Amin and Ashik’s Live Standup Comedy Tour hits the road today

The almost non-existent stand-up comedy scene in Dhaka is kept alive by the endeavours of two gritty comedians – Ahmad Ashik and Amin Hannan Chowdhury, with their ragtag band of funnymen.

The tour, which will include talents like Ananda Mazumder and Rafsan Sabab, will take place in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Sylhet.

The Daily Star talks to Amin and Ashik to know more about their expectations from the tour, the current comedy scene, and more.

Both of you are individual comedians when it comes to performances. When did you decide to form "Amin and Ashik", and why?

Ashik: The mastermind behind all of this is Amin. He had a vision, and I was just happy knowing that someone is passionate about standup comedy as much as I am. This is why we work well together. The name came from a lack of effort but I do regret not fighting for the better name -- Ashik and Amin!

Amin: I think what united us was the lack of ambition we both had. We knew that it would not work out if we kept going like that, because we had real jobs. We just wanted 20 people to show up for our shows at the time. Fast forward 3 years, and we have sold out all 7 shows from this tour.

Ananda Mazumder

Tell us about your latest tour.

Ashik: This tour is taking place because the pandemic dried up all our shows and we believe this is the right time to kick-start standup comedy again in Bangladesh.

Amin: This has been on our bucket list for a while now. We have Ananda Mazumdar who is a stammering comic that we met while doing the show, and Rafsan Shabab who is a clean comedian. What I love about the lineup of the tour is the variety. I think we finally have something to offer for the crowd. We start on the 16th with the first show at Mirpur, then move to Rajshahi, Sylhet and finish the tour in Chittagong, our hometown.

What is the hardest part about being on stage as a comic?

Ashik - the hardest part for me is when no one laughs, as there is 50/50 chance of your jokes not working on any given day but that is the best way to learn standup comedy too.

Amin: I think in the first minute the crowd decides whether they like you or hate you. The first minute has to be the hardest. 

Rafsan Sabab

How do you see the stand-up comedy scene in Dhaka?

Ashik: The standup comedy scene here is like Bangladesh Cricket. There is potential and promise, but we are yet to win a major tournament.

Amin: The standup comedy scene here is like Bangladesh football. We all like it, we all want it to grow, but no one shows up at the venue.

You are quite a presence on social media. How much does that help in building a crowd for live shows? Will you say that the industry is completely dependent on it?

Ashik: I think our podcast, "Jus Lyk A Podcast" on our YouTube channel played a major role in bringing in the crowd. We are overwhelmed by the response. We used to do shows for 5 people, and now we are selling out venues around the country.

Amin: In fact, we had to tell people we're not YouTubers, but stand up comedians. I think we were a bit late in the game, but Rafsan and Antik (Antik Mahmud) helped us a lot in understanding how the social media game works. I remember being on call with them constantly on how to create videos and align them with our live shows, so we could bring some crowd.