When he steps onstage in Canada, he smiles and starts off:
“Hellooooo every one. My name is Haris Waqar Khan Mohamad Ali Sultan Khalifa Osama bin Jackson. I know, I know ... it’s quite long, that’s what she said too. So never mind, just call me Russell Peters.
"I’m an East Indian. To be exact, I’m a Pakistani, not an Indian. Are you scared now?
"In 2013, I was declared the funniest Pakistani in Canada; it was according to FBI surveillance team."
That’s how Haris Khan starts his stand-up act, and then keeps churning out wisecracks breathlessly for the next hour. His jokes have been turning out in cash for serious causes like. fundraising for homeless people, breast cancer, animal shelters and domestic violence.
Born in Karachi, raised in Middle East and now living and making a career as comedian/actor in Canada for the last five years, Haris is among the successful, up and coming comics of Canada. He has worked with some of the best names in the business there, and made numerous TV appearances, including acting for the show Little Mosque on the Prairie.
In 2012, he got voted the second best comic in the city of Regina.
These days, Haris is in Lahore as part of his Haris Khan & Friends tour. I had a chance to catch up with him for a chat.
"Lahore is a very romantic city. Thanks to Wapda, I’m having candlelit dinners every night,” he quips, while glancing at the energy-saver glowing right above him. "Loadshedding isn't that troubling though. I'm planning to get around it by running my laptop on CNG."
Haris is spreading smiles in Lahore at various charity and ticketed shows. In the next leg of his international tour, he is scheduled to perform in Dubai and Oman in February and March 2015.
"Most of Pakistan's problems are just a matter of perspective, you know. There's shortage of water; shortage of gas, with people using portable gas stoves to cook. It seems bad because we call it life. But white people have a fancy name for this lifestyle: 'camping'. So really, Pakistanis should consider themselves lucky for being on vacation all the time!"
The comedian in Haris is quick to see the sunny side of things in these dark times.
“That’s what I’m doing in Canada – projecting Pakistan as a liberal, progressive and world friendly country,” he says, branding himself an ambassador of sorts.
“Being a public figure allows you to approach people and talk about these misconceptions about Pakistani people, and reduce the culture gap.”
Haris discovered his funny bone during his childhood, when he quickly assumed the title of class clown.
“In my family, everyone would ask me to repeat Omer Sharif's jokes. I would enthusiastically stand up and share his jokes, which were received with peals of laughter and cheers,” he recalls his early days. “In class though, my antics often found me ending up in the principal's office.”
When his family moved to Canada, Haris, now 25, was a teenager.
“Unlike most of the people, I wasn’t culturally shocked. I was more weather-shocked because going from 50 degrees in Gulf to the minus 40 of Canada took some time adjusting to.”
While studying geology at the University of Regina, Haris says, he started thinking about comedy seriously (no pun intended) and taking it up as a career. Mostly people get into the entertainment business for money. For Haris, it wasn’t money but a passion for making people laugh which drew him in.
In 2013, with support from the University of Regina students and management, he founded a group called “Stand up for Charity Group” as an outlet to giving back to community, while making people laugh.
"I try to entertain people and at the same time help to create awareness and raise funds for issues in our community,” he said.
Every few months, Haris rounds up some of Canada’s best comedians and DJs for a night of great entertainment, and his charity shows are well supported by the media, politicians and Canadian celebrities such as Miss World Canada and the Canadian Football stars (CFL). For his remarkable charity work last year, he was nominated for numerous humanitarian and community service awards.
The first fundraiser comedy show Stand Up for the Homeless People was held in October 2013, followed by Stand Up Against Domestic Violence in February to raise awareness and funds for a women shelter project that works with victims of domestic violence.
His third show, Stand up for Creative Kids, was dedicated for Creative Kids, an organisation in Canada that helps low-income families afford their children cultural activities such as music, dance and art lessons. Haris has also organised successful events like Stand up Against Cancer, Stand up for Animal welfare and many other shows.
The causes he takes up for shows are dead serious but the content he presents is always funny and somehow linked with the causes. His shows are huge success, he shares with a grin on his face.
In Lahore, he performed at a teachers’ gathering at Alhamra Hall in November, in an event organised by MyLearningZ.
“The energy I feel when an audience of 400-500 are laughing, it can’t be explained in words. It’s the best feeling for a comedian. In Canada, a show of 150-300 is considered a great show. But in Lahore, when I perform in front of bigger crowds, that’s amazing.”
But the crowd size is only a secondary concern. Primarily, it's the happiness he generates which keeps Haris going.
"It's the thought of bringing a smile to somebody's face; it's such a happy feeling,” he says. “Making people laugh is in itself charitable work.”
