Unfiltering Aakash Mehta’s Comic Journey

Unfiltering Aakash Mehta’s Comic Journey

Aakash Mehta performed at the BOCCA Cafe yesterday and had the audience rejuvenate their sense of humour. There were two shows organised by Comedy Highway Bhubaneswar which were hosted by stand-up comic Satyavrat Mohapatra. The first show was called Nasty which had jokes about sex and dirty comedy and the second one was titled Dark and it had dark innuendoes about death, funerals and other such topics. The show started off with Aakash introducing his alter-ego, Prakash Mehta and then he set the stage on fire with his dark jokes. My City Links got an opportunity to get into a candid conversation with Aakash about his journey so far in the world of comedy.

World Of Comedy

Aakash Mehta is in the business of making people laugh and he is loving it! Funny as he is, he started off with a punned description of how he entered the world of comedy. “When a pretty girl complimented me on my sense of humour, I knew comedy was my calling,” he blurted out with his infectious laugh. “I knew that I occasionally made people crack up with my jokes, but it was only after she complimented me that I started doing more open mics. I continued because I genuinely fell in love with the art,” said Aakash, who is a law graduate and also holds a diploma in Audio Engineering before he decided to try out comedy. “More specifically, I was introduced to stand-up comedy when my brother gifted me 13 seasons of Comedy Central Presents. But back then, comedy as a profession seemed like a far-off thing,” he added. “I incessantly watched comedy shows as a kid and it was the only thing that made sense to me,” he shared. 

Reality Is Funny

“While the reaction to other forms of art doesn’t have to come immediately, comedy is a form of art that requires instant reaction,” he pointed out. “Jokes are like owning a piano. Many people have pianos but very few know how to play, compose or perform on them. Jokes, whether clean, dark, nasty or light, always need to be delivered properly to get the right reaction. The audience should be able to relate to and understand the context. If you have to explain a joke then there is no point. Nothing is better than blurting out the reality and watching people relate to it and laugh at it,” said the Mumbai-based comedian. 

“I never have a script in my mind. In the last six years I haven’t written down a single joke,” he shared. He finds the easiest way to communicate with the audience is to present anecdotes that he is familiar with. “I will always work on something that I can connect with. It has to affect me and move me enough so that I can make people find it either ludicrous or hilarious. The most honest way to get in touch with another person is by telling jokes through stories,” he added. The sketches in his shows are an amalgamation of his thoughts.

Half-baked Fame

Talking about the name and fame that Akash has gained, he said that he does not really believe in them. He prefers self-contentment, which he has garnered from the audience’s reactions over the years. “My fame is half baked, my jokes are half baked and I am happy with this phase in my life,” he said. Akash prefers working with small groups.

He has risen to considerable fame in the past few years owing to a steady release of YouTube videos, each of which has garnered millions of views. This popularity has enabled him to travel to different parts of the country and solidify his fanbase. He chose the path of satire and humour at the age of 18 while performing stand up comedy for the first time at a college festival. “Comedy is the right place to bring everything together, connect with people and ultimately get in touch with who you are as a person,” he shared. His shows mostly relate to long story-telling sketches presented with a conversational twist.

Just a decade on and Akash has over six lakh subscribers on YouTube. From anxiety at airports and Mumbai’s local trains to advice on tinder and long-distance relationships, anything and everything finds a place in his acts.

Passion Turned Profession

Aakash believes that comedy is the most simple and transparent job in the world. “If your jokes are funny you survive, if they aren’t then nothing can help you,” he feels. For Akash, laughter helped him deal with anxiety. “Sometimes I get sad and lose confidence. Doing stand ups gave me more joy than fear. I am most comfortable and confident on stage,” he said. “And it is satisfying when you are able to turn your passion into your bread and butter,” shared the hysterical genius who has no filters when he speaks. 

He finds the Indian crowd comparatively more enterprising, after actively performing on a tour in the US and UK. As an artist whose craft exists at the intersection of sold tickets and internet views, for him, success is getting better at your own job rather than diving deep into the analytics. “Success is getting better at the craft. I became a comic to write and tell jokes. So it doesn’t matter how many tickets I sell or how many views I get. It’s about making the most of the time that people are giving me by becoming the best I can be at what they have come to see. That is all that matters to me at the end of the day,” he divulged indifferently.

Hurdles- Stepping Stones

On being asked if his family and friends were encouraging when he entered the comedy arena, he coughed on his coffee and pointed out the bitter fact that how no parent would want their child to get into something that is very unrealistic as a profession and has a blurry future. “Of course my parents were resistant. This proves that they loved me,” he broke into a fit of laughter. “But on a serious note, it is a fact. Doing stand up doesn’t really pay well, but if you are really passionate about it, then it is going to give you a whole lot of satisfaction. For me passion is what counts. And I am surviving and still on it because of that,” he shared.

He believes that getting better at his art is the only parameter on which he judges himself. “It gets hard when you have established yourself and then you see others doing better than you. But eventually I made peace with it and it no longer bothers me. I am much better at my job now than I was three years ago and that is how I define success. I just enjoy going up on stage and making people laugh. There can be no competition. Each comedian has his/her way of reaching out to their audience,”  he added.

In Love With Odisha’s Audience

The first time Aakash Mehta was introduced to the Odia audience was back in 2017 and since then he has had a strong  bond and the attachment is mutual. “Unfortunately, despite coming to Odisha multiple times, I haven’t really got the opportunity to visit any palace or more literally ‘unravel the best kept secret of India. All my visits are tightly packed and the journey is only from the hotel to the show venue. But the last time I was here I went to the Odisha Hotel and tried out the mutton there and I totally loved it. Hopefully soon I can explore the beauty,” he shared. 

Talking To People Through Podcasts

Aakash has been doing podcasts for many years now. “Podcasting is basically a personal pursuit. I feel like talking to people makes you a better person. You get insight on the other person’s life and learn a great deal from it. This readily interests me. That’s really the gist of it and it is completely for my own peace of mind,” he shared. 

Hitting The Right Strings Too

With a decade of standup comedy experience under his belt, Aakash has also made a foray into the world of music. He originally aspired to be a musician and has even completed an online course in songwriting from the Berklee College of Music. The Mumbai-based comic recently dropped his debut single ‘Love Of You’ – a folksy, introspective ditty about the joy of feeling love for another and released the full-length album ‘What Is Life’ in January 2022.

“I have been writing and playing songs since my college days, when I was doing my Diploma in Audio Engineering and I had even played in a short-lived band with Karunesh Talwar. Those were largely for private consumption amongst friends and family. It wasn’t till the pandemic hit that I thought of finally putting some of them together on an album. This decision was possible because of the enthusiastic support of musician Shashwat Bulusu, who produced the record. The pandemic gave me ample amount of time to work on it. So basically I had the talent, money and time and I went for it,” he admitted very nonchalantly.

When asked if the culmination of his two interests would work, he said, “Music has a strong sense of emotion to it while comedy does not. I have personally never felt the need to combine the two. Both hold a different place in my life and I think when one has more than one talent to give to the world, they shouldn’t hold it back and rather hone it and express it.” 

Word Of Advice

When asked about giving advice to beginners who want to enter into the comedy arena, he started off with a caution, “Don’t!”

“This is a field that will not give you overnight fame or money. But if you are really passionate and want to enter it then go ahead. Be true to yourself and the audience,” he added. He further resonated with the fact that talent is important but consistency is way more important. His profession requires him to travel extensively and though there is joy in meeting so many new people, he highlights the downside to stand-ups as it keeps him away from his family and friends for long periods of time.

“Passion is what really counts,” signed off the comedian, who has a 20-minute documentary made on him titled ‘Ab Mujhe Funny Banna Hai’.

Photos Courtesy: Wasim Afsar