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Like most of us, Yozana Thapa Magar loves a good stand-up comedy with relatable jokes and familiar references. Growing up, it was by watching those shows and organizing and performing before a live audience that Magar discovered her love for making people laugh.

“But when I was younger, never did I think I would be a comedian,” says the 24-year-old who has performed around 50 to 60 shows since she started in 2017. 

Raised in Damak, Jhapa, she only got to watch popularized western comedy and performances on TV and YouTube. But she enjoyed all kinds of comedy videos, skits, stand-up, and comedy podcasts. At the same time, as a shy and introverted kid, Magar channeled all her feelings to writing, aspiring to be a writer one day. But she thought that one day was distant.

Magar, meanwhile, continued her studies in pharmacology while also working for different pharmacies. After working for three months as a licensed pharmacist she realized that the job didn’t bring her the same joy that the thought of performing live comedy did. 

She discovered many open mic shows during her early days in the capital. She finally decided to attend one event to meet people who also connected to comedy as she did.

Magar had just finished her studies and wanted to use the free time to perform, hoping she would return to the pharmacy industry later. But months turned into a year and she found herself still involved in the comedy scene. That opened doors for her to pursue the career of her dreams—writing.

“Comedy really worked out for me,” says Magar, adding that she doesn’t plan on returning to pharmacology any time soon.

After her first few gigs with Nepgasm and The StoryYellers, she started organizing shows with her friends from ComedyTukTuk, a Kathmandu-based comedy team. “The people I met in this industry get most of the credit for what I am today.”

That year of her life fluttered by. “I was just having so much fun, I didn’t realize I’d grown to become a whole new person who had adapted to a completely different lifestyle”, she says. “I truly felt like myself when the impact of my performances started showing and people started recognizing me on the streets.”

Stepping into a field dominated by men, Magar as well as her female friends struggled to get the same level of attention. Her audiences were generally males and there were times when she felt judged and teased by some men who clearly believed women could never be funny. 

An introvert Magar struggled with stage fright and nervousness that even led her to forget her jokes. But that never stopped her. “Watching people laugh at my jokes makes me want to keep coming back and make them laugh more,” she says. Today, after four years of performing, nervousness and anxiety remain, but she has taught herself to be more composed on stage. 

“I never felt comfortable being talked back to. I’d watched so many women perform and never return to the stage because of the judgment and hate comments they received,” she says. But Magar always found a reason to get back on the stage with the support of her friends and her love for making people laugh. She has also become much better at dealing with uncomfortable situations.

Even Covid-19 couldn’t stop her as she performed around 20 shows even during the second lockdown.

The stand-up comedy culture in Kathmandu was growing and Magar and her friends were organizing shows that were getting larger and larger audiences. But the pandemic put a stop to that. Magar hopes the good ol’ days will soon return.

Magar wants to travel to different countries and perform for people who seek joy in stand-up as much as she does. “To control the whole crowd with what I say is empowering, and I want to keep doing that,” she says. “When people listen to me and laugh at my jokes—nothing makes me happier.”

Ten teens who participated in a month-long filmmaking workshop organized by Kipalaya Productions under Plan International's 'Girls Get Equal' campaign have produced a film each in two weeks after a month of learning the craft. On September 10, the films were screened by the Film Development Board.

The training, titled 'Women Make Films', was supported by Oscar International College and the Film Development Board. The average length of each film was five minutes. The one-month workshop, held from July 19 to August 19, aimed to break stereotypes about women and increase their participation in filmmaking. 

Ashruti Tripathi, Pradhanya Yonjan, Angela Chaudhary, Pushpa Joshi, Purnima Maharjan, Ambika Bhandari, Asmita Lawati, Shreesha Kunwar, Mira Khadka, and Jyoti Belbase participated in the workshop. Trainer Rajan Kathet said the workshop has also helped the teens develop social skills. 

It would be no surprise if you’ve encountered Mr. Foodie Nepal with his mouth-watering food clips on your Instagram feed every now and then.

From working on a daily 10 to 5 job at a travel agency for eight years to being the first and the most hyped food blogger and influencer in the country, the journey of Mr. Foodie Nepal, who doesn’t like to give out his real name, started with his immense love for food at a young age. 

Growing up in a Newari household with endless bhoj and family gatherings, the now 26-year-old was brought up to enjoy food to the fullest. “My mother was always a big food lover. I used to watch her cook and enjoy her meal since I was a kid,” he says. “Having explored Newari food all my life, I got to know all kinds of flavors in my own home. That’s where my love for food started as well.”

For a large chunk of his adult life, Mr. Foodie used to be a full-time travel agent. He started working independently when he was 18 and got to travel to different countries on his own. Back then, the restaurant culture hadn’t caught on and the social media platforms were expanding only gradually. On his trips to different countries as a travel agent, he was introduced to unique cuisines, which further intensified his love for foods of all kinds.

Making the most out of what he had in his hands, from 2016, Mr. Foodie started posting pictures and light videos of food. He absolutely loved the experience of discovering newer, less popular places to eat and helped people get enough information to try them. With this new approach in Instagram, he started gaining more and more followers, and eventually, his account became a medium for people to know more about Nepal’s rich food culture.

“It was overwhelming to see this account I’d initially started as a hobby get such recognition, and that motivated me to turn it into a passion of sharing what I explored and discovered on my food haunts,” he says.

When the reach of his exclusive platform started growing, Mr. Foodie realized this was the path he wanted to take all along. At the start, he was still working full-time in a travel agency, but he found himself losing that spark he once had. He knew he was progressing in this industry and, with more experience, there was a comfortable life waiting for him. But one thing he didn’t feel was happiness: he couldn’t give his hundred percent to a job he wasn’t enjoying.

Still bouncing around jobs, he had left his old office in search of a better offer in the travel industry again. In the two-month break, he got time to explore more places and their foods alongside learning about the markets and how he could grow his influence. Months turned into a year until he finally decided to leave the travel industry in 2017.

“It was a turning point in my life, but when I wanted to take my passion to the next level, people around me started doubting. Switching careers is never simple, especially when you’re taking a path no one in the country has taken before,” he acknowledges. “But my family always supported me and they were confident that no matter what I did, I would do well as I was hardworking from a young age.”

Mr. Foodie soon realized people were searching for a platform where they can find out about different places they could go to enjoy a good meal. It was one content missing for the increasingly social media-influenced generation.

“Along with giving me a purpose to work harder, food helped connect the dots in my life.” Mr. Foodie finds pure joy when he is learning about new food, a pursuit that also entails meeting new people and learning about their cultures. Food, moreover, helped him fall in love with the conversations and connections they build among people from completely different worlds.

Today, Mr. Foodie is continuing to create more content on YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok. He believes his risk has already paid off. “I always wanted to do something different and be remembered by that. My passion for food turned out to be my true calling.”

When Nepal Idol Season 4 announced a new panel of judges on August 20, Subani Moktan wasn’t that surprised at being picked as one.

“When I got a call that I had been shortlisted for the judge panel, I kind of expected to get it,” Moktan says.

And she did. On August 20, the show’s producers announced she’d be the female judge replacing Indira Joshi in the singing competition, and would sit in the panel alongside Shambhujit Baskota and Sugam Pokharel. While the sudden change came as a surprise to many fans, it was hard to question Moktan’s entry into the core team.

Not only did Moktan grow up in one of Nepal’s illustrious most musical families—she’s the daughter of Sila Bahadur Moktan (a musician and lyricist) and Kunti Moktan (the famed singer)—she’s also an accomplished musician, singer, songwriter, and arranger in her own right. Subani has lent her voice to countless projects, including movies and music videos. Oh, and she is also the voice heard on NCell’s intercept messages.

Moktan, who started learning piano at six and won the All Nepal Singing Competition organized by Bal Mandir aged seven and got to record her first song at Radio Nepal as the prize. She always knew music would play a big part in her life.

“I’ve always been a singer, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue it as a career,” she tells ApEx. This is why she completed her Bachelors’ in Business Studies and her Masters’ in Business Administration. After thinking about it for a while, she then enrolled into another Bachelors’ degree program in music, this time with the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s School of Performing and Visual Arts.

She studied at Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory (KJC) before she started teaching piano there. Unbeknownst to her, her years at KJC would shape her as a musician and a teacher.

After winning the Hits FM Music Award for Best New Artist at 16 and another award for Best Pop Vocal Performance: Female, she worked as an RJ and a VJ, hosting a weekly talk show where she invited Nepali musicians for long chats.

Today, she also works as a writer/assistant editor at Genius Reads, a bookselling company that also makes its own book summaries for buyers.

Moktan always knew that had she chosen not to pursue a career in music she would have been a businesswoman, who would then somehow have found a way to incorporate music into her career. “I probably would have opened a music store, or a franchise.”

But the singer has found another way to share her love for music—by passing on her passion to the next generation of musicians. Right now, Moktan is the proud owner and founder of Keerti Academy, a music school targeted at young children.

“We teach everything from guitar, piano, violin and have lessons on Western and Eastern voice, jazz, choir, and even personality development,” she shares. “Even though it’s mostly for kids, we also have a handful of adults coming in for lessons, who are always welcome.”

Moktan’s schedule is packed right as she works on these various projects while still maintaining a healthy life balance at home with her family and her dog, Muffin.  Shooting for Nepal Idol’s new season hasn’t yet started, but Moktan is gearing up.

She says she is looking forward to public reaction to her inclusion in the judge panel. Even though Moktan has been a part of the Nepali music industry for the past 15 years, she doesn’t know much about how the public sees her.

“Nepal Idol is a huge platform, not just for the contestants but also for the judges,” Moktan tells ApEx. “I have very big shoes to fill. I even sent Indira didi a text as soon as I got the position saying that I’m in no way trying to be her and was rather hoping for her guidance. And she was very supportive in her replies as well.”

But Joshi has warned her that with exposure, the singer might also get a lot of backlash from the audience who may not agree with her judgment. “But I’ll only understand this after the show,” Moktan says. “I hope I will be a good judge, and that I will be able to apply those judgments to my own music.”

Moktan is also working on another song, which will be out in October or November, and a big ‘religious project’ that she doesn’t want to reveal just yet.

“I hope that I can grow musically and that the audience will get to witness my growth over the next five years,” Moktan says. “My mother ruled the Nepali music scene during her time, and I hope to continue her legacy.”