Comedian and actor Amir K has shared the big screen with Ben Affleck in 'Argo', performed sketches on 'MADtv', and recently embarked on a star-studded Australian arena tour with mega-viral podcaster, Joe Rogan with a mullet, Theo Von.
He realised Aussies love good banter, so he’s coming back for a comedy club tour as part of Just For Laughs Sydney, where it’s easier to engage in some heckler hijinks.
Amir K, a comedian known for his unique blend of improvisation, character work, and storytelling, enjoyed his arena run so much earlier this year that he’s making the long flight back again, this time for a more intimate show at the Comedy Store. While Amir – who was born in Iran and raised in Southern California – has pursued multiple art forms, he loves the danger of live comedy the most.
“The number one art form for me is stand-up and performance art. Just being live and by yourself on stage with no net basically. You’re just walking this tightrope and whatever happens up there, it’s all you. I like that feeling,” Amir says.
“What I like about my style is I do a lot of riffing and improvising so it makes each show a new experience in itself. If you come and see me ten times, you’re going to see ten variations of my show,” he explains.
“I like to bring different characters every time I come to a city. Even if I interact with someone in the audience, I can create a character out of that.”
When touring with Von, Amir identified one cohort of the audience which he thinks might make their way into his comedic caricatures: the cashed-up bogan tradie who comes out looking for a good night out, maybe under the influence of a substance or two.
“Some of the bogans who would come up is just hilarious. Just the guys who love to party from the back woods or something who turn up on drugs or whatever they are on, wide-eyed and ready to go. They are hilarious to me and those guys might be making an appearance in my act. They party hard and I’ve had good times with them at the bars after the shows,” Amir says.
Amir and Theo weren’t just living it up with Trev and Merv the sparkies while on their global tour. Von’s podcast, 'This Past Weekend' features interviews with an international who’s who, from gurus to UFC grapplers, which made for memorable and surreal moments.
“The UK tour was pretty wild. Sitting with Ed Sheeran and hearing him tell us all these tour stories and sharing pasta with him at his restaurant. When you’re hanging with Theo Von, that tends to happen a lot because wherever you go, he’s podcasting with somebody. You might be with a huge UFC fighter one night and the next you’re with Post Malone. Tonnes of different celebrities and actors. What you realise is everyone’s just a human being and for the most part pretty down to earth and we’re all just people. It makes the whole nerves of it go away and I don’t really get starstruck at all anymore when I’m meeting people,” Amir says.
Von’s following was a revelation for Amir. The main benefit of being a podcasting comedian, wasn’t getting to eat spaghetti with Sheeran. It was the devotion and connection built with the fans.
“I noticed being on the road with Theo, we’ve known each other for years but since he’s gotten into these big arenas and I’ve been touring with him, just to see the reaction his fans have to him. They feel so connected because of the podcast. They hear him every week.
“It’s just another way to tap into your fans. They feel like they know him even though they might be meeting him for the first time because they’ve been listening to him for years, which is a cool dynamic that I realised you get from doing a podcast like that. If I come to your city once a year and you see me once a year, that’s not much of a connection building, but if you’re listening to me every day. . . These podcasts get much more personal than the stand-up clips we put out which don’t really give much insight into our life. I learned podcasting is a crucial component to building and keeping a fan base,” Amir says.
Given Amir’s penchant for improvisation and interplay with the audience, an arena tour was a mixed blessing.
“I like the fact that they are going to be in way more intimate spaces. We were doing shows with 8,000 people. You can’t connect with that; you’re just yelling out into the void basically. I’m still in comedy clubs for the most part. We’re taking it to the Comedy Store in Sydney and the Sit Down Comedy Club and the Comic’s Lounge. 450-seat venues, which makes it real intimate and makes for a better show as far as stand-up’s concerned.”
“I realised Australians really like to have fun [with crowd interactions]. Here [in America], people can get a little uptight,” Amir says. “People come along and suspend their disbelief and go with any imagination we want to pull out of them. There are parts of the country here in the states where that style doesn’t work too well. People get offended too easily and that’s not the kind of show I like to have.”
Amir K plays The Comedy Store as part of Just For Laughs Sydney on 27 November. He also plays Comic's Lounge (Melbourne) 29 November and Sit Down Comedy Club (Brisbane) 1 December.
