois", all you have to do is take one look at Kolhatkar's back catalogue of online content to see that he's not afraid to ruffle some feathers. Or, as one anonymous YouTube user succinctly put it, "He triggers all."

When I mention this comment, Neel laughs. "I try to remain pretty unbiased, particularly now when we're in a polarised political and cultural climate. I try to, I won't say attack but, lampoon both sides on the spectrum as much as possible. That doesn't just relate to politics, I try to take aim at everyone, including myself, especially myself. I suppose I trigger all; I do like to push the boundaries and the line. I like to see how far I can push that line and sometimes I do go over it but that's the nature of what I do."

As Kolhatkar's comedy has evolved so has his audience, but not always in the right ways. Scrolling down the same YouTube comments will reveal a tidal wave of "cuck", "snowflake" and the ever-maddening "libtard". This is not the intended impact of Kolhatkar's many-layered satire but an unfortunate and frustrating side-effect, as well as something that has long plagued the comedian.

"I've thought about that a lot and I know that's an issue I do have to deal with. There's really not a lot I can do because I do like to create satire and heavy-handed irony," he sighs. "I can't really force my content to be a bit more simplistic to suit some people that might not be able to understand. I strive to create comedy that's multifaceted and layered to some degree. If they can't see the irony or satire in some of the things I do, they take it at face value. Hopefully they're still enjoying it but they're getting the wrong message out of it. But I like to think they're the minority and for the most part, people get there's more to what I do."

Despite what the minority of online trolls latch onto as theirs, Kolhatkar is optimistic about how his audience is growing alongside him.

"I was very one-dimensional when I started YouTube. Even though I don't regret it and I'm not ashamed of it, I know I put out content that would have a hard time going viral today in today's online media space. I really wanted to get that monkey off my back of being a one-trick pony. At first there was a little bit of backlash from my fans, I think they were a little bit confused. But eventually, they came to understand that I do a lot of different comedy. Those are the fans I really appreciate. I might do some of those videos as a throwback because I enjoy them and they're fun but doing shows is what I'm concentrating on now."

Despite the devil's advocate position he sometimes takes with his comedy, Kolhatkar maintains that he's never in it for the shock value.

"I wouldn't explore a controversial topic just for the sake of being controversial, only if I had something unique and interesting to say. That's something I'd like to reiterate because I think there are a few comedians out there are on the brand of, "Oh, he's controversial." I really try to say something. There might be some parts that are shocking to the audience but it wouldn't be controversial for the sake of it. I think that's the beauty of stand up: you can explore the topics and people don't immediately switch off because it's humour."

Neel Kolhatkar's Live plays 10 March at Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane and 21 -22 Apr at the Comic's Lounge, Melbourne, 28 Apr at Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth, 11 May at Enmore Theatre, Sydney, and 26 May at Rhino Room, Adelaide.