After performances from talismanic names including Kenny Sebastian, Zakir Khan and Sourabh Pant, Manipal is all set to witness yet another jewel in the crown of Indian stand-up comedy. A man whose work and reputation precedes him, he is the founding member of the most popular comic group, All India Bakchod (AIB) and the brains behind content such as Journey of a Joke, all of these feats resonate to one name, Abish Mathew.
Abish, a former RJ for Red FM, is also hosts Comicstaan and Son of Abish, with the latter amassing a huge audience ever since it first aired on YouTube, and also being closest to “The Tonight Show”. What most people don’t know is that Abish is a Delhi-bred Malayali, and is a History graduate from Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University. In fact, Delhi has been the place where he first ventured into stand-up comedy. His first performance, as he recalls, was a performance for his friends and family at a gig in Defence Colony. Fast forward 2018, Abish has now over 714,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. However, his journey hasn’t been a bed of roses throughout. Growing up in a time where sharing jokes on a stage was totally uncool, Abish has been a subject to heavy criticism for his work, most notably during the infamous AIB’s Roast of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. He has no misgivings with regards to all the hatred.
He is often credited by his fans and critics alike for being one of the wittiest comedians who turned around the Indian scenario. From people who used to sit through stand-ups in bars to actually paying for it, Abish has seen it all. However, what has made Abish kept going is his determination and devotion to the art of making people laugh. Unlike most comedians who complain about their initial days of struggle, Abish sees it as an exciting time, and believes that the struggle is what makes the journey of a comedian interesting. This determination is probably the reason why Son of Abish received immense popularity whereas other shows of the same genre such as “Oye! It’s Friday” and “Tere Mere Beech Mein” failed miserably and got off the air in a jiffy.
Apart from his time on the stage, Abish avidly follows Malayali films, and is a fan of Mohanlal. While he absolutely loves watching classics like ‘Kilukam’ and ‘Akashadoothu’, he was blown away by ‘Drishyam’ too.
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