UFV’s English department will be hosting a free comedy showcase featuring local comedians Cliff Prang, Helena Paul, and Rajnish Dhawan, an associate professor at UFV.
The show will take place on Friday, Feb. 28 in Abbotsford, B101 from 1 – 2:30 p.m. Alex Wetmore, who teaches the rhetoric of stand-up comedy in his ENG 271 class, worked with Rajnish Dhawan to bring this event to UFV for the second time.
Dhawan explained that when he was an undergrad in India he was always comfortable performing on stage, whether it be theatre or musicals — comedy was just another box for him to tick off. After becoming a professor, he would occasionally perform stand-up as a hobby, until he moved to Canada in 2009.
“I wrote a very intense play in 2014 and 2015. After that, I wrote another intense show based on terrorism. It had some biographical elements because I have lived through a phase of terrorism back in India. It was very intense — I was going deep into my history, so I needed to get out of it. I wrote a comedy play for a festival in Chilliwack back in 2017. I wrote that play in May, and come June, I decided that I’m going to do this comedy thing too,” Dhawan said.
Dhawan started exploring opportunities for stand-up shows and open mics within the Fraser Valley area as a way to learn the system of stand-up, the business aspect of comedy, and discover his own narrative within this hobby. When asked if he found it nerve-wracking to be on stage and expected to bring an entire room to laughter, Dhawan was only excited.
“Not when you’ve been a professor for 22 years. If you’re rehearsed, if you know your material, you’re fine. I know some think it’s supposed to be the most frightening thing in the world, but that’s where experience comes in,” he said.
Dhawan’s comfort in both a classroom and on stage has made him fearless when it comes to performance. During a professional show at Abbotsford’s Yuk Yuk’s in which he was attending, two performers back-to-back failed to stoke the audience into laughs. Dhawan only saw this as an opportunity to bring the room to life.
“Abbotsford is a very difficult audience,” Dhawan said, explaining the humour in the Fraser Valley is more selective. He asked the emcee if he could go up next, before the headliner came out. With their permission, Dhawan was able to successfully perform his routine and get the room laughing.
Comedy is at its best when it comes from a place of truth. Dhawan has no patience for comedians like Russell Peters who rely on caricatures and stereotypes for their acts. He doesn’t want to rely on sex jokes or drug use either, but instead subvert those expectations and provide information that’s both current and relevant, all while ensuring the audience is taken for a ride.
“When they’re coming home, I want them to be discussing the show,” Dhawan said. “I want them to remember what happened.”
