Stories of Transformation

The Path to Becoming a Standup Comedian with Fahim Anwar

Episode Notes

"The trouble is, people don't understand comedy is an organic process. So if some blogger or someone catches you trying this joke for the first time, they think you do this every night. That this was your intention. When it may have been just an idea swimming in your head that day." -Fahim Anwar

Fahim Anwar is a Los Angeles-based Standup Comedian, Actor and Writer. Formerly an Aerospace engineer at Boeing , Fahim traded the cubicle for the stage and has never looked back. His Afghan parents however plead with him to look back nearly every day. Off the momentum of his one hour Amazon special THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS, The New York Times listed Fahim as a "Most Promising Future Star." He's appeared on CONAN, LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS and performed at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. His recent FILM/TV credits include WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, NEIGHBORS, DRUNK HISTORY, CARMICHAEL SHOW and SUPERIOR DONUTS to name a few. Fahim served as head writer and starred on a sketch show special for Comedy Central with his comedy group (GOATFACE) which includes Hasan Minhaj from THE PATRIOT ACT. Off the success of the sketch show special, Fahim was named by Variety Magazine as one of 2019 Comics to Watch, and was invited to be a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.

On this episode of Stories of Transformation, we get to see a different side of Fahim--not the performer, but the man he is off the stage (although he does get a few jokes in). We look at how Fahim's life experiences and world view as a minority have culminated to his approach to comedy as an art form today.

Some main points and questions discussed are:

• The heightened sensitivity to political correctness these days and what it means for comedy
• What Fahim means when he says, "your audience is your editor"
• Do more funny things happen to comedians?
• Fahim's upbringing in a traditional Afghan family and the rocky road to his parents' acceptance hat he will no longer be an engineer, but rather a comedian
• The importance of taking time off to go into "observer mode" rather than being in "performer mode" all the time
• Fahim's strategic approach to pursuing comedy as a career
• Fahim's ratio of lighthearted joking to real truth, which he uses to inject truth in a way that doesn't make the audience feel they're being preached at and therefore more willing to listen
• Why Fahim says in order to really be successful as a comedian, you need to be part performer and part hacker
• Why Fahim says many ethnic comedians are wearing "creative handcuffs"

“Funny things happen to everyone. Standup comedians are wired a certain way where they don’t let those ideas go away. They can catch those butterflies. My mind is in tune, ready to receive these ideas, whereas it escapes the average person.”-Fahim Anwar

Follow/Support Fahim Anwar:

• Website: http://fahimanwar.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fahimanwar
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/goatfacecomedy
• Instagram: instagram.com/fahimanwar
• Podcast: https://goo.gl/gdXQRu
• One-hour Standup Special: https://amzn.to/39mu6FX

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Follow/Support Stories of Transformation and Baktash Ahadi:

• Website: https://www.baktashahadi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories_of_transformation/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stories-of-Transformation-110335937120068/

Podcast produced by Dana Drahos: http://danadrahos.com/

Podcast edited by Joseph Gangemi: http://linkedin.com/in/joseph-gangemi-b850b41a2

Social Media managed by Tinli Yarrington: http://www.facebook.com/TinliYarringtonVA