Popular Stand-Up comic Urooj Ashfaq made the nation proud, when she lifted the much coveted
Edinburgh Comedy Awards in London. To add more feathers in her cap, the 28-year old comedian
is the first India-based comedian to win the award in its 40-year history – and the first comedian of South Asian heritage to win since 1997. The Best Newcomer award has been previously won by prominent names like Tim Vine, Milton Jones, Tim Minchin, Sarah Millican, Alex Edelman and it celebrates the spirit of stand-up comedy.
As Urooj continues to ace every milestones in her way, she exclusively spoke with News18 Showsha and expressed her happiness and thrill behind receiving this award. She also spoke about the stand-up comedy landscape of India, representation of female comics, her thoughts on venturing into the showbiz industry and more.
Here are the excerpts:
A huge congratulations for the achievement! You’ve created history by becoming the recipient of Edinburgh Comedy Awards. What does it mean to you, how are you processing it and what was your initial reaction when you got to know about this news?
I’m really thrilled to have won it and I think it’s pretty surreal to win a Perrier award, the British call it the “Oscar’s of comedy” something I found out after having won it so yeah it feels very significant. I hope it brings more global attention to the comedy scene in India and more acts perform at the fringe, it’s a great experience.
Reflecting back on your stand-up journey, which commenced at the age of 21, did you even envision or manifest reaching at a juncture where you’ll be recognised on such a prestigious platform?
No not at all, I just envisioned that I would hopefully be good at doing comedy and be able to make some money from it.
So tell me something about this act Oh No with OML and Soho Theatre? What makes your set unique and hilarious, how did you go about preparing for it and what kind of feedback did you receive from the audience?
This is the first time I’ve ever written a full length show so I tried to write about everything that I find funny, my life experiences etc. I put all of my jokes about therapy, childhood experiences, relationships etc together and read my childhood diary at the end! I just tried my best to write a funny show, the rest came together as I performed it everyday and worked on it offstage. Audiences have been very generous and kind about the show so far.
You performed in front of some of the leading stand-up comics of the world like Daniel Sloss and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. How was that experience and whether you also got to interact with them after the show?
It was a great experience and I think it was because they are so warm and kind (not because I’m a confident person) . They sat in my audience with a smile on their face and laughing and it really put me at ease. They were both very encouraging and generous about the show after it. I’m really happy that they came.
Not many stand-up comics have the bragging rights that they have attained a global recognition for their craft. And then, someone like you comes along and grabs that milestone. In what way, do you see this achievement changing things for you? Do you feel people will be more receptive towards you and your art of stand-up comedy?
I think the main way this could change things for me is to help me get on more stages and more
festivals across the world. Opportunity is a very helpful thing and I think this could create
opportunities for me. At the end of the day I have to put in the work to be good at my job. Also I feel quite loved and well received as is, if this brings more people on board then great!
Stand-up comics often draw experiences from their lives and give it the shape of comedy. As someone who has shared some personal instances about your cultural, religious identity, your family, your mental health, what amount of bargaining goes behind the scenes where you sit with yourself and you determine how much you’ll be sharing and howmuch you’ll be holding back? Also, how do you mentally prepare yourself before presenting a personal side of yours?
I think a good rule of thumb is to probably start talking about something on stage after you have processed your feelings off stage. In that case you are making jokes on something retrospectively and you may not feel as pained or as vulnerable on stage or from any reactions you could receive online. I think the only way to learn about what you will share and what you will hold back is by trying and making mistakes and deciding what your personal boundaries are.
I’ve been following your stand-up comedy since the time you started. And you gained prominence around the time when there were not many female stand-up comics. The female to male ratio was skewed. It is still skewed, but it has certainly improved. As a female stand-up comedian, has the space improved for women comics? What are your thoughts on the representation of female stand-up comics in general, here in India?
I don’t think there is enough diversity even now in terms of age, social strata etc. We have
incredible female voices now but not enough I would say. I think the pioneering work done by all the female comics who started before me made life much easier and I hope I can do the same
for the next batch. I think maybe the space has improved for women comics from the production side of things, we have more women on line ups and more women coming out to try comedy.
Also, female stand-up comics like yourself and so many others, have to deal with unnecessary hate, sexism, snide and unsavoury comments all the time. From comments like ‘you are unfunny” to comments on looks, jokes, attire and the list is endless. Such comments certainly demean, demoralise a comic, it makes them go into a shell, it makes them question themselves. How do you deal with such an onslaught? How much of it takes a toll on you? And at the end of the day, what keeps you going?
The sexism now I believe mainly comes from the audiences, it doesn’t sit well with a lot of
people that a woman is being funny! I think they don’t know where to place us, they’re used to
women in the media existing as mothers or lovers. They’re confused about where to put a funny girl having jokes and opinions! It definitely is a deterrent and takes away from your mental health initially (the hate and the bullying) but eventually you appreciate the love you get and become quite numb to the hate. Certain words have lost meaning for me because I’ve been called them so many times. What keeps me going is that I love my job and I never started comedy to please sexist people anyway, I did this for myself and I’ll keep going at it for myself.We all have one life to live. At the end of mine I would’ve done a lot of comedy that I love and the comment section will be dead having just made comments.
With more and more entrants in the stand-up comedy space in India, do you feel that space is getting saturated? And because of that, people who are actually very good are getting lost in the clutter? With all the constraints in regards to stand up scene in India, where do you see it going from this point?
I personally feel that there is plenty of space and opportunity for everyone. Stand up comedy is
very new in India compared to how long other countries have had it. What feels like saturation isactually a normal upward trend of people trying out comedy and trying to build a career from it. A lot of the audience that comes to the live shows of mine are watching comedy for the first time, this is true for the audience in other comics shows as well. There is plenty of space for a lot of comics and there is plenty of audience waiting to watch more. Whenever there are more people competing for the same job I feel the tolerance for mediocrity goes down, so maybe now all of us, the new comics and the old comics, have to work harder and do better to build an audience or keep the audience. Some comics will be overnight stars and some will rise slowly over time. I believe all good voices will get the recognition they deserve, if not now immediately
then later in due time.
At the end of the day, stand-up is a competitive space. Do you ever feel the pressure of competition and to keep coming up with something new for your listeners? If yes, what’s your coping mechanism for that?
Yes of course there is a lot of pressure to constantly churn out material or content, I try to keep up with it by putting up small snippets frommy shows, but I believe putting out full length comedy videos back to back is difficult (for me) without compromising on the quality. So i try to keep the online audience engaged as much as I can without hurrying myself to do away with material that I know I need time to work on and make better.
A lot of stand-up comics have stepped away from the space and have ventured into fields like acting and showbiz. You, on the other hand, have stayed clear of that route. So is that a conscious decision on your end or whether you plan to test that space too when you are comfortable?
I really love doing stand up comedy and I feel I have so much more to learn and to try and to
make in this art form. A lot of it honestly has to do with skill and confidence and kudos to my
peers for trying everything. I feel as of now I am confident in doing stand up comedy and writing and I will try my best to be better in that space itself.
In the era of stand up specials, Do you have plans of launching your own special sometimein the near-future? If yes, what do you have store in for people?
I would love to put out my own special (that is not a decision I make, that is a decision the platforms make for you, if they want to have you). On my end what I have in store for people is lots of live shows! and hopefully lots of comedy videos on Youtube in the future.
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