Entertainment / Meet Comedian Danish Anwar

Meet Comedian Danish Anwar

Entertainment Nov 21, 2014

by Anokhi Admin

Danish Anwar, The Only Soviet-Born-Indian-Bengali-Canadian-Comic

Born in Moscow, Russia, comedian Danish Anwar sets himself apart with his style of comedy which is politically-charged and taken from his life experiences travelling. He regularly appears at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and was a 2012 finalist in JFL42’s Funniest Torontonian competition.

As the founder of the stand-up comedy label Toronto Comedy All-Stars, he has carved his space in the stand-up comedy world as one of the best independent producers. Comedy All-Stars regularly produces shows, which are hosted by Danish himself. Each show consists of local comedians who are regularly featured on MTV, The Comedy Network, Just For Laughs, where they have been known to represent themselves, battling for the right to be called the “funniest square-mileage” in The Big Smoke.

ANOKHI got a chance to talk to Danish Anwar about his life journey as a comedian:

ANOKHI Media: What inspired you to become a comedian?

Danish Anwar: That’s hard to say, I was always a troublemaker in school. I was always getting in trouble and being sent to the principal’s office. I was still getting good grades so they could not do anything about it. Growing up, I used to have a lot of fun and no consequences so this was just a natural extension of that. I have been a big fan of standup comedy myself.

One day, I decided to give it a try and it never stopped.

AM: What was your first gig like?

DA: It was the worst. It was the absolute worst show I have ever done in my life. In Toronto, there are vapor lounges. The first show I ever did was in these lounges. It was just a bunch of people and I was not supposed to perform that night. He chickened out and ran out in the last minute. The host of the show decided to put me in the last minute. I went up and I did five minute and it was mostly silence. People were not laughing at all and they were staring at me like I was a crazy person. I wasn’t particularly funny and I was underprepared and nervous but every now and then, I would get a chuckle so after I left the stage, I could not wait to get back on the stage again.

AM: What was it like growing up in Moscow during the cold war and how has it shaped your outlook, hence your stand-up comedy?

DA: Absolutely, well yes. I should mention it was the USSR, right. The things there were very different than they are now. In fact, Toronto now is very mixed, very cold is a lot like how Moscow was in the late 80s. There were a lot of people from all over the world who used to live there. For me, growing up it was a lot of fun I had friends from all over the world. The Soviet Union was encouraging people from all over the world to study there and compete with the US from a cultural level. There were lot of immigrants and people would get along really well. Now, obviously it's very different.

Growing up there, I never knew I was not Russian till I was ten years old. That’s how much of a non-issue it was. There were just like “oh you are here, no big deal.” You know when I talk about it; people are shocked and have a hard time believing it. I talk about it on stage from Russia, but to look like me, and now in Canada and traveling and trying to convince the authorities that my Canadian passport says born in Moscow and they look at my face and those three things don’t make sense to them. After the show usually, people won’t remember jokes and say “oh you are the brown Russian guy!”

AM: What type of challenges have you faced in this profession?

DA: Plenty of challenges. Some challenges are just systematic. There is no structure to this industry.

There are some people who work for years to become famous and some who become ‘Instagram’ famous. They are doing massive tours within months of starting. You need to have some business sense. I used to throw some dorm parties at York University campus. I literally had the smallest room on the campus. It was barely bigger than a closet but I used to promote and charge about ten dollars a cover to about 30-35 people. The point is that I learned how to put on shows.

Stand-up is very competitive as it is only one person on stage. It’s not a team sport. If I do well, it’s all me. If I don’t, someone else can get my spot. But then, specifically for me, I will face tokenism. They want one female comic, one ethnic comic, and straight, white male who dominate the industry. Sometimes there are barriers as you get type casted or pigeon-holed. In my particular case, I have done some middle-eastern themed shows and the audiences have questioned and said “that guy is not middle-eastern.”

Check out Danish in action below:

_{Featured Image: riotwire

Video courtesy of Danish Anwar}

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Meet Comedian Danish Anwar

by Anokhi Admin

Danish Anwar, The Only Soviet-Born-Indian-Bengali-Canadian-Comic

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