Urooj Ashfaq on her Fringe win and debut UK tour

Urooj Ashfaq quickly stands out among her comedic peers as someone to keep an eye on. With a thriving career in India and the UK, a prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award under her belt and an upcoming tour, she shows no signs of slowing down. Her debut stand-up hour, Oh No!, showcases the best of Ashfaq as a comedian – her likeability, a charming sense of honesty, and a willingness to dwell within vulnerability. “I think about it almost every other day,” Ashfaq says, reminiscing over her win at the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Consistently sincere, she’s immediately forthcoming about her own thought process when asked to define Oh No! in her own words. Mining her own life for material, the subjects touched on in her show – childhood, therapy, old diaries, her parents' divorce – prove the ‘write what you know’ theory all too well, but her passion and honesty pushes Ashfaq’s observational comedy to a new level. “It came from a very honest space, so maybe that's why it was nice to watch.” Critics and audiences seem to agree, with a successful Fringe run deftly setting her up for her first UK tour in early 2024.

Performing at the Fringe is no easy feat, especially when it's your first time. However, Ashfaq reflects fondly on all the opportunities the Fringe provides. "It kind of creates a safe space for you to [perform]... it's okay if it's a little outlandish, or it falls flat. It's part of the deal!" And it's a sense of safety like this one that encourages exploration. "The positive... is that I'm not from there. So I can be anything! And I can experiment in the middle of my shows and try things that I would probably be too conscious to try [in Mumbai]."

Four months after her big win and a few weeks before her first tour, Ashfaq still marvels at how it’s all gone down. “You're just like, you know, this was nothing when I began, now it's something beautiful…” She assures us that the award itself is a high point, but can’t help but admit “the peak of this was when they mentioned… that I won ‘Best Newcomer’ in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.” Her excitement is contagious as she enthuses, “I think I finally have some legitimate 'cred' with my relatives!” 

Ashfaq is undaunted when discussing her 2024 UK tour, bringing an upbeat, level-headed outlook to the table. “I have realised that my audience is now not just the audience that sees me on YouTube, it's also people who follow the festival. So, the demographic of my audience has changed a little bit.” While talking about the process of re-tooling her stand-up to a mostly monolingual audience, she spins what many see as a challenge into an opportunity. “Having to do things in English is a small thing to adjust to be able to explore other parts of comedy, your show and your comedic persona.” And in her opinion, the trade-off seems more than fair. 

In anticipation of her return, we rave on all that Scotland has to offer, and lament the perpetual lack of time she has here. “When I come [back] next year… I really want to climb up to Arthur's Seat, go to some of the gardens… Scotland is so beautiful – I remember I would just sit in the Meadows for hours and just feel my feelings dramatically.” When filled in on the local rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow, she takes a moment to reflect: “It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon of 'Two cities just squaring off' trying to be the best. We have that here in India [with] Delhi and Mumbai.” As a fan of Scotland generally, Ashfaq volunteers herself as an impartial third party, happy to “observe both cities, make thorough notes, and then come back to you next year,” with her one hundred percent objective conclusion on which city shines brightest.

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Urooj Ashfaq: Oh No!, Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, 23 Jan, 8pm, £16; The Stand, Glasgow, 24 Jan, 8.30pm, £16
Follow Urooj on Instagram at @uroojashfaq and YouTube at @uroojashfaq9701