Desi Comedy Fest Texas Tour - Sat Oct 17 - Dallas

After 12 years of sold-out shows and performances across the United States, Canada and India, Desi Comedy Fest - America’s biggest South Asian comedy festival - is coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time.

The festival takes the stage at Punch Line Irving on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 PM, bringing together six South Asian comedians for a night of stand-up comedy performed entirely in English.

The Dallas lineup features Abhay Nadkarni, Arpit Jain, Paul Varghese, Samson Koletkar, Sri Raj and Teddy C, combining nationally touring comedians with established and rising voices from the Texas comedy scene.

PAUL VARGHESE is a Dallas-based comedian whose sharp observational comedy has taken him to stages across the country. He has appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham and Stand-Up Revolution, and Showtime’s Russell Peters Presents. He has performed at Just For Laughs in Montreal and Toronto and HBO’s Las Vegas Comedy Festival, and is a winner of both the Funniest Comic in Texas and Laughing Skull comedy competitions. He has opened for comedy legends including Dave Chappelle, Joan Rivers, Russell Peters and Gabriel Iglesias.

SRI RAJ is an Indian-American comedian born in Hyderabad and raised in Texas, whose comedy draws from moving constantly as a child, rebelling against traditional expectations and navigating the cultural contradictions of growing up Desi in America. A two-time finalist in the Funniest Comic in Dallas competition, placing second in 2025 and third in 2023, he has opened for comedians including Russell Peters, Ralph Barbosa, Harland Williams, Duncan Trussell, Tim Meadows and Asif Ali. He also produces The Brown Out at Dallas Comedy Club, a monthly showcase featuring Desi and other minority comedians.

TEDDY C is a Bangladeshi-American comedian who grew up in New York and began his stand-up career in Texas. His comedy draws on being Bangladeshi and Muslim in Texas - including the experience of explaining that not every South Asian is Indian. He performs throughout the Texas comedy scene and produces Coffee Shop Comedy Club, a monthly series bringing stand-up into unconventional spaces. Teddy was selected for the 2025 Plano Comedy Festival and the 2026 Nate Jackson Super Funny Comedy Festival.

ARPIT JAIN is a stand-up comedian and a World Series of Comedy Regional winner. He has performed at the Raleigh Festival and has been featured in the Laugh Factory’s Spotlight series, bringing his comedy to stages across the country.

ABHAY NADKARNI, born in Delhi and raised in Doha and Bangalore, brings a global perspective to American absurdity. He was featured as a New Face at Montreal’s Just For Laughs, has performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and has more than 100,000 followers online. His debut comedy special, Brown Jesus, is streaming on Amazon Prime.

SAMSON KOLETKAR blends his Indian upbringing, Jewish roots and American life into a cerebral and refreshingly clean style of comedy. He has performed across the U.S., Canada and India and has been featured on NPR, NBC, CBS, NDTV, The Times of India, Ha’aretz and more.

Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014 by Abhay Nadkarni and Samson Koletkar, Desi Comedy Fest was created to showcase South Asian comedic talent and bring audiences together through laughter. What began as a Bay Area festival has grown over the past 12 years, with sold-out shows throughout the region and performances across the United States, Canada and India.

The Dallas performance is the final stop on Desi Comedy Fest’s first-ever Texas tour, following performances in Houston on October 14 and Austin on October 15.

“Dallas has an incredible comedy scene and a huge South Asian community, which makes it a natural destination for Desi Comedy Fest,” said festival co-creator Abhay Nadkarni. “Having Paul, Sri and Teddy representing Texas alongside comedians coming in from around the country makes this a fitting way to wrap up our first Texas tour.”

“One of the things we’ve loved about Desi Comedy Fest from the beginning is discovering how differently the South Asian experience can translate into comedy,” said festival co-creator Samson Koletkar. “This lineup brings together different generations, backgrounds and comedic styles, including some fantastic Texas talent. That variety is exactly what the festival is about.”

Desi Comedy Fest brings together comedians from across the South Asian diaspora, with comedy spanning family, relationships, immigrant experiences, culture, careers, identity, religion and the everyday absurdities of American life.

Whether you’re Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Sri Lankan - or simply a fan of great stand-up comedy - Desi Comedy Fest offers a night of diverse voices, relatable stories and one common goal: making you laugh.

All performances are in English.


URLs:
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Category: Arts | Performing Arts | Comedy

Artists: Samson Koletkar, Abhay Nadkarni, Paul Varghese, Arpit Jain, Sri Raj, Teddy C