In this second of a three-part series of interviews with Pakistan’s veritable kings of comedy, who have come to represent, in many ways, a new generation of comedy inspired by politics, feudal lords and the occasional inebriated audience member, Pique speaks to Danish Ali.
(Our March edition had Saad Haroon holding forth on the whole gamut of making mirth).
If Pakistan had a Jon Stewart, Danish Ali would be it, having lampooned the news and current events with glee.
You trained to be a doctor and yet you got into comedy, how did that come about?
Like life, it just sort of happened. I had planned to be a surgeon since I was in Grade 7; I made sure my report card was good enough to get into the right school so that, in turn, my A-level grades were good enough to get into the right medical school.
But right when I was joining medical school I was watching a lot of stand-up comedy and trying it out on friends and strangers. Who knew then that I would turn into a comedian! I look back now and can’t believe I went through so much to become a doctor!
Life is the best punch line. I’m pretty happy now being both a doctor and a comedian. But I would really also like to add professional ninja.
How did your family react to this career change?
They have been really supportive and my dad is my biggest fan and critic. I guess they are ok with it as long as it is a proper job with prospects and outlooks and possibilities. I’m still pursuing my masters in healthcare at the same time so I can stay a doctor, too.
You’ve been doing comedy for a couple of years now, how has it been? How hard has it been to break through?
It’s been great. I think when you really love your job, you take the good and the bad together and think, ‘wow you’re really lucky.’ I’m a staunch believer in hard work so the jokes you see on TV or the punch lines you’re laughing at on stage, those took very long hours and nights to come up with, hone, and then deliver. Notwithstanding producing, editing, lighting, directing, filming, etc. If you think being a doctor is hard, try comedy for a week!
With your involvement with Shark and Saad Haroon, would you say you two pioneered improv and stand up comedy in Pakistan?
Well, yes, it feels great to be a part of the vanguard so I would love to look back sometime and go: “Wow it all started then and now look what we’ve made.” My dream is to successfully sustain a show as big and as hardy against the tide of time as Saturday Night Live in America. If we can do that for Pakistan, that would be great. The show 50/50 comes to mind, I’d love to see something like that back on air and breathing life! Fingers crossed.
What was your first show like?
If you mean open mics, it was awful and only two people laughed. That’s what everyone’s first open mic is supposed to be like. Stand-up comedy is a painful, ego destroying process where your success is based on trial-and-error until you get there. Sort of like a chemist who keeps drinking the wrong formula till he gets the right one. So when you see us in a proper advertised show, it is years of work and so we have very high expectations of a proper show because we have tried it on test audiences many, many times before it gets to the public.
When did you think, that as a comedian, you had arrived?
Probably, after touring the United States as a comedian sponsored by the U.S. State Department and also launching my own TV show on Aaj TV called The Real Show with Danish Ali. Also, little things like buying socks at a store when the guy behind the counter gives you a discount and says he loves your show.
Is there such a thing as ‘Pakistani comedy’ or a Pakistani sense of humour, what with the tradition of shows like 50/50, Pakistanis on Indian comedy shows and the like?
Pakistani comedy is happening as we speak in some politician’s office. They are the real comedians of Pakistan and they have turned the country into a joke and they write scripts I can’t compete with!
I just have to open my window for material. Here’s hoping they stop their stand-up comedy for all our sakes! No, but on a serious note, yes, of course every country’s culture and collective thoughts are indeed reflected to their art, which is a really, really important thing when you think of it that way. Here’s hoping that the country can support art more!
What’s your brand of comedy like?
It’s a little girl with bubblegum all over her face.
Your show The Real News is, of course, satire but is it inspired by something else? About sticking it to the man, or is it simply derision?
It never really has direction other than to further itself and by that I mean humour in general. So yes, if everyone is talking about what Veena Malik did you’re going to see a Veena Malik sketch from us, other times it could make fun of local affairs or international, other times still it could just be about nothing. The point is humour, not the other way around at least for me.
Where do you see comedy going in Pakistan?
I think it is already mainstream on YouTube, the numbers are bigger than the TV channels (my own video has 1.8 million views, another has 415,000)
What has been your worst heckle ever?
No heckle is the worst for me since I love going after audiences who are asking for it. Usually, it’s quite hilarious. This one time I was in the middle of a joke when I said “I’m married and so....” and this guy in the audience sort of said really loudly, “YOURE MARRIED?!!!!!” I don’t think he meant to say it out loud. At that point, I focused my attention on him and apologised for being married and had I known him earlier things might have been different. The whole audience got in on it and we had a long conversation which was a lot of fun.
When was the last time a joke of yours fell flat or the show was a dud?
Seven years ago when I started out
What has been your best show?
I loved performing at Nandos a while back in Karachi. Also, Dartmouth College in the U.S. was great. My second night in Dubai was a lot of fun because we got a lot of expats in the crowd.
Comedians, like Russell Peters for example, often stick to their best jokes, milking them for all their worth, while others like Louis CK tend to come up with fresh material in every show, how hard is it to come up with new stuff? Where do you place yourself?
Well, my content for TV is always fresh, then I’m also an improv artist so that’s improvisation on the spot, then there’s my stand-up which has been honed for years and years, so chances are you’re going to have a great time at a stand-up show of mine since you know I’ve been working on it for years. That’s my philosophy anyway.
Who is your favourite comedian?
Larry David, this interviewer!
Besides TV and stand up, what else do you plan on doing? Touring internationally possibly? Film?
All of the above. I was the first Pakistani comedian to be invited by the U.S. Department of State for a nationwide comedy tour and plan to keep performing abroad and locally.
The writer is an art critic based in Islamabad.
