Remember the last time you laughed until you burst into tears amidst all the challenges and changes of living a stressful life? Our lives are filled with stress and anxiety. We have to contend with exam stress, the struggle of meeting deadlines, annoying traffic delays, increased pricing, and other issues. So, where can we find some relief from all of these? Stand-up comedy can provide you with a much-needed respite from the stress of the week.
In Dhaka, the niche market for comedy thrives through the principal wing called Naveed's Comedy Club which features established and up-and-coming comedians ready to entertain the city's enthusiastic audiences. It is the country's first comedy club, established in 2010. It has been running successfully since its inception, under the direction of veteran comedian and the prestigious awardee of Best Male Comedian at the 2007 Original Las Vegas Comedy Festivals as well as the first Bangladeshi to be featured on a Comedy Central special- Naveed Mahbub.
He paints an optimistic view about the emerging stand-up comedy scene in Bangladesh. "I'm very hopeful because I think a lot of people are taking an interest. A lot of budding comedians as well as audiences from all walks of life are coming forward to shape this industry. Moreover, the ballooning of content on social media also plays an important role."
The club continues to provide a steady stream of laughter. A primary goal of this club is to provide a stage for aspiring comedians to demonstrate their abilities in front of a live audience. Using insightful quips, it hopes to make the audience laugh, present them with pure amusement and develop subtle humour in the process. Naveed thinks that laughter is the perfect remedy to make people happy so that they can forget their troubles while simultaneously participating in the performance. According to him, the main point of comedy is to have a good time without hurting anyone's feelings.
Just as he believes in limitless possibilities of career opportunities in comedy, he also mentions how sometimes humour can be used as a medium of delivering strong social messages. "Because of the connectivity of social media, now it is fairly easy and inexpensive to do digital marketing. Proper format and duration coupled with constant improvement, changes and updates; it is possible to tap into the target audience," remarks Naveed.
As one of the best stand up comedians in Bangladesh, Ahmad Ashik is tied to the standup industry of the country. Stitching an optimistic view, he believes that the stand-up comedy scene in Dhaka has gained momentum at this moment. "People are noticing that this art form exists in Bangladesh and more are curious to attend and try. I hope the comics can keep it going so that once I return from Canada, I can reap the benefits."
Even though this industry is expanding its range gradually by tapping the vast market, some drawbacks still loom which creates a hindrance for this profession. He explains it best. "The problems can be divided into two sections. While performing live- lack of clubs and money coupled with death threats or getting cancelled at the time of uploading the video on social media makes it difficult for us to keep churning out laughs.".
Ashik, however, brings an important point mentioning how more dedicated comedy clubs as well as raising the awareness for more people to try comedy without the fear of getting cancelled, beaten up and killed for a joke can play an important role in sculpting the industry.
In Bangladesh, stand-up comedy is still in its early phases, although it has been slowly gaining ground over the years. With viral content and social media fame, many youngsters have been able to build a big base of followers. Recently, a bunch of content creators like Khalid Farhan, Enayet Chowdhury, Shihab Hasan Neyon, Sakib Bin Rashid tried standup comedy for the first time which depicts the endless potential of this niche craft in our country, one that the current generation of comedians are determined to master.
The writer is currently a student at the Department of International Relations at Bangladesh University of Professionals.
sadianaharsiam@gmail.com