Comedian Aakash Mehta about his stand-up special, ‘Dark’, his writing process, and more

Aakash Mehta
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In an interview, Mani Ratnam talks about how he observes life as a filmmaker. The situations he encounters can be possible scenes. The people he meets can be potential characters. The emotions he witnesses can make for great drama on screen. The artist is always alert, looking for material he can use in his films, like a watchful predator scanning for prey.

It is perhaps true for every artist, says comedian Aakash Mehta, who will be in Bengaluru on August 25, 26 and 27 to perform his stand-up special, Dark. “You have to live life to write about it. So everything is fair game concerning what you can write about and use as inspiration,” he says, “I’m observing everything all the time, everywhere. And extract as much out of it as I can. You have to be a person who has undergone different experiences, which adds authenticity to your art.”

His stand-up special, Dark, is centred around a man who has lost everything. He uses humour to cope with divorce and life’s absurdities. It dives deep into themes of morality and right versus wrong. “Not for the weak of heart or strong of opinion,” warns the show’s bookmyshow.com summary.

Despite doing dark comedy, Aakash does not necessarily feel wary of any topic except two: “religion and the ruling party.”

“Religion, especially, is a big part of my life. So, it’s a bit disappointing that I cannot talk about it. But otherwise, I don’t feel restricted. You can talk about what you want. You just need to know how to talk about it. You can’t talk about things without any tact and expect people to accept that.”

Studying law has helped him in two ways: “One: I don’t have to consult a lawyer if I get into trouble with my jokes,” he laughs, “And, two: I can think about something from different angles, which helps me write my jokes.”

Unlike many comedians, Aakash does not literally write his jokes. “About 95% of it happens within my mind,” he says. It is partly improv. Through experiences and research, he acquires topics he likes to discuss. The jokes become the vehicle for his opinions on these topics. “As I’m on stage, the jokes flow naturally, almost as if they write themselves. I don’t need to put separate effort into constructing them.”

Though Aakash is not bothered if his jokes will offend people (“it’s inevitable,” he says), he is concerned if they will hurt someone. “If I am talking about, say, disability, I will run it by people I know who are disabled. Or, if my joke is about gay people, I will ask my friend, who’s gay, if he feels offended. So, I am careful about not kicking someone when they are down. On the other hand, you have to accept that you will upset someone. There are people who message me saying, ‘You have ruined my life!’ And I’ll be like, ‘That’s your problem, man. A video can’t ruin your life!’”

Tickets for ‘Dark’ are on bookmyshow.com