Think of Indian comedy, and chances are Tanmay Bhat will be among the first names to appear in your mind. And for good reason. From one of earliest performers in the fledgling English stand-up scene, to co-founding a pioneering comedy collective, to creating content across formats, the evolution of modern comedy in India is inseparable from the journey of this instantly identifiable comedian. Starting from winning open mics in the early part of the 2010s, Tanmay Bhat co-founded the comedy collective AIB which swiftly moved from one of India’s first comedy podcasts to live shows and projects such as AIB Knockout, AIB Diwas, and AIB Presents Royal Turds. Under his creative stewardship, the collective – consisting of fellow comics Gursimran Khamba, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya – produced some of India’s most popular online sketches. These, apart from featuring Bollywood actors, also acted as a springboard for comedy writers and actors, many of whom are popular today in their own right. His first feature film as a producer, Chintu ka Birthday, streamed on the Indian OTT platforms Zee5 in June 2020.
Either solo or with AIB, Tanmay has performed all over India and the world – including in Dubai, London (at the prestigious The Comedy Store), Scotland (at the world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe) and Singapore. His television credits include India’s first English sketch comedy special, Ripping The Decade, on Star World. Tanmay was also the Creative Advisor for YouTube’s One Nation stream to raise funds for charity. He was a mentor and judge on the first season of Amazon Prime Video’s comedy hunt series, Comicstaan.
In 2019, Tanmay started releasing fresh content on his new YouTube channel, and amassed a million subscribers in a mere seven months. He posts vlogs, sketches, stand-up, crowd work, and gameplay sessions. During the time of Covid-19 in April 2020, he streamed and hosted Stay Home for India, a two-day, eight-hour stream which raised over ₹24 lakh rupees for charity, featuring top musicians and entertainers from the country. Tanmay’s recently-launched second channel – Honestly by Tanmay Bhat – includes more insightful and informative content pieces, mostly aimed at removing the taboo of discussing finance and money in India.
He remains a popular choice for brand work, having done work for Taco Bell, Yatra, OnePlus and Cred. Tanmay’s journey from prodigious open-micer to a scene mentor in less than a decade has been nothing short of spectacular, and when the history of Indian stand-up comedy is written, he will find considerable mention.
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