Regardless of doing comedy for over a decade, Aakash Mehta confesses that he has not achieved as a lot as his fellow comedians have within the discipline. Whereas nonetheless anxious, the comic signed up for Netflix’s Social Forex and “hoped I wouldn’t get kicked out in 21 days”. Not solely did he not get kicked out, however Mehta went on to win the present. Nonetheless, he nonetheless doesn’t imagine that he’s an influencer. “I’ve by no means [been] an influencer; I can’t affect anyone. Influencers are a medium for promoting merchandise. I inform jokes. I’ve [promoted] stuff, however I don’t suppose anybody is shopping for it due to me,” he jokes.
Mehta shares that the manufacturing workforce didn’t pitch Social Forex as a actuality present. “From the beginning, they referred to as it a social experiment,” which peaked his curiosity. Ask him if the experiment was profitable or not, and the comic says that he took loads away from it. “Initially, it felt like a paid trip, however in a short time the duties got here. The challenges stored getting more durable. Sooner or later, I might really feel all of us moving into the aggressive zone. The [stay] was insightful for me. It was an enormous confidence booster. I feed off the power of the folks round me. If the seven folks weren’t on the identical wavelength as me, it could have been an enormous hit to my confidence. In the home, I used to be anxious. I felt essentially the most unfunny I’ve ever felt in my life,” he shares. Mehta claims that he did issues he by no means thought he must, which frequently peaked his nervousness ranges. In reality, in his first problem, he had a panic assault however overcame the sensation with assist of the workforce.
“Convincing actual folks to do issues isn’t my robust go well with. I’m socially awkward and have excessive nervousness. On stage, I’m tremendous; off stage, I can’t even make eye contact. I really feel all of the duties had been troublesome contemplating I used to be additionally the least well-known particular person within the present,” says Mehta. He says that he makes jokes on individuals who he is aware of is usually a sport about it. In the home, the comic believes that fellow contestant Mridhul Madhok was somebody who might take it in his stride. “Any type of joke in India is pretty much as good as roasting; folks don’t know the distinction. I make enjoyable of my comic buddies on stage, and they’re in on it, however on this home it was slightly troublesome. Mridul is the closest [person] to that comedian temperament as a result of he has this ‘I don’t give a f#@ok [attitude]. I don’t know whether it is Mridul or Delhi,” says Mehta, who’s now gearing up for his stand-up particular, Nasty.