Ahmed Bharoocha

Today I am interviewing Ahmed Bharoocha, a comedian born in Santa Barbara, CA who has been doing comedy for about five years. To find out more about Ahmed, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I always watched stand up as a kid and thought it was the coolest profession. I love laughing and making other people laugh. The most impressive thing about stand up to me was that it was one guy, by himself with nothing besides a mic. No sets, no props (or at least the comics I liked) , no costumes, no one else to help, and yet he can make a room filled with people laugh for over an hour. Also I've always wanted people to like me and its hard not to like someone when they are making you laugh. The older I got the more I became interested in stand up, The writing, the performance, and how much work that actually goes into it. Now I almost see comics as funny philosophers, and I love looking at life and thinking about it in a different light.

Is there anything you won't make fun of?

I am usually pretty clean, but there is anything that I am absolutely against talking about on stage. I think pretty much everything can be funny as long as you approach it right. I'm not really a fan of saying things just to be dirty or offensive but if its necessary to the joke say what ever you want. If something happens in life then there is probably something funny about it, and there's probably a crowd that wants to laugh about it. But while I'm on stage I'd rather make people laugh than groan or cringe, so I tend to clean it up. Sometimes I think it distract from the joke as well. But other times the word fuck, or talking about abortion is just necessary to make your point on a certain joke, and in that case say it. I guess I just never say something for pure shock value. Another reason I like to be clean is because I listened to stand up at a young age and it would for some kid to listen to my stand up and think of me the way I thought of the comics I grew up admiring.

Who are your favorite comedians and why?

I have a very ling list of comics I look up to. I love any comic who is original and are themselves. I love Bill Cosby because he's just naturally funny it seems effortless with him. He just make me feel good, and his stories are perfect. Richard Prior because he could make anything funny, I love his voice, his act outs, the way he looked, his personalty, the fact that he would talk about dark personal things about himself. I think Richard Prior is stand up comedy to me. Bob Newheart because of his dry wit and his stammer. Newheart can make you laugh about the things that he doesn't say, like he does a lot of one side of a conversations and you never hear what the other person says and yet its sometimes what the other person is saying is the punchline. And his stammer is perfectly placed in every joke, he pauses at the right time and always lets your brain think of the joke. To me its like when in scary movies when they don't shot the monster its always scarier because your imagination can scare you much more than and cheezy costume. Chris Rock because he is not only funny but he makes brilliant points with every joke. And his transitions are seamless. Dave Chappelle because he's just funny, smart and a natural, I think like Prior he just is stand up comedy. Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg because of thier simple brilaince. The list goes on and on, David Cross, Todd Barry, Louis CK, Sienfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Demitri Martin, Zack Galifinakas, Dave Attell, Patton Oswalt, too many to name.