Aakash Mehta’s stand-up show in Hyderabad is a relatable exploration of life’s pain points

Six months ago, stand-up comedian Aakash Mehta was thinking that “maybe I need to give comedy a rest”; and so, he made a pros and cons list of all the things he loves and hates about doing this job. “As I was doing it, I realised that it’s not just comedy, everybody has the same pain points in life. So my show Aakash Mehta Lives became a show essentially about the pros and cons of living in this society,” he says, adding that the show is absolutely real and relatable, for the jokes have been tested on chaiwalas, dhobiwalas, and domestic help.

Talking about what inspired him to take up such a topic as ‘pain’ and translate it to comedy, Aakash says, “I’ve just been feeling very overwhelmed with life lately. It’s absolutely too much. The world is very lonely no matter how many people are around you, and I feel comedy is the only thing that has made the world feel consistently less lonely. It is only comedy that just lets me be me. At the heart of it, people laugh because they agree with you, so it feels like I am not the only one with these crazy thoughts.”

Letting us in on the most interesting element of this show, the comedian says that it is an experiment he does at the end, where everyone faces their deepest insecurities for a few seconds, and then laughs them off.

Aakash tells us that talking about his problems on stage is a great way to find out how he feels, how he should feel, and whether he is making a big deal out of all this. “It only gets depressing when you’re thinking about it alone,” he philosophises. Continuing his thoughts, he shares, “Comedy is the only forum we have to talk about these things. You cannot be serious about such issues and have a con versation because people will shut off. You are already seeing the most serious versions of this conversation playing on social media. If you can laugh at the truth, then it almost liberates you. It disallows the problem to have power over you.”

With an LLB degree and a diploma in audio engineering, Aakash began his journey into comedy when he gave a shot at stand-up at a college fest in 2011. “It was like I had finally found the flavour I was looking for all my life. You don’t know how it tastes but know that one day, you will taste it. One day it hits and everything starts to make sense again,” he recalls.

The artiste also tells us that he learnt this conversational approach of looking at comedy and his life from law school. “My approach is very law school like. I don’t write down my jokes; if I have a point, I will do research on it and present my argument to the audience,” he says.

Tickets at INR 499. August 31. 5.30 pm. At The Comedy Theatre, Gachibowli

Story by Ananya Mehta