Urooj Ashfaq on Going International: ‘I Have to Set Up Context Everywhere’

If there’s a lesson to be found for comedians from our interview with stand-up comedian Urooj Ashfaq, it’s that it’s okay to get blank stares and explain your jokes to a certain degree. “Therapy, relationships or dating… usually just have small things [contextually] that differ from place to place, even within India, I would say, actually,” she says over a call.

Fresh from her experience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this year – after which she was judged the Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards – Ashfaq says doing nonstop shows from August 2nd to 27th was like a boot camp of sorts. Sure, she says Indian comics are often used to touring extensively in India with back to back shows, but at the Fringe, it’s different. “It’s not like you’re going to your house to the venue and back. You’re watching shows in between, there are 3,500 people and probably 3,500 shows going on at the same time. There’s going to be reviewers, panelists and audiences that recommend shows to each other,” Ashfaq says. The atmosphere was one of joy and excitement, like watching “other shows that are brilliant” and she says the “collective effort” of all the artists involved at the Fringe drives someone like her.

When she came back after winning the award, it’s not like Ashfaq had throngs of people cheering her arrival at the airport, but she does recall with a laugh about fellow comedians and friends Sorabh Pant, Prashasti Singh and Anirban Dasgupta showed up with a joke banner. “It said, ‘Welcome to India and you’ve made India proud.’ It was really sweet and everyone at the airport thought, ‘What are these three people doing here and who are they welcoming back?’”

Among the challenges in going international – Ashfaq now has upcoming shows in London from October 30th to November 4th and in Amsterdam on November 5th – is how she has to perform entirely in English instead of the Hinglish that she thrives in at shows in India. “I do perform in English over here [in India] also, but the thing that was missing was context. So I have to set up context everywhere. I’m comfortable in English but there are a lot of references that people didn’t get, so it was a learning curve […] But you can figure it out in a few days,” she adds.

Another big learning, in a way, was finding out that British writer, actor and comedian Phoebe Waller-Bridge “is an exceptionally nice person,” says Ashfaq about meeting the mind behind the acclaimed show Fleabag. Originally meeting at a consulate dinner, Waller-Bridge said she took the name of Ashfaq’s show “Oh No!” and casually mentioned she may come watch it. “Then I was like, ‘no, no, it’s not good.’ I think there’s no point in calling someone to watch your show if you suck. But then she did show up, but no one told me about it, because they know I have an anxious disposition.” Eventually, Ashfaq spotted her 15 minutes into the show. “She said she liked it, which I’m going to believe.” Her takeaway from the whole experience? “Sometimes, wonderful things just happen.”

She wishes just as wonderful things to happen for indie musicians she enjoys, from friend, rapper-songwriter Srushti Tawade (“She’s awesome, clearly.”) to Excise Dept (“I really liked their song ‘Billo’”) and singer-songwriters like Andrew Sabu (“I find it to be chill vibes) and Taba Chake.

Up next, there are more shows and plans to put out more YouTube videos which will drive audiences to shows. Ashfaq adds, “The plan is to keep doing stand-up, because that’s what got me here. I think the plan is to be better. If you plan to do this well, ‘yeh theek thaak kaam hai.’ (This is good, proper work)”