Aakash Gupta is an Indian comedian, actor, youtuber and theatre artist. He was the co-winner of the second season of the stand-up comedy competition television series
Comicstaan
''Comicstaan'' is an Indian stand-up comedy competition television series created by Only Much Louder for Amazon Prime Video. The show brings together budding Indian comedians to find the next big name in stand-up comedy.
The series premier ...
. He is well trained in
performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
and has mastered the art of
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
.
Early life
Born and raised in
Delhi, Gupta did his schooling at Sumermal Jain Public School. Gupta attended
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College is a co-educational institute which was established in 1967. It is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. The college is named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh, an Indian freedom fighter who believed strongly in ...
,
Delhi University graduating with a
Bachelor in Commerce with Honours. He was first exposed to the theatre in college and where he was well known as a performer. He performed in several streets and stage plays in his college and also various other college fests such as
Mood Indigo
"Mood Indigo" is a jazz song with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard and lyrics by Irving Mills.
Composition
Although Irving Mills—Jack Mills's brother and publishing partner—took credit for the lyrics, Mitchell Parish claimed in ...
(
IIT Bombay,
IIT Delhi). In his final year, Gupta was the president of ''Natuve''- The theatre society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. After graduation Gupta worked as an audit associate with
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
for one year, while doing theatre on weekends with different groups in Delhi.
Early career
Gupta eventually chose to quit his corporate job and to focus on learning different forms of theatre, while keeping up his work in comedy and improv. In 2014, he did an internship at Radio Mantra. Gupta further explored acting by undertaking professional training in Red Nose Clowning &
Commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
from Indian and German acting teachers.
After leaving KPMG, Gupta developed an interest in improv comedy and joined a comedy improv collective in Delhi in 2014 called Cueless Improv under the guidance of Varoon Anand, Delhi’s experienced improv trainer. Gupta continued learning improvised comedy and did multiple improv shows for two years with the group. In 2014, he began pursuing a career in stand-up comedy after performing at an open mic at Akshara Theatre in Delhi.
Aakash finally released his first stand up video on YouTube in 2017 after three years of doing stand up. This video was recorded in the Mumbai venue, The Habitat (formerly known as Tuning Fork).
Stand-up
Gupta began pursuing a career in stand-up comedy after performing various improv shows. Gupta's national comedy tours began after the success of his first two stand-up videos titled: ''Train Journeys & Honeymoon'' ''Trips'' and ''Relationships, Clubbing & Cocktails'' with his Stand up solo titled ''Bhai Khush Raha Kar (Brother Stay Happy).''
In 2018, ''Delhi Metro'' video released became a worldwide viral sensation and has been the highest watched video on the channel till date. When Aakash auditioned for
Comicstaan 2
''Comicstaan'' is an Indian stand-up comedy competition television series created by Only Much Louder for Amazon Prime Video. The show brings together budding Indian comedians to find the next big name in stand-up comedy.
The series premiere a ...
which aired on
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
he quickly become a popular contestant amongst audiences. He consistently received the highest scores in most episodes. His unique sketch comedic style landed him in the grand finale of the show and he ended up being the co-winner of Season 2 along with
Samay Raina. After his new found fame from Comicstaan, Aakash started doing multiple shows across India and filled up auditoriums and college gigs.
Gupta in 2019
YouTube
Aakash released a new stand-up video titled ''Dogs'' followed by ''Sarojini Nagar'' which again became trending on YouTube. ''Sarojini Nagar'' was one of the first Indian stand-up videos to trend at #1 on YouTube. Most overseas fans of Aakash discovered him on YouTube, as well. This helped him cross 1 million subscribers on YouTube. He received his Youtube
Silver Play Button
YouTube Creator Awards, commonly known as YouTube Play Buttons or YouTube Plaques, are a series of awards from YouTube that aim to recognize its most popular channels. They are based on a channel's subscriber count but are offered at the sole ...
on 11 September 2018 and his Youtube Gold Play Button on 22 July 2020. In 2022, he realised a stand up video ''Paan,'' which trended #2 on YouTube in less than 12 hours after release.
OTT Work
Gupta was a part of a comedy reality show on
Amazon Prime video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
titled ''LOL: Hasse Toh Phasse'' along with
Sunil Grover,
Gaurav Gera
Gaurav Gera (born 23 September 1973) is an Indian comedian and actor who works in Hindi language films and television series. He also worked in Bollywood musical ''Jhumroo''. He is well known for playing the role of Nandu in ''Jassi Jaisi Koi Na ...
, Kusha Kapila,
Mallika Dua,
Cyrus Broacha and more. In 2021, he appeared in the first season of Netflix’s ''
Comedy Premium League (CPL)'', carrying out debates and roasts. Gupta teamed up with
Kenny Sebastian,
Kaneez Surka, Prashasti Singh and they called themselves The Gharelu Gilehris ''(''Homely Squirrels'')''. Later in May 2021, he wrote, directed, and acted in sketches for the newly launched AVOD platform Amazon Mini TV. In 2022, Gupta played a lead role in the web series ''Couple Goals S3'' which premiered on Amazon Mini TV.
Personal life
Aakash keeps his personal life private on social media. He got married in October 2021.
The wedding was attended by many famous comics and content creators. Stand up comedian, Gaurav Kapoor made a highly viewed vlog about the wedding.
Filmography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Aakash
Living people
Indian comedians
Indian stand-up comedians
Indian YouTubers
Indian male comedians
Year of birth missing (living people)