Hanging out with Miqdaad Dohadwala

The Hangout with Rushdi

Went a little over our usual time but I know people who enjoy the topics will listen all the way through, also I have put time stamps along with the topics covered so you could easily skip to what you want to listen to. Comedy – 01:29 We talk about love for comedy and swiftly move into the topic of plagiarism and stealing jokes. He confesses how he is too guilty of it at the very initial stage of his career but quickly learnt his lessons and how wrong it was of him to do it. And how he now calls comedians out for doing such a thing even though he himself is a producer of shows at VDesi and needs the show to go on and be successful. He shares a story of how someone did his bit and his own produced show. Yes. The horror! We then move into talking about how irrespective of our unconditional love for comedy we still have bills to pay, what he has done to pay these bills and what he envisions for himself in the future with comedy. He shares his “dreams” with us. His advertising dream and comedy dream, both are equally hilarious but for completely different reasons. As a producer and a person in the advertising industry he discusses the difficulties of promoting a comedy show versus music performed by a band and even goes into the economics which is hard to argue with irrespective of how much you love comedy and the art form. We cover the intricacies of crowd work and why comedians must be equipped with material as a performer. Swiftly moving into punching down and being “racist” as a comedian in order to get laughs. Miqdaad shares his opinion on what newbies should be doing and talks about how it is vital to focus on being FUNNY rather than trying to change the world. Career in Advertising – 38:07 He goes into what its like to be in the advertising industry, the gate keepers of good content and sums it up quite concisely. Music Break – 46:30 Muhammad Motiwala – Rabba Tu Arranged Marriage – 50:40 A topic which I could not help but cover with him is the matter of Arranged Marriage. He shares his experiences meeting what I like to call “potential candidates” and how it usually goes down. I have no doubt that you would be shocked at the number of women he met during his adventure of seeking out a partner. He compares it to as if you are on a blind date which your parents have set up as opposed to a friend or the internet. The pros and cons of such an arrangement as well as how he adjusted over time to the idea of it. The questions put forward to the groom are usually tactically prepared to gauge how he would be rated as a candidate. He talks about his experiences in the UAE and how it’s different from our own along with his acquaintances and his partner at VDesi laughs Amit Asudani. Comic Relief Segment – 1:24:23 #MeToo – 1:24:53 We quickly cover the #MeToo movement because it is somewhat a hot topic and comes close to home because a number of comics have been accused of being perpetrators. See you next week. As usual, we appreciate the likes, shares and comments.