It's harder to make someone laugh than it is to make them cry but some are born with the flair for humour, and Adel Rahman belongs to the latter tribe. Three years, 700 open mics and 50 solo, line-up and corporate shows later, comedian Adel Rahman is in the city with his new show titled Muslim and Alive.
“I got a standing ovation for the same show in Patna and NIT Delhi. In this show, I will talk about everything from the recent lynchings to Muslims, RSS to GB Road, family and dogs,” says the 25-year-old.
After performing for a year-and-a-half in Bengaluru, the Patna-based electrical engineer-turned-comedian moved to Delhi. He says, “When I forayed into stand-up comedy, neither my family nor I had any idea about what stand-up comedy was.
But they never stopped me from following my heart. The idea of 9 to 6 jobs never caught my fancy. I was funny and I always knew I wanted to do something different.” So, one day he went to perform at an open mic event at The Local, Bengaluru, and his joke on a friend and Tinder, were appreciated by people, “but I don’t do such jokes now,” he adds.
Talking about open mics, trial shows and comedy shows, he says, “Open mics are the first step for any comedian. Then come the trial shows. These are the final trials for the jokes, following which a comedy show is planned. We begin with 5, 10 and 15-minute trial shows and we improvise at every step.”
About the current show, Rahman, who has opened shows for major stand-up comedians, earlier, says, “This show will be a mix of dark comedy, one-liners and storytelling. My jokes are sometimes politically incorrect, and this one is not for those who get offended easily.”
He believes the comic scene is more commercialised in Delhi as compared to Bengaluru. “Comedy is evolving in India. Unlike in the US, here the prospects for the market are good for the next 15 years,” he adds.
Standup scene began with observational comedy in India, but it’s not that comedians come up with new jokes every day, he opines.“Everyone faces the writer’s block, but we have to make the effort. Sometimes, it takes years to write a one-hour show,” says Rahman, who switches to watching a stand-up comedy or talking to friends when he is stressed. “I am learning guitar and in future, I want to experiment with the instrument and comedy on stage,” he signs off.
ON: Sept 14, 6:30 pm AT: Akshara Theatre, New Delhi