In 2006, Ashish Shakya discarded his freshly-minted engineering degree and became a full-time comedy writer – a favour for which the science community is still grateful. Stand-up followed soon after because the instant approval of strangers was amazing and also pants are optional. As a member of AIB, India’s most well-known comedy collective, Ashish has been part of ambitious projects such as AIB Knockout - India’s first ever comedy roast featuring Bollywood A-listers like Karan Johar, Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. He’s also co-helmed two seasons of On Air With AIB, an acclaimed news comedy show telecast on primetime TV and Hotstar. His weekly humour column in The Hindustan Times also earned a devoted following during its six-year-run. As a stand-up comic with hundreds of shows under his belt, he has brought the house down in venues across India, Singapore, Dubai, Australia and the UK, and is currently seeking his next big stage thrill.