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Comedian Eshaan Akbar: 'I want people to see the funny side of the Koran'

Eshaan Akbar is a diplomatic provocateur.

The 33-year-old stand-up is one of the BBC Asian Network’s latest breakout talents. He first made waves on the comedy circuit supporting Micky Flanagan on tour in 2014 but now he’s wading into choppier waters. His latest set-piece, Prophet Like It’s Hot, aims to show the Koran “is actually quite funny” at the Edinburgh Fringe.

“If someone kills me for doing this, which a lot of people are worried about, I think it will at least make people sit up and take notice,” says Akbar, tucking into a halloumi burger at Bill’s in Kensington. “I don’t know if I want to die for my job — I’ve got plenty more shows left in me — but what a legacy that would leave, eh?”

Dangerously funny, maybe. But there’s plenty of humour to be found in religion, a fact that’s crucial to the show’s mandate of demystifying Islam. “Comedy is an integral part of making people think and feel differently about issues,” he says. “I want people to be challenged, have conversations and feel uncomfortable. Well, fundamentally I want them to laugh. They can feel uncomfortable while in a plush seat and not walking out, hopefully.”

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Three weeks ago a woman came up to him after a preview show. “It turned out she was on that train at Parson’s Green with the bomber on, and had sat opposite him,” says Akbar. “She was in tears because she said that ever since that incident she’s struggled to reconcile her relationship with people from the Islamic community and the fact of what could have happened to her. So she cried and held me because she said I made terrorism funny. I was able to somehow make her laugh about a quite serious thing, and there’s something wonderful about that.”

Born in Whitechapel, Akbar’s family moved to Essex and he attended a Church of England school, Stonebridge, on a scholarship. “I was a bit of a misfit, the poor brown boy at a private school in Essex,” he says.

It was a nuclear family at home: mum a Bangladeshi Thatcherite, his dad a Pakistani Labourite, both strictly following the tenets of Islam (he has a younger brother, now a teacher). “When I visited Bangladesh I was too British to be Bangladeshi, and here I’m too Bangladeshi to be British,” he says. “It’s weird. My mum first heard me speak English when I was seven, and I had a bit of an Essex twang, which would not wash. She’d pull out her favourite book, Wuthering Heights, and say: ‘I want you to read this like you’re on the BBC. If you start swallowing your ts I’ll smack you’. I gave Heathcliff a Yorkshire accent, which really annoyed her.”

Yet Akbar hasn’t been a practising Muslim for years now. This, he says, grants him perspective. “I was raised within the faith but my mum said: ‘The lottery of life meant that you were born a Muslim. I’ll tell you Islam is great but if I’d been Jewish I’d be saying Judaism is great. The same if I’d been born a Christian’. So with that upbringing I was always able to respect everything.”

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Sara Barron

Carla Guler

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Rosie Jones

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He found the teachings at the mosque inflexible. “Even the revelation itself came from the prophet asking questions of society. But we weren’t taught any of the historical context. All I was told was: ‘Read this’. The first alphabet I learned to read was Arabic and I didnt know what any of it meant. If I dared to question I’d get slapped. They said: ‘This is the word of God and that’s it, don’t ask questions’. As I got older that pushed me away.”

Comedy was not his next calling though. There was a long fixation with the diplomatic corps. Three of his uncles were in the service, and used to pick him up, aged six, in a limousine. “I used to wear a clip-on lime green tie every time they visited,” he says. “I wanted to be an ambassador.”

He studied economics at Queen Mary, University of London, and bought a house in Chadwell Heath, near Romford aged 18 — “I lucked out. Easy credit.” He buckled up for a career in banking through Barclays’ graduate programme — his parents lost their house in the 1991 recession and he needed to support the family.

“The main thing I did was wealth management for celebrities. There were some big names, including a comedian of much repute whose financial affairs were a bit of a scandal.”

So… Jimmy Carr?

“Right, so there we go. You look at someone like Jimmy Carr’s bank account and the remarkable thing was he had as much money as he did. For context, to open an account with me you needed £5 million in investment assets or an annual cash flow of £450,000. So, big money. And I’m a 21-year-old going ‘I’m never going to see that much’. And he’s doing comedy.”

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He was made redundant during the 2008 financial crisis and went into occupational overdrive. He briefly reignited his diplomatic aspirations, studying for an MA at Birkbeck before dropping it. He then freelanced for The Observer and worked as a researcher for Sky News. “I’d even been a dance choreographer for a bit outside work at Barclays,” he says. “It was Bollywood. I choreographed groups for weddings, that kind of stuff.”

Then, some luck. A producer at Sky filmed him for a broadcast audition tape and spotted his flair for comedy. That was the nudge he needed. Akbar took an eight-week stand-up course and was spotted by Micky Flanagan’s agent.

In 2014 his mum died. “I had two gigs left after her passing. I was going to do them, and that was going to be it. I couldn’t think about anything but my mum. But I hadn’t realised how cathartic comedy was for me. Confronting people who didn’t know me and my story and not thinking about my mum, it just became this safe space where I could enjoy myself.”

Akbar still lives with his dad and brother but even that’s comic material. He’s written a sitcom — still in the works — about trying to find love while living with his “housemates”. “They have loads of sex and I get nothing in the show,” he says.

London’s best comedy clubs and nights

15 show all

1/15 The Soho Theatre

Sara Pascoe’s favourite comedy venue, and with good reason: the Soho Theatre is arguably London’s finest place to see both up-and-coming and established acts. Being a theatre, rather than a comedy club per se, expect to see full sets from individuals rather than bills with a few comics. Its three rooms host all sorts of things, from the latest Edinburgh winners to big names road-testing their latest bits. The standard is reliably excellent: even if you’ve never heard of a comedian, chances are, if they’re playing here, they’ll be worth watching.

2/15 The Comedy Store

Another old favourite, the Comedy Store benefits from being built for purpose: no other venue in London suits stand-up quite so well (and the beer isn’t too ridiculously priced, either). After starting out above a strip club in Soho, this place made its name throughout the eighties by breaking the pioneers in alternative comedy. It’s happy to host mainstream stars these days, and never struggles to draw top acts, but if you can only make one thing, try The Comedy Store Players, old pros whose improvised shows on Wednesdays and Sundays all but guarantee hilarity. Tuesday’s The Cutting Edge is best for those who like topical humour.

3/15 Old Rope at The Phoenix

Old Rope is popular with circuit veterans and newbies alike, so the weekly show usually has a mix of big names, comedy veterans and ones-to-watch. Host Tiff Stevenson leads an evening of new material – yes, lots of jokes given their test run – and it’s given its name for the noose that hangs over the stage. Ironically, this noose is a bit of a life-saver: if the new act is going badly, comics can grab the rope and fall back on old material.

4/15 Knock2bag

Always top value, the Knock2bag nights offer the chance to indulge in the odder end of the comedy spectrum: expect serious helpings of whimsy, eccentricity and surrealism. If you’re looking for something different, this is your place to go.

5/15 Monkey Business Comedy Club

A first-rate comedy club and well worth travelling for. We’d pick the Thursday night over Saturday, but you’ll get a decent show on either day. There’s a mix of big names and up-and-comers, and host Martin Besserman is a pro who’ll keep you laughing in between acts. Of which, there’s often as many as twelve a night, so you’ll get your money’s worth. If one isn’t to your taste, another promises a laugh.

6/15 Banana Cabaret Club

The Banana Cabaret Club hosts a lot of top drawer comics, and is well loved in comedy circles – in part, because they’ve been going a good thirty years and in part because of the man running things, David Vickers, whose had everyone from Eddie Izzard to Stephen K Amos performing. Stars pop-in, and comedy circuit regulars play often, but it’s also on the finest spots to see new talent . No wonder Marcus Brigstocke name-checked it as his favourite London comedy club. Besides, once the two-hour show is done (typically wrapping up around 11pm), DJs strike up and everyone dances till 2am. Splendid.

http://vivivi.co.uk/

7/15 Piccadilly Comedy Club

Hats off to the Piccadilly for keeping comedy cheap: their shows cost £10 at the most, and they do a ‘meal deal’, where you can eat at Tiger Tiger and see the show for £20 all-in. A bargain. Expect a mix of well-known TV regulars alongside the best newcomers on the scene. Line-ups are particularly well thought out here: they don’t just sling together anyone, so the nights tend to be uniformly excellent.

8/15 Leicester Square Theatre

The Leicester Square Theatre draws the big names, so expect to see top flight acts: Richard Herring hosts a weekly podcast here on Wednesdays, and the likes of Bridget Christie, Micky Flanagan and Frankie Boyle all make it a stopping point on their tours. That said, check the website for what’s upcoming – there are chance to see some under-the-radar sets too.

9/15 Live at Zédel

The excellent Brasserie Zédel – whose Bar Americain is one of the finest drinking spots in the capital – relaunched Crazy Coqs as Live At Zédel last year and following a successful first run, are launching their second season. Besides comedy – the standard is usually very decent – they also host musical theatre and drag acts. The cocktails are terrific and there’s at-table service. Eat in the restaurant beforehand (or after), too: we swung by recently and the food is as good as its ever been. Cheap, too.

10/15 Happy Mondays

This fortnightly show boasts the best new up-and-coming acts in the capital, combined with big name hosts – expect the likes of Miles Jupp, Sara Pascoe and Holly Walsh – who keep the standard up to scratch. Definitely up to par, somewhere to find your new favourite comedian.

11/15 Angel Comedy

Just how a comedy club should be: small, crowded and above a pub. Best of all, it’s free, and each night offers something different, from open-mic nights to well-known names giving their latest sets an airing. Check the website for details, but you won’t be let down – just get down early, as it fills up quickly.

12/15 Ginglik Comedy Club

Following a decade of success in Shepherd’s Bush, this comedy club has found a new home at the ever-popular Roof Gardens. Known as ‘Jimmy Carr’s favourite comedy club’, the Ginglik has had everyone from Al Murray to Robin Williams play, and is set for more success.

13/15 Laugh Out London

The likes of Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter and Tony Law play these nights, which gives an idea of just how decent they are. Laugh Out London always do a good job of bringing the highlights from Edinburgh festival to town, so take the chance to see who everyone’s been tweeting about.

14/15 The 99 Club

This Leicester Square club is much, much better than you might expect for a place that continually flyers. A big favourite with the Chortle Awards, it always attracts big names – it runs a little like ‘Live At The Apollo’ but on a smaller scale. There are three acts a night, and shows are fairly priced: some are as cheap as a fiver, though most will cost around £10 – £15. They’ve also got venues in Soho and Covent Garden.

15/15 Live At The Chapel

Bit of a shame that shows here are so few and far between – usually about once a month – but there’s no place more beautiful than the Union Chapel to see comedy in London. The upside is that, with so few performances, they always get the big names headlining, with unfailingly impressive support. Plus there’s usually a live band, who are fab. The atmosphere is everything.

Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

1/15 The Soho Theatre

Sara Pascoe’s favourite comedy venue, and with good reason: the Soho Theatre is arguably London’s finest place to see both up-and-coming and established acts. Being a theatre, rather than a comedy club per se, expect to see full sets from individuals rather than bills with a few comics. Its three rooms host all sorts of things, from the latest Edinburgh winners to big names road-testing their latest bits. The standard is reliably excellent: even if you’ve never heard of a comedian, chances are, if they’re playing here, they’ll be worth watching.

2/15 The Comedy Store

Another old favourite, the Comedy Store benefits from being built for purpose: no other venue in London suits stand-up quite so well (and the beer isn’t too ridiculously priced, either). After starting out above a strip club in Soho, this place made its name throughout the eighties by breaking the pioneers in alternative comedy. It’s happy to host mainstream stars these days, and never struggles to draw top acts, but if you can only make one thing, try The Comedy Store Players, old pros whose improvised shows on Wednesdays and Sundays all but guarantee hilarity. Tuesday’s The Cutting Edge is best for those who like topical humour.

3/15 Old Rope at The Phoenix

Old Rope is popular with circuit veterans and newbies alike, so the weekly show usually has a mix of big names, comedy veterans and ones-to-watch. Host Tiff Stevenson leads an evening of new material – yes, lots of jokes given their test run – and it’s given its name for the noose that hangs over the stage. Ironically, this noose is a bit of a life-saver: if the new act is going badly, comics can grab the rope and fall back on old material.

4/15 Knock2bag

Always top value, the Knock2bag nights offer the chance to indulge in the odder end of the comedy spectrum: expect serious helpings of whimsy, eccentricity and surrealism. If you’re looking for something different, this is your place to go.

5/15 Monkey Business Comedy Club

A first-rate comedy club and well worth travelling for. We’d pick the Thursday night over Saturday, but you’ll get a decent show on either day. There’s a mix of big names and up-and-comers, and host Martin Besserman is a pro who’ll keep you laughing in between acts. Of which, there’s often as many as twelve a night, so you’ll get your money’s worth. If one isn’t to your taste, another promises a laugh.

6/15 Banana Cabaret Club

The Banana Cabaret Club hosts a lot of top drawer comics, and is well loved in comedy circles – in part, because they’ve been going a good thirty years and in part because of the man running things, David Vickers, whose had everyone from Eddie Izzard to Stephen K Amos performing. Stars pop-in, and comedy circuit regulars play often, but it’s also on the finest spots to see new talent . No wonder Marcus Brigstocke name-checked it as his favourite London comedy club. Besides, once the two-hour show is done (typically wrapping up around 11pm), DJs strike up and everyone dances till 2am. Splendid.

http://vivivi.co.uk/

7/15 Piccadilly Comedy Club

Hats off to the Piccadilly for keeping comedy cheap: their shows cost £10 at the most, and they do a ‘meal deal’, where you can eat at Tiger Tiger and see the show for £20 all-in. A bargain. Expect a mix of well-known TV regulars alongside the best newcomers on the scene. Line-ups are particularly well thought out here: they don’t just sling together anyone, so the nights tend to be uniformly excellent.

8/15 Leicester Square Theatre

The Leicester Square Theatre draws the big names, so expect to see top flight acts: Richard Herring hosts a weekly podcast here on Wednesdays, and the likes of Bridget Christie, Micky Flanagan and Frankie Boyle all make it a stopping point on their tours. That said, check the website for what’s upcoming – there are chance to see some under-the-radar sets too.

9/15 Live at Zédel

The excellent Brasserie Zédel – whose Bar Americain is one of the finest drinking spots in the capital – relaunched Crazy Coqs as Live At Zédel last year and following a successful first run, are launching their second season. Besides comedy – the standard is usually very decent – they also host musical theatre and drag acts. The cocktails are terrific and there’s at-table service. Eat in the restaurant beforehand (or after), too: we swung by recently and the food is as good as its ever been. Cheap, too.

10/15 Happy Mondays

This fortnightly show boasts the best new up-and-coming acts in the capital, combined with big name hosts – expect the likes of Miles Jupp, Sara Pascoe and Holly Walsh – who keep the standard up to scratch. Definitely up to par, somewhere to find your new favourite comedian.

11/15 Angel Comedy

Just how a comedy club should be: small, crowded and above a pub. Best of all, it’s free, and each night offers something different, from open-mic nights to well-known names giving their latest sets an airing. Check the website for details, but you won’t be let down – just get down early, as it fills up quickly.

12/15 Ginglik Comedy Club

Following a decade of success in Shepherd’s Bush, this comedy club has found a new home at the ever-popular Roof Gardens. Known as ‘Jimmy Carr’s favourite comedy club’, the Ginglik has had everyone from Al Murray to Robin Williams play, and is set for more success.

13/15 Laugh Out London

The likes of Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter and Tony Law play these nights, which gives an idea of just how decent they are. Laugh Out London always do a good job of bringing the highlights from Edinburgh festival to town, so take the chance to see who everyone’s been tweeting about.

14/15 The 99 Club

This Leicester Square club is much, much better than you might expect for a place that continually flyers. A big favourite with the Chortle Awards, it always attracts big names – it runs a little like ‘Live At The Apollo’ but on a smaller scale. There are three acts a night, and shows are fairly priced: some are as cheap as a fiver, though most will cost around £10 – £15. They’ve also got venues in Soho and Covent Garden.

15/15 Live At The Chapel

Bit of a shame that shows here are so few and far between – usually about once a month – but there’s no place more beautiful than the Union Chapel to see comedy in London. The upside is that, with so few performances, they always get the big names headlining, with unfailingly impressive support. Plus there’s usually a live band, who are fab. The atmosphere is everything.

Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Based on real life experience? “Slightly. My brother’s got a girlfriend in America and he’s having more sex than me.” He laughs. “I get no matches on Tinder. None. Muslim Tinder however, aka Minder… oh boy. You can declare how religious you are on there and a lot of girls, when they find someone who’s not religious, they’re like, ‘Oh, hello’. I’m the bad boy. I never thought I’d play that role.”

You’ve got to have faith. Even when you don’t.

Eshaan Akbar’s Prophet Like It’s Hot is at the Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh (edfringe.com) August 1-26

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/comedian-eshaan-akbar-i-want-people-to-see-the-funny-side-of-the-koran-a3895681.html