ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Desi Comedy Fest expands to East Coast with Boston debut
Festival opens first East Coast run after 10 years in Bay Area, marking national expansion of South Asian comedy platform.
-
Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 19, Mar 2026
- 17:52 EDT
- 13
Event's poster / Desi Comedy Fest
Desi Comedy Fest, a South Asian stand-up comedy festival founded in the San Francisco Bay Area, launched its first East Coast edition with a show at The Comedy Studio in Boston on March 19.
The expansion marks a shift from a primarily West Coast presence to a broader U.S. circuit. The Boston event is part of a multi-city East Coast run, with additional shows scheduled in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Also Read: Desi Comedy Fest opens in Bay Area on Jan. 28
Boston was selected for the East Coast debut due to its established stand-up circuit and a sizable South Asian population, according to organizers.
The festival, co-founded by comedians Samson Koletkar and Abhay Nadkarni, is in its 11th year. It began in the Bay Area as a platform for South Asian comedians at a time when representation in U.S. stand-up was limited.
It has since developed into a recurring event focused on performers from the South Asian diaspora, with programming centered on identity, migration, and cross-cultural experiences. According to organizers, it has hosted more than 75 shows, featured over 250 comedians, and drawn more than 14,000 attendees since it began.
The Boston lineup included Koletkar and Nadkarni, along with Awais Hussein, Shivani Dave, Neel Ghosh, and Shyan Subramanian.
“This East Coast expansion has been a long time coming,” Koletkar said. “For over a decade, we’ve built Desi Comedy Fest into a premier platform in the Bay Area. Bringing that energy to Boston — a city that values smart, incisive comedy — is both a bold step forward and the beginning of something permanent.”
Nadkarni said audience demand has grown alongside wider visibility for South Asian performers.
“South Asian storytelling in mainstream entertainment is growing rapidly,” he said. “Audiences are eager for authentic, globally informed voices.”
Organizers said the festival plans to continue operating on both coasts, with East Coast shows scheduled in March and Bay Area events in August.
In addition to U.S. performances, Desi Comedy Fest has held shows internationally, including a multi-city tour in India, and has previously staged events in cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Koletkar, who is based in San Francisco, has performed internationally and has been featured by outlets including NPR, NBC, and CBS. Nadkarni, who was born in Delhi and raised in Doha and Bangalore, has appeared at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and released a stand-up special on Amazon Prime.
Hussein, a Boston-area comedian, performs regularly in the New England circuit. Dave has been recognized by the New York Comedy Festival and Boston Comedy Festival, and was a finalist in the 2024 Ladies of Laughter competition. Ghosh, originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, works across comedy, music, and improvisation. Subramanian, a New York-based comedian from Massachusetts, has appeared on “Good Morning America.”
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login