Before He Hit It Big, Zakir Khan Was Poor And Hungry

MUMBAI-Comedian-actor Zakir Khan revealed that he took nearly a year to save Rs 500 to register for his first open mic, a step that eventually shaped his stand-up career.

Zakir Khan shared his early struggles while appearing on the podcast ‘Pehla Pehla’, hosted by actor Gopal Datt, recalling the financial hardships he faced before entering the comedy circuit.

He said, “We used to eat once a day. Every 2-3 months, it happened that we didn’t get food for 3 days. In such a scenario, we would sit in our innerwear. And my friend, Vishwas would tell me, ‘If you start this work, then no one will be better than you in India’. And what did I say? I said, ‘I know’. Now I am ashamed of these things.”

Describing how he discovered stand-up comedy, Zakir added, “I had Googled a lot earlier about stand-up. Sitting in a cyber cafe, stand-up comedy, something like this.”

He further spoke about the cost of entry into the field, saying, “So there was a fee of Rs 500 to register in open mic. For someone like us, it was very high. So, it took me about 1 year 8 months to save Rs 500.”

Recalling his first performance, he said it did not go as planned. “When I went there for the first time to do it, then of course it didn’t work. There is something in your mind. All those who do comedy are aware of it. They think that this will be funny, and something else is going on stage.”

He added that audience response depends on multiple factors, saying, “People’s mood or the environment is something else. Their social slab is something else. Your economical slab is something else. There are so many variants in it that it takes a lot of time to sit. So, it got spoiled. It got spoiled. People are laughing at the fact that it didn’t work.” (IANS)