Mahesh Kotagi
Mahesh Kotagi, a standout comedian known for his appearances on Laughs on Fox and performances at numerous comedy festivals. With his unique blend of sharp social commentary and quirky observations, Mahesh brings his bicoastal flair to NYC, ensuring a night filled with humor that’s both thought-provoking and hilariously entertaining. Catch him this Friday on the next Laughing Lassi show!
Sonya Vai
Sonya Vai is an International standup comedian. This summer she had her debut run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and shows in London at the Top Secret Comedy Club. Last year, she toured throughout London, Paris, and Barcelona in over 50 shows. She also won a year-long comedy mentorship for women of color from Sofia Chang’s Unlock Her Potential and has been featured in the New York Times. Her very first television pilot was accepted into the 2nd round of the Austin Film Festival. Sonya performs regularly in NYC at New York Comedy Club, Greenwich Village Comedy Club, The Stand, Gotham, Broadway Comedy Club, and other comedy venues.
Adam Mamawala
Adam Mamawala is a stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster based out of New York City. He has appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, BET, and SiriusXM, and both of his albums, Statistically More Relatable (2022) and One of the Good Ones (2017) debuted at #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts. Adam has been a freelance contributor to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update and Someecards and currently co-hosts podcasts Away Games and HORSE, as recently featured in the New York Times!
Ayanna Dookie
Ayanna Dookie is a dynamic comedian, writer, and storyteller known for her sharp wit and relatable humor. A native of Brooklyn, Ayanna has made her mark in the comedy world with performances on some of the most renowned stages across the country. Her comedy is a blend of personal anecdotes, cultural insights, and sharp observations on life, relationships, and identity. In addition to her standup career, Ayanna has written for various television shows and has been featured on platforms like BET, MTV, and SiriusXM. Beyond comedy, she is also an accomplished writer, whose work has been recognized for its authenticity and humor. Ayanna continues to break barriers and entertain diverse audiences with her unique voice and perspective.
Ali Mehedi
Ali Mehedi is a NYC based Bangladeshi Canadian stand-up comedian known for his sharp wit and unique perspective. Born in a small village in Bangladesh, Ali’s journey from hardship to comedy is as inspiring as it is humorous. After moving to Canada, he pursued a degree in Computer Science and worked at IBM Canada before discovering his passion for stand-up comedy at Second City, Toronto.
Ali has performed in renowned comedy clubs like Broadway Comedy Club and Greenwich Village Comedy Club in New York City. He self-produced his first one-hour special, “Made in Bangladesh,” which he is showcasing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is also the creator and producer of “Laughing Lassi,” the most popular South Asian stand-up comedy show in New York City.
Ali’s comedic talent has earned him spots as a finalist in the World Series of Comedy (2019 & 2022) and NYC Comedy Mob Competition (2021), and he has performed at major festivals, including the New York Comedy Festival, Halifax Comedy Fest, and Boston Comedy Festival.
Kaneez Surka
Meet the radiant Kaneez Surka, an extraordinary comedian, actor, and producer who brings a world of laughter and creativity to her audience! 🌟 Born in South Africa and shining bright in the comedy world, Kaneez is renowned for her wit, sarcasm, and impeccable comedic timing.From her groundbreaking Netflix Specials ‘Ladies Up’ and ‘Comedy Premium League’ to her hilarious improv on Amazon Prime’s ‘Something From Nothing’ and ‘Improv All Stars – Games Night,’ she never fails to entertain! 🎭✨
Vishnu Vaka
Vishnu Vaka is a standup comedian. Originally from India, he moved to US as a teenager but kept his accent as he loves it. He got fat and became an American citizen in that order. Vishnu wants every one to be happy and laughing all the time and is doing his part by being the best damn comedian on the land, he is also an extremely good looking man. Vishnu believes people who take themselves seriously are nincompoops.
Karmen Naidoo
Karmen Naidoo is straight outta the Motherland, hailing from South Africa. She continues to pursue her comedy career in New York City, the heart of Comedy since 2016. Featured as the only female finalist on Comedy Central’s Grab the Mic (2015), co-founder and Director of Indie Comedie a comedy production company (former) which aimed to nurture young rising talent. She has featured in The Bantu Hour, a South African satirical sketch and variety comedy show Hosted by the legendary comedian Kagiso Lediga and featuring the legendary musician Hugh Masekela. With over 100 performances in her first year of comedy, Karmen continued to pursue her passion in New York, by performing at the Desi Comedy Festival (2017), New York Comedy Festival 2017 “Comics you should know”, SketchFest 2018 (San Francisco Comedy Festival) & New York Comedy Festival 2018. Her quirky and witty humor has set her apart from the others, her originality and progressive style resonate with both young and old.
Vick Krishna
Vick Krishna is a standup comedian, actor and viral Tiktoker (325K) and has been featured on NPR, FastCompany and has appeared on TV shows for CBS, FOX and NBC. He has performed all over the east coast and originally hails from Columbia, Maryland.
SABEEN SADIQ
Sabeen Sadiq is a stand up comic, actor, and writer based in New York. Her comedy has been described as whimsically honest and even “I didn’t think she’d talk about that” with topics ranging from her Muslim upbringing and family dysfunction, to being related to white people (surprise!!). Sabeen sadiq can most recently be seen as the lead in the digital series CODE SWITCHED. She has been on the road with Hasan Minhaj opening for him in several cities.She also featured at the San Francisco Sketchfest – 2023. She tours nationally as a stand-up comedian on the festival and college circuit. She is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, Potohari & Spanish.
Tanveer Arora
Tanveer Arora is a Sikh who was born in Mumbai, India, but his love for denim durags brought him to Texas. He has been featured in numerous comedy festivals including Desi Comedy Festival, Big Little Comedy Festival, and has performed in a variety of shows all over the USA and also internationally including India and Japan. His ability to share his culture, religion and Indianness through his comedy certainly wins the audiences. He has had the pleasure of working with comics like Dusty Slay, Jeremiah Watkins, Bobby Lee, Mark Normand, Shane Gillis and many more. Forever grateful to his family (as they are his key comedy subjects), Tanveer wrote a lot of jokes over the past 7 years and he is bringing all he has got to you through this show.
Sureni Weerasekera
Sureni Weerasekera is a Sri Lankan-born, San Diego-raised, & New York-based stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. She is known for her lighthearted, conversational banter to her ruthless, dark jabs.
She has performed at San Francisco Sketchfest, Desi Comedy Festival, Oakland Comedy Festival, San Francisco Pride Festival and recently headlined New York Comedy Festival. Sureni is a paid regular at San Francisco Punchline Comedy Club, Cobb’s Comedy Club, Sacramento Punchline Comedy Club, Alameda Comedy Club, and more. She recently opened for Hari Kondabolu, Irene Tu, Lucas Zelnick, and Ashley Gavin. She has worked with Amazon Prime, META, and HBO. Sureni was recently featured on Don’t Tell Comedy. She just completed the 2023-2024 Hot & Funny Tour alongside Sydney Stigerts, a DIY national tour geared towards queer audiences. She’s a regular in with college circuit with KP Comedy. In 2024, she was selected for Netflix’s “Introducing…” Series for the Netflix is a Joke Festival.
Raj Belani
Raj Belani is a comedian/actor from Long Island, New York. He tells jokes. Some people laugh, some people don’t. He gets sad when people don’t. He also just recently got a bad haircut, so he’s even sadder at the moment.
Divya Gunasekaran
Divya Gunasekaran is a New York-based writer and standup comedian. She was in the inaugural cohort of the Warner Bros. Discovery Access Comedic Voices Program in 2022, participated in The Onion’s writing workshop in partnership with the Diverse As Fuck Comedy Festival in 2023, and is currently a writer on a UCB house sketch team. She is committed to showcasing diverse, underrepresented voices. She produces a weekly open mic and monthly show featuring women and LGBTQIA+ comedians. Outside of comedy, Divya’s life goals include cage diving with great white sharks and winning a pie eating contest.
Vik Sathya
Vik Sathya is a stand-up comedian and the producer of Canceled Comedy, a monthly stand-up comedy show, taking place all over the city featuring top comics such as Roy Wood Jr., Matt Rife, Cipha Sounds, Preacher Laweson, Usama Siddiquee and more.
Mrin Patil
Mrin is a bicoastal comic performing regularly in Phoenix, AZ and locally at the Comedy Cellar, West Side comedy club, Broadway comedy club, and Gotham!
Sandeep Sen
Sandeep Sen is an Indian American standup comedian in New York. He is a blend of east-west cultures, which means he eats meat, but feels guilty about it, and only prays to Hindu Gods when he wants something. He performs throughout the country, and has appeared in the New York Times and on Fox’s Laughs.
Abby Govindan
Abby Govindan Abby Govindan is a comedian and recent graduate of Fordham University. She is an aspiring television writer and advocate for diversity in TV and film. She got her start in comedy at the young age of 20 and made her debut in New York City.
Farooq Hussain
New York based comedian and writer, producer of @beigecomedy and host of @slakistan!
Pratima Mani
Pratima Mani is a Peabody-winning, two-time Emmy nominated comedic writer and performer based in New York City. With roots in NYC’s live comedy scene, she has written for the likes of Upright Citizens Brigade Theater’s Maude Night, Reductress and The Belladonna.
Naveed Mahbub
Naveed Mahbub is a Bangladeshi comedian and columnist. He was awarded Best Male Comedian in the 2007 Las Vegas Comedy Festival. In 2016, Mahbub was featured in US-based comedy television channel Comedy Central. He hosts a morning radio show, Good Morning Bangladesh, on ABC Radio.
TV: Comedy Central
Host: The Naveed Mahbub Show (late night), Pepsi TV commercial – main character
FESTIVALS: Best Male Comedian, Play Vegas Stage, 2007 Original Las Vegas Comedy Festival
INTERNATIONAL: Featured/headlined in 30 countries