Comedy Karma

When Aliya Kanani was growing up, she dreamed of becoming an actress, but there was one problem: film and television rarely featured anyone who looked like her. In the season finale of Comedy Karma, host Aditya sits down with Aliya Kanani, the Canadian Screen Award-nominated comedian and actress, to talk about embracing her Tanzanian-Indian-Canadian identity, becoming a touring comedian, and what she hopes brown audiences take away from her work. They’ll also laugh through the hilarious stories behind her punchlines - from what it’s like to travel with a Muslim name, to navigating the world as a brown traveller, and her parent's reaction to her comedy career.

After the sudden passing of a close relative, Stella Wu had a realisation: 'What’s the point? We’re all going to die anyway.' That thought pushed her to quit her stable banking job and enrol in a comedy course - and she hasn’t looked back since. Now, she’s shaking up the Australian comedy scene. Defying her 'womanly duties', dismantling cultural norms, and making sure racists know that she definitely knows what 'condescending' means - Stella isn’t afraid to rock the boat. In this episode of Comedy Karma, Stella jumps on the mic to share her hilarious take on the Australian comedy scene. She chats with Aditya about the moment that sparked her leap into stand-up, her mother’s dramatic reaction to her tattoo, the quirks of dating in Hong Kong versus Australia, and plenty more laugh-out-loud stories.

Growing up in refugee camps in Sudan, Joe White could never have imagined the incredible success that awaited him. In this episode, Joe sits down with Aditya to share his inspiring story - from playing soccer with migrant kids to selling out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and eventually performing stand-up comedy on stage at the Opera House. In this episode you'll hear Joe's best jokes on Ethiopian pride, the difference between Perth and Melbourne, his adventures in America, and so much more.

Paul Ndungu believes Kenyans are among the world’s finest storytellers. In this episode of Comedy Karma, he joins Aditya to unpack the stereotypes he's had to challenge since moving to Australia. Paul chats about braving the Adelaide comedy scene, his family's memories of Kenya's independence, and the irony of having his first "third-world" experience as an economic migrant.

Shash's father prides himself on having a son living in Australia, it's a shame that he quit his corporate job for comedy though. In the second episode of season two Aditya chats to Indian Australian comedian Shash Kapur.

Since moving to Adelaide from Delhi at the age of twenty-one, Chetan Singh has been a runner-up at the prestigious RAW comedy competition and opened for some of the biggest names in Indian comedy. We listen to some of his best jokes, including one about his attempts to destroy small talk in Australia. He talks to Aditya about finding white men with long hair intimidating, the joys of catching the bus in India, not knowing what 'crank it up' meant, struggling to produce comedy shows in an industry dominated by white Australians and more.

Urvi Majumdar moved to Australia from Calcutta when she was six. She is now a full-time stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. We listen to some of her jokes, including one about why she hated eating fruits when she was growing up. She talks to Aditya about changing her name, struggling with adjusting in Australia as a shy kid with an Indian accent, seeing the positive side of her dad’s obsession with keeping track of expenses and much more.

You might have seen or heard the work of comedian, writer and actor Suren Jayemanne on SBS’ Celebrity Letters & Numbers, ABC’s Question Everything, Tonightly and more. He has performed solo shows at the Melbourne and Sydney Comedy Festivals, the Adelaide Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe. Suren’s Sri Lankan parents moved to Australia in the eighties. He grew up in Sydney and is now a professional stand-up comedian and writer. We listen to some of Suren’s jokes, including one about the time he made everyone on a plane very uncomfortable. He talks to Aditya about auditioning for Master Chef, the differences between UK and Australian audiences, going to Sri Lanka for the first time, and much more.

Amna Bee is a Pakistani-Canadian-Australian stand-up comedian and writer who feels at home wherever she goes. Her solo comedy show has received rave reviews across Australia. We listen to some of her brilliant jokes, including one about why she hates new age Yoga studios. She talks to Aditya about the similarities between Australia and Pakistan, growing up with abusive humour, landing in Canada a day after the 9/11 attacks, supporting the Pakistan Cricket team and much more.

Sri Lanka-born Sashi Perera has garnered millions of views for her comedy videos online, which led to her receiving a lot of hate and love. We listen to Sashi’s jokes, including one about her remembering a racist song she once sang in school. She talks to Aditya about setting boundaries between the Sri Lankan community, working as a refugee lawyer, realising she can date other ethnicities, facing racism after a cricket match, receiving a DM from Hasan Minhaj, and much more.

Join the ever-curious stand-up comedian Aditya Gautam as he chuckles along with Australia's funniest comedians from the South Asian diaspora. They exchange jokes, stories, gossip, life lessons, and a little good karma.