We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Asif Lakhani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Asif, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My day job, which pays the bills (for now:), I landed—like anything else—with good luck and hard work.

I went to school for magazine journalism (MIZ!) and took an elective called Digital Production during my senior year. At the time, no one knew how monumental social media and the Internet would become, but that one course is what my job title is now: Digital Producer.

Along my professional journey, I deviated from the current path and also stumbled along the way because I kept getting “laid off” (their words, not mine) for one reason or another. Being funny is something I always excelled at. Trying standup just one time was a new year’s resolution for me, and when I got laid off in 2017, it was something for me to finally try and do. It went great the first night, so I stuck with it. Eventually, I got laid off again shortly after (wasn’t the second time I’d lost a job at that point), so I doubled down on it and decided I would pursue it for good because I realized no one could take it from me.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I think the answer to the last question tells a little bit about me in terms of my educational and professional background.

I’m a regular (single) guy. I live in Brooklyn, work in tech, do comedy and hang out with friends at night. I love going to restaurants, experiencing things (museums, concerts, the park, etc.) and indulging in craft beer with friends or by myself. I don’t watch Netflix or Hulu, but I love sports and a good movie or two occasionally.

What sets me apart comedically (or as a comedian compared to a regular person) is no one tells the jokes I want to hear; if someone did or does, then I wouldn’t do standup or write the jokes myself.

My two big goals in life are to write the next great American novel and be a late-night talk show host, since the bills need to get paid somehow…. And if money isn’t a concern, then I’ve still got to do some thing with my time.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

To be honest, I feel like I don’t get the engagement on social media around my posts that other people do with theirs. No, I don’t have a baby or a garden to post pictures of, but sometimes people will tell me they love my comedy even though I never see them like or share a post despite them doing that with and for other people. I’m not sure why that is, but I’m sure one day when I finally “make it,” they’ll have no problem supporting me publicly then. It’s annoying.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I like to think I’m a smart guy because I’m educated. I try to consume quality content (podcasts, articles, books, etc.). For me to be successful creatively, I feel like invest too much time into what other people are saying on stage; I need to focus on myself and my process. Plus, in my head I’m as good as anyone else (or better since a lot of people aren’t actually that good), so why would I go out of my way to support them when they won’t and don’t even do half of that for me?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @asif.comedy
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/LaAcgb3bMxE
• Other: One of my responsibilities for my day job is managing the mailchimp.com/courier & couriermedia.com websites. Courier is a UK-based publication for SMEs and people who live life on their own terms.