Comedy Competition Alumni Zahid Dewji Has a New Gig: Writing for The Tonight Show

By Charleen Earley

Semi-finalist for the 2019 San Francisco Stand-up Comedy Competition, Zahid Dewji, scores a dream job of a lifetime as a writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and so far, he said it’s been amazing.

“It’s been a lot of writing, hard work and a lot of fun,” said Zahid, who started stand-up at age 26. “The team is all the funniest people, so it’s a lot of laughing and a lot of support behind people’s ideas. I love writing jokes and The Tonight Show is an institution to say the least, so I am humbled and thrilled to be contributing to such a historic television program.”

Zahid, now 35, talks about his experience performing in the SF Comedy Competition.

“It was wildly fun, grueling, exhausting, incredible, forced me to step up my game, made me lose my mind, made me question if I was funny, made me question if anyone was funny and gave me some incredible friendships I still hold to this day,” he said. “I’m very thankful to have had the experience.”

Executive Producer of the SF Comedy Competition, Jon Fox, said he figured Zahid’s cap could’ve influenced his final placement in the contest.

“I always felt his downfall was wearing a Dodgers cap onstage. What did he know though? He’s from Houston!”

An East African/Indian, Zahid was born in Queens, NY. At age eight, he moved to Huntington, Long Island.

“From there I went to Houston, TX at 13, came back to New York for NYU, moved back to Houston where I started stand-up in 2014 and just moved back to NYC for The Tonight Show,” he said.

When he grows up, Zahid said he hopes to one day be “happily divorced with a kid or two who loves me, also they’re my kid(s) just to clarify!” 

A tad more on the serious side, he talks about what he loves about doing stand-up.

“I like writing and testing and tightening and watching it work – and jokes and laughter and being dumb and smart all at the same time,” said Zahid. “But, you also have all this extra bull-@%! that makes you push back and at times hate it and fight with it – but you stick around because you actually love it. It’s a deeper connection.”

When it comes to choosing comics he admires in the humor industry, he literally looks to his right and left.

“Honestly, my peers, my friends,” said Zahid. “The people I started with, the people I’m close to that make me laugh the hardest off stage.”

He adds two more to his wow-list.

“Whitney Cummings. She’s all of those things,” he said. “And GOD.”

Check out his website at https://www.zahiddewji.com/.