Australian Story: Nov 7

Arj Barker will introduce Monday night’s episode of Australian Story, which profiles Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman, two comedians who met as a result of their support for asylum seekers and for anti racism activism.

Since then they have established their own stage show, ‘Fear Of A Brown Planet’ and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in London.

Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman met seven years ago at anti-racism protests, at fund-raisers for asylum seekers and at organising events to highlight the problems of detention centres. Not especially funny events to herald their new status as two of the hottest young comedians in Australia. Having never performed stand-up, they entered Raw Comedy 2007, the biggest open mic competition in Australia. Aamer Rahman made it to the Grand Final performing to 2,000 Melbourne International Comedy Festival fans.

In the space of five years the two friends from Melbourne have achieved what other up-and-coming stand-up comics can only dream of. Joining forces to become Fear Of A Brown Planet, a comedy duo attacking racism, they have sold out shows in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. After bursting onto the scene in Australia, they recently proved their talent on the international scene, taking this years’ Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland by storm. After a scarily quiet start, they were described as “every bit as funny as they are politically engaged” by The Guardian, UK.

They now have a regular spot on Triple J, contribute to The Comedy Channel and have a manager/promoter who has looked after the likes of Danny Bhoy, Tim Minchin and Pam Anne. But is their success enough to convince their families that it is a good idea to give up their day jobs?

“My mum has always wanted me to do a career that was successful. Wearing a suit and going to a shiny building and doing important stuff all day is success to my mum” says Nazeem Hussain who works as a tax consultant by day.

“Back home in Bangladesh a career as a stand-up comedian does not instantly make people jump on their feet. So we are probably a little more creative in describing it by saying he is in the performing arts or some such euphemism” says Aamer Rahman’s dad, Mushfiq Rahman.

8pm Monday on ABC1.