Haseeb Khan’s show in Hyderabad shows how heartbreak and friendship can turn comedy gold

Haseeb Khan walks in with an easy, unfussed energy, the kind that instantly mirrors the tone of his comedy and as he settles in to talk to Indulge about his latest solo show, Dil Se Gareeb, he explains how the title was born from two themes that have followed him for years — money and love. He says, “People get richer but stay poor in their minds.”

Haseeb Khan’s Dil Se Gareeb turns a discounted aisle of insecurities into premium laughter

The artiste adds that emotional insecurity sits at the centre of so many of his jokes, just like the first of the title, the 11 romantic rejections that built his early love life. “I felt like the title covers both the topics and flips the usual ‘dil se ameer’ into something more honest,” he explains.

As Haseeb gears up for Hyderabad again, he says he doesn’t write city-specific material but definitely brings back the odd memories, including the night someone actually came to watch his show carrying a Paytm box that kept making transaction tones after he asked the audience to silence their phones, a moment that still cracks him up. “Hyderabad crowds are different in the best way,” he claims.

When we talk about how he chooses material, he leans into the everyday, telling us, “I like simple things, things people think no one will joke about,” and adds that he’d rather talk about universal middle class behaviour than something niche. “If it’s only funny to Bandra, I don’t want it,” he says.

And when asked about what works universally, across cities, he doesn’t hesitate before saying, “Friendship and relationships — everyone relates, whether they’re 20 or 50.” Haseeb paints the life of five boys teasing the one guy who always ditches the group for his girlfriend, or couples recognising the pressure of first dates where, as he says, “no one is real, everyone shows the perfect version of themselves,” and he loves that no matter where he performs, these emotional truths land the same way.

Despite the universal relatability, Haseeb admits he’s not big on crowd interactions, “I want people to listen to my 70-minute set,” he says as he laughs, knowing well how interruptions can break the rhythm. “If someone talks in between, I get confused. Enjoy my set, I promise you’ll have a good time.” Though he avoids crowd work, there are times somethings genuinely catch his eye, like the time he spotted a couple wearing head-to-toe matching outfits and couldn’t resist, jokingly asking them whether it was because of “love, or if they had extra fabric left after stitching one’s clothing.”

We ask him about the moment he will never forget, and Haseeb goes straight to his first ever YouTube taping — two intense days in 2021.“I ruined the first day because I took too much stress and pressure,” he admits, but the next day, he walked on stage with a calm, chilled-out energy, performed with ease and walked off thinking, “my life is going to change.” He was right. It’s a lesson he still carries, treating his career like a video game — level by level, “just stay consistent — if you are ready, if you are talented, it will happen,” he signs off.

Tickets from ₹499. November 21, 8.30 pm. At Aaromale - Cafe & Creative Community, Film Nagar.

Email: isha.p@newindianexpress.com

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