Festival Schedule

New York City's biggest comedy night of the year just got bigger. Best of NYC opens the world's largest South Asian comedy festival with two unmissable experiences in one ticket: a stand-up comedy showcase featuring breakout South Asian comedians, followed by a South Asian dance party with two live DJs spinning Bollywood, hip-hop, and Desi club anthems until 1 AM.

Step & repeat photo wall on-site — get your red carpet moment before the show or out on the dance floor.

Whether you're coming for the comedy show or staying for the nightclub-style after-party, this is the only Opening Night happening in Manhattan that gives you both — top-tier South Asian stand-up comedy and one of NYC's most anticipated South Asian party nights, all under one roof.

The Comedy Lineup (7:30 PM – 9:00 PM):
🎙️ Host: Ali Mehedi - CBC Canada, Halifax Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, Laughing Lassi Producer
🎤 Ayanna Dookie - HBO, 2 Dope Queens, Writer for Wild 'N Out
🎤 Bhavik Patel — Philly-based comic & host of the podcast "TheBhavCast"
🎤 Shounak Vale — NYC comedian & Forbes Top 12 AAPI Comics to Watch
🎤 Shenuque Tissera - New York Comedy Festival, Sold-Out NYC Show, HBO Max Writer & Performer
🎤 Maryam Prinzi - NYC Stand-Up Comedian | Music Artist as "Prinzi"
🎤 Vik Pandya — Billboard Top 10 comedy album artist & Dry Bar Comedy Special star
🌟 Headliner: Gauri B - International Touring Comedian, Viral Stand-Up Creator, Melbourne & UK Comedy Circuit

The After-Party (9:30 PM – 1:00 AM):
Two DJs. One dance floor. NYC's South Asian party scene takes over Loft 23 the moment the mics go down. Think less "comedy club afterglow," more South Asian nightclub experience — Bollywood, Punjabi, Afrobeats, and hip-hop all night long.

21+ event. Tickets are limited and early bird pricing is available now.

No filter. No apologies. Brown Unhinged is the rawest, most uncensored night of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival — bringing the boldest South Asian comedians to the iconic Broadway Comedy Club stage in the heart of Manhattan.

Step & repeat photo wall on-site — strike a pose before you take your seat.

This is stand-up comedy stripped of the polish: edgy, unapologetic, and unmistakably South Asian. If Opening Night was the warm welcome, Brown Unhinged is where the gloves come off.

The Lineup:
🎙️ Host: Sandeep Sen - NY Times, 2× Comedy Fight Club Champion, NYC Club Comic
🎤 Pallavi Gunalan - Dropout TV, SF Sketchfest, New York Comedy Festival, Kill Tony
🎤 Sunil Mashari — Dubai-based comedian and one of the UAE comedy circuit's leading hosts
🎤 Dimitri Wejaysingher — NYC comic tackling race, identity, and social commentary, Harlem Comedy Festival alum
🎤 Fizaa Dosani - Netflix Is A Joke Festival, ABC/FX/Netflix credits, NYT-featured touring comedy show
🎤 Piyali Syam — NYC actor/writer, Today Show–featured comic and PIT SoloCom Festival performer
🎤 Ali Mehedi - CBC Canada, Halifax Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, Laughing Lassi Producer
🌟 Headliner: TBA

Part of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival — New York's first, and the world's largest, South Asian comedy festival, running October 16–18, 2026. Recommended for mature audiences. Tickets are limited and early bird pricing is available now.

The most electric night of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival is here: a winner-takes-all Roast Battle pitting comedians representing India 🇮🇳, Pakistan 🇵🇰, Bangladesh 🇧🇩, and Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 against each other on the same stage. No alliances. No mercy. Just bars, burns, and national pride on the line.

The stakes: The audience votes on every round. The loser performs a short set before exiting the stage — and the Roast Battle Winner headlines the rest of the show.

The Lineup:
🎙️ Host: Divya Gunasekaran - NYC Asian Comedy Fest, Lady Laughs Comedy Fest, Palm Springs Comedy Festival
🎤 Akash Bajpai — NYC comic, 2025 Rodney's Comedy Festival semifinalist
🎤 John Ajodah — reigning Roast Battle Champion, Netflix Is a Joke and Comedy Cellar alum
🎤 Ali Mehedi – CBC Canada, Halifax Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, Laughing Lassi Producer
🎤 Farooq Hussain - NY Comedy Festival, opened for Hasan Minhaj & Pete Davidson, SiriusXM
🎤 Feature: Naveed Mahbub — Comedy Central, late-night TV host in Bangladesh
🌟 Headliner: The Roast Battle Winner

This is comedy as competitive sport — South Asian style. Whoever survives the roast earns the mic for a full headline set. Tickets are limited and early bird pricing is available now.

No profanity, no problem. The Family Friendly Show proves South Asian comedy can bring the house down without a single curse word. Part of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival, this all-ages stand-up showcase is the perfect night out for parents, kids, grandparents, and everyone in between.

Bring the whole family to Top Secret Comedy Club for a clean, sharp, and genuinely hilarious lineup of South Asian comedians who prove wholesome and funny aren't mutually exclusive.

The Lineup:
🎙️ Host: Badar Tareen — Forbes' Rising AAPI Comedian to Watch, Opened for Marcello Hernandez, Creator of BrownTown
🎤 Adam Mamawala - Comedy Central, MTV, Dane Cook Tour
🎤 Mahesh Kotagi — Netflix Is a Joke, NBC
🎤 Nadir Shah — viral content creator with 260K+ followers turned sold-out touring comic
🎤 Viveka Mast — Stand With Women: Knockouts Show, NYC Stand-Up, Culture & Tech Comedy
🎤 Usman Habib — Philadelphia comic and creator of the national touring show "Halal Hilarity"
🎤 Varun Rana — 200K+ Followers, Ex-Amazon Engineer Turned Comedian, Collaborations with Notion & Ramp
🌟 Headliner: Aanchal Agrawal — Featured in Forbes, Al Jazeera & The Times of India, Creator of Assisted Dating

All ages welcome. Part of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival — New York's first, and the world's largest, South Asian comedy festival, running October 16–18, 2026. Tickets are limited and early bird pricing is available now.

Close out the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival with a night that's been three days in the making. Desi Women Takeover brings together some of the funniest female comedians in South Asian comedy today — a lineup spanning Netflix specials, sold-out world tours, and viral internet fame — for one unforgettable closing night in New York City.

From sharp cultural storytelling to sold-out international tours, this group has performed everywhere from late-night TV writers' rooms to comedy festivals across the globe. Now they're bringing all of that energy to one stage at Top Secret Comedy Club for the grand finale of the festival.

The Lineup:
🎙️ Host: Malika Sen — Broadway Comedy Club
🎤 Sureni Weerasekera — Netflix Is A Joke, HBO, Amazon Prime
🎤 Alina Siddiqui — opened for Maria Bamford
🎤 Annam Choudhry — opened for Hasan Minhaj
🎤 Abby Govindan — 300K+ followers, internationally touring comedian, sold-out headlining shows worldwide
🎤 Lakshmi Kopparam — Living Room Comics
🎤 Sabeen Sadiq — opened for Hasan Minhaj, Code Switched, San Francisco Sketchfest
🌟 Headliner: Aparna Nancherla — Netflix's The Standups, BoJack Horseman, Space Force

The closing night of the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival, October 16–18, 2026 — New York's first, and the world's largest, South Asian comedy festival. Tickets are limited and early bird pricing is available now.