When Ash Chandler first began performing in the country he was the only stand-up comedian India had seen. In fact, so alien was the concept of stand-up to audiences that he once had a woman commend him for his act but also question him about why he, the compeer, hadn’t called on stage the performer.
Today though, he is a name to reckon with when it comes to business of comedy and entertainment.
All set to perform in the city this weekend at Monsoon Nirvana a fundraiser by the Rotary Club, Ash has a bag full of entertainment in store.
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“I have performed in Hyderabad a couple of times before and it has been good. The audience is well travelled and informed and they get my references, even if they are a little shy when it comes to interacting with the artiste. Also this show is for a cause and I’m very happy to be supporting it,” says Ash, adding, “I have several close friends in the city and as an artiste who is always travelling, visiting Hyderabad feels like coming home in a sense.”
Talking about his performance in the city, Ash says that he has a good time in store for everyone. “I am an entertainer and I’ll do whatever it takes to entertain the crowd. I won’t know what it is till I am actually there.
I need to sense what the crowd wants at that moment,” he explains.
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The entertainer who has been doing stand-up for the last 15 years in the country says that things have changed a lot over the years. “From people asking me why the performer didn’t come on stage to stand up becoming the buzz word now things have come a long way.
What people need is a performer who is very brave and is not afraid to hold up a mirror to society. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves,” says the performer, who grew up on a staple of Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle and Rodney Dangerfield among others.
Stand-up acts apart, Ash is also known for his involvement in films, theatre and music. “It is never too much. I love to work and I have the time to do all of these things,” says Ash, who is currently acting in two theatre productions and has a huge theatrical show coming up. “ Scent of a man that I’m doing with AGP is close to completing a year and each time we perform it is to packed audiences. I’m working on ‘Around the World in 80 minutes’, a theatrical show with original music and where I play different characters. This is also with AGP and I’m very excited about it,” he says.
While he is also in talks with producers for a couple of films, what Ash is really excited about is his pet project, a performance venue for stand-up comics in Goa. “It should be up and running by November end.
What I want to do is provide a platform to stand-up comics to take their craft to a cross-section of people. Goa gets a good number of Indian and international tourists and it should be a good platform for artistes,” he says.