Season 2: Great Laughter Challenge

It's that easy... make 'em laugh: (L-R) – Raju Shrivastav, Sunil Pal, Parag Kansara and Bhagwant Mann

If you can tickle a funny bone with ease, then The Great Indian Laughter Challenge is the place to be. After the end of Season One, Challenge is back to hunt for another Sunil Pal and Raju Shrivastav.

Get rich quick

The show has not only produced ace stand-up comedians, but also made them rich overnight.

A source working on the show said, "During the initial rounds of Laughter Challenge, before anyone knew who Ahsaan Qureshi or Sunil Pal were, these guys would charge anywhere between 10,000 to 50,000 for one show.

However, the popularity of the show has made them superstars overnight. By the time they reached the finals, the contestants started charging anywhere between 75,000 to three lakhs per show." Not only have their prices gone up, but some of the contestants have even hired managers who help them coordinate the stage shows.

"With fame comes money, and these guys are commanding top prices which even comedians in the film industry don't get. Also there is immense competition between each of them to perform better, which also involves checking how much the other guy is asking for," adds the source.

When opportunity knocks

Besides doing regular stage shows, many of these finalists also do voice-overs for the channel's promos and commercials.

Raju Shrivastav who was already an established name before joining the competition said, "To those wanting to audition for Laughter Challenge I would say — stay original. I have seen some people trying to copy Sunil Pal, or me, but if you really want to impress the audience then you need to have your own personal style. The competition is quite tough and one has to come up with the best lines and jokes to impress the judges and viewers."

Demand for comedy

In fact, he adds that he wasn't too keen on joining the contest in the first place. "I was in two minds about being a part of the competition, since I already was doing lot of stage shows. But everything worked in my favour, and I had a good time."

When asked if he handled dates for the shows himself, he said, "No, my manager, Rajesh Sharma coordinates the dates for me. I travel not just around the country, but outside it as well. There is a huge demand for stand-up comedy these days."

Here's an approximate range of how much they earn per show Sunil Pal — Rs 1.5 lakh Raju Shrivastav — Rs 2.5 lakh Ahsaan Qureshi — Rs 75,000 - 80,000 Bhagwant Mann — Rs 1.8 lakh Parag Kansara — Rs 30,000 Navin Prabhakar — Rs 75,000 to 1 lakh

Thnx guyss u r doin great work