When Hopkins alumnus Dan Ahdoot gives talks, he does not discuss cutting-edge scientific research, summarize psychological brain studies, or analyze literature. Bizzare as it might sound, Ahdoot started out as a premed and ended up as a stand-up comic. And if he is as funny on stage as he was in conversation, you won't be able to help laughing when he returns to Hopkins for a one-of-a-kind comedy event.
Ahdoot's path from aspiring doctor to successful big-time comedian began with his involvement in the Hopkins improv group Buttered Niblets. Accepted as a freshman, Ahdoot worked with the group for his entire four-year college experience. Ironically, the Buttered Niblets continual rejection of Dan's "edgy" skits persuaded him in his senior year to independently perform at the Winchester Comedy in Baltimore. Ahdoot began to see comedy in his professional future with just his first taste of stand-up.
The one man at Hopkins truly responsible for finally pushing Adhoot into comedy was Dan's own friend and fellow Hopkins premed Kartikya Ahuja (class of 2000). Ahuja, like Ahdoot, was suffocated by school work and "a chronic lack of women." Fearing a bleak and lonely future, and seeing the potential for women in a stand-up career, Ahdoot made a career choice that was an immense, if understandable, disappointment of his family.
Ahdoot spent the majority of his four years at Hopkins practicing and performing with the Buttered Niblets and "studying for orgo." He tried to pick up girls by learning how to salsa dance. "I only met girls who wouldn't sleep with me," he says, but Ahdoot says the real reason he was so unsuccessful has to do with an early freshman popularity stunt on E Level. During a karaoke party, Dan thought it would be cool to sing "Rainbow Connection" in a Kermit voice. Unfortunately, Dan was laughed off the stage and it took a long time for people to forget his embarrassing act. Fortunately for Dan, nowadays, people laugh at his jokes rather than at him when he is on stage.
Dan attended acting classes with the Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City New York, both comedy troupes located in Manhattan. He worked doing improv and with five other people he started the comedy group, Gunshow. Despite the relative success of Gunshow, Dan was forced to maintain his day job as an ad-sales researcher at Comedy Central. Although he refers to the job as "the bane of his existence," he was helped by another Hopkins alum and Comedy Central higher-up, David Epstein.
At a Comedy Central party, Ahdoot met a writer from the show Crank Yankers, who was looking for original concepts. He asked Ahdoot to e-mail him five concepts the next day, but the former premed's Hopkins-bred work-ethic produced seventy ideas. The writers at Crank Yankers were so impressed they hired him as a free-lance writer. Ahdoot's involvement in the show lasted two years before he decided to take a year off.
Soon after, Ahdoot left Gunshow to pursue his stand-up career. He opened for famous comedians like Lewis Black, Jay Mohr and Dave Chappelle. Lewis Black is credited with giving Dan the advice to be bitter with college students. Presently, Ahdoot is doing a solo tour all over the country.
Ahdoot says he is very happy he went to Hopkins and he credits the school with giving him an amazing work ethic that he takes to his job. He admits to being "a little dorky" and saving new comedic routine ideas on his Palm Pilot in preparation for working them into usable material later that night.
Hopkins also gave him the ability to survive on three to four hours of sleep, a skill which allowed him to survive during his early years when he had a day job, did stand-up at night and partied into the morning. One of the few aspects of his Hopkins experience that Dan regrets is not getting a bid to join Pike during his freshman year. For the rest of his educational years, Dan plotted to find a way to get back at Pike.
Ahdoot's favorite jokes are race jokes, yet the jokes he can always rely on to get the audience to laugh are about his father. He attributes this to the fact that he has an immigrant dad with a "survivalist mentality" -- according to his son, he only cares about getting food on the table and ensuring that nobody in the family is sick. He also admits his dad's lack of knowledge of American culture is an endless source of comedy.
When asked where he sees himself in ten years, Dan jokes, "Serving chicken fingers at Levering." In reality, Dan sees himself doing more acting and hosting on television. He is currently working with MTV on a project but is unable to offer any details.
Dan ended the conversation with a piece of advice for any Hopkins students who are aspiring to become comedians, "Become a BME, because then comedy will seem like a piece of cake."
Dan Ahdoot performs stand-up comedy at Shriver Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The show starts at 8 p.m., with comedian Adam Ruben opening.
