Pakistani comics are planning a roast of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday at a cafe in Karachi.
Shehzad Ghias told Pakistan’s Express-Tribune that “the purpose of the event is to counter hate through humor.”
Ghias, along with two other comics, will have to stay out of the campaign reeds to keep the evening relatable to a Pakistani audience.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in the U.S. and so we will also be using our own experiences as comic material,” he said.
“…Not many are following the U.S. elections right now so it is important that we localize our content. For instance, we have jokes about how Trump would have behaved if he was a Pakistani uncle at a local wedding.”
Minors are advised not to attend the 8 p.m. roast at T2F (The Second Floor), “a community space for open dialogue” that hosts film screenings, improv nights, poetry night and more.
“From Pakistan with love: three stand up comedians in the country come together for one night to roast one of the most infamous presidential candidates in the world, Donald J. Trump,” states the T2F event page. “There will be jokes, there will be insults, there will be mischief and there will be roasting.”
Ghias will be joined by comics Ali Gul Pir, Akbar Chaudry and, just added, Syed Osama.
The founder of T2F, Sabeen Mahmud, was murdered in April 2015 after being accused of promoting secularism in Pakistan. Comedians in the conservative country face regular threats not just from the personally offended but from strict blasphemy laws.
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