Free workshop for eight emerging comedians

South Asian comedy club Brown Sauce has announced the eight emerging comedians chosen for its 2026 Comedy Lab.

They will now take part in a free one-day workshop followed by a gig at South London’s Tara Theatre, headlined by Sukh Ojla, pictured.

This year’s cohort, with their provided descriptions, are:  

1. Isabella: Bringing dark, self-deprecating humour to disability, family, the NHS and the strange indignities of being alive, Isabella takes the painfully ordinary and pushes it into the absurd. She may not have won any stand-up awards yet, but she’s confident the sit-down comedy awards are hers for the taking.
2. Shugufta Choudhry: A BBC New Comedy Award finalist 2025, Shugufta reached the competition after only a handful of stand-up performances and has quickly built momentum on the circuit. With a distinctive deadpan style, she blends everyday life and cultural observations with surreal, slow-burn storytelling, quietly breaking expectations along the way.
3. Reese Patel: A 25-year-old British-Indian comedian from London, Reese brings a deadpan, low-energy style to material spanning his Indian roots and the strange social interactions he regularly finds himself navigating. He is the winner of Leicester Square Theatre Sketch Off 2026 and a finalist for West End New Act of the Year 2026.
4. Raj Pander: A Southall native, Raj makes pop culture-infused autobiographical comedy about relationships, divorce, her hometown and Shilpa Shetty. After finding stand-up through Soho Theatre’s Comedy Labs, she performed in its 2026 showcase. Away from stand-up, Raj is an Aria-winning presenter for BBC Radio 1’s The Reality Tea, while her independent podcast Almost 40 is a finalist at this year’s Independent Podcast Awards.
5. Saloni Gupta: Having started stand-up this year, Saloni draws predominantly from personal experience and is developing a storytelling-led style that finds comedy in the details of everyday life. She is currently building her material on the circuit and preparing to enter her first comedy competitions.
6. Chin Siri: A London-based Geordie Sri Lankan performer, Chinthake mixes personal stories with witty and heartfelt observations. Having already picked up wins at open mic competitions including Slap and Giggle and The Cavendish Arms, he brings an offbeat perspective to the Comedy Lab stage.
7. Yasser Kayani:A comedian, actor and comedy writer, Yasser is a graduate of the National Film and Television School’s writing & producing comedy diploma and was a finalist in the British Comedy Guide Performance Talent Awards. His surreal and anarchic comedy incorporates clowning and impressions, placing familiar characters into bizarre South Asian situations. He can also be seen in mockumentary Act Ting and performs with sketch group Chaos Theory.
8. Anish J: Beginning his comedy journey in improv before moving into stand-up earlier this year, Anish combines personal observations and storytelling with a tendency to take ideas to their most absurd conclusion. Still new to the circuit, his biggest accolade so far may be a text from his mother saying she ‘kinda enjoyed’ his first set.

Previous editions of The Comedy Lab have featured  Ahir Shah and Nish Kumar as mentors.

Sharlin Jahan, founder of Brown Sauce, said: ‘We’re so excited to finally reveal this year’s amazing cohort. Every one of them brings a special zhuzh (or in this case, spice?) to the lab, and we can’t wait to see them take to the stage.’

The showcase, which also features a guest spot from Joshua Bethania,  is on Saturday October 17 at Tara Theatre.

Published: 5 Oct 2026