Calculating his next move during a three-way game of knock out pool at the Luxe’s clubhouse, Ibtu Chowdhury sinks a rival ball into the pocket with a victorious yell. Not even two seconds later, the white cue ball follows suit in the same pocket giving myself and another player a ball back while Chowdhury slumps against the wall. After a moment to gather himself, we begin.
Ibtu Chowdhury is one of a few Vine-recognized students that attend Florida State University. With over 44,000 followers, he brings laughter from his original skits such as “Pronouncing Things Wrong” and “Sexing Up your Spice Life.” You can find him on Vine at ib2isme and occasionally at Bird’s Oyster Shack doing his act live.
Her Campus (HC): Tell us a little about yourself.
Ibtu Chowdhury (IC): I was born in Bangladesh and lived there for six years, then I moved to Virginia and about 80 different places in Florida. I have two siblings: my sister is 12, and my brother is 18. My sister is in middle school obviously and my brother is at UCLA in California. I do have a mom and dad, that’s how I was made. They’re both from Bangladesh, so I’m 100% Bangladesh. I am 20 years old—turning 21 in August—younger than most of my friends.
HC: What is your year and major?
IC: I am in my third year at FSU. My major is in International Affairs because I was struggling in Biology, although I still want to be in that path, but it’s not going to work out. International Affairs I picked because I was on track in it and I’m pretty good at it, so I figured I would get into something more practical.
HC: What would your dream job be?
IC: Probably Doctors Without Borders, but that doesn’t seem very likely, so probably something in film because I would enjoy it the most, but Doctors Without Borders I’d be most satisfied with.
HC: What do you do in your free time?
IC: I play pool with my buddy Zach. I make Vines and I write comedic stuff. I like to play FIFA and soccer but mostly sit on my a**.
HC: What got you started on Vine?
IC: My best friend back home is really big on Vine, Eric Dunn. I think he’s got about 2.4 million followers. He and I used to try and make YouTube videos every day after school, and it just never worked out. We have the same kind of sense of humor, but it works out on Vine! He started doing it and got big, and then I was doing it on my own and with some other people.
HC: What inspires your videos?
IC: A lot of the stuff I actually get from my stand up comedy material, and I just make it into Vines. Some of the series that are on my Vine videos are just pronouncing things wrong or in funny ways. My friend Eric does things in Ebonics and I do “How to Say Things in Ebrownics,” which I thought was a good twist on it too.
HC: What is your stand-up about?
IC: It’s a lot of stuff on my family to keep the jokes original. I know that if I do personal stuff like on my family, other comedians have not done those jokes for sure because it is my own personal life. For my jokes, I try to put some thought behind them. I don’t like straight up vulgar comedy or jokes that are just really profane. I like to put some thought into them that make sense and make you think.
HC: How often do you do stand up?
IC: I stopped for a little bit because I was doing school stuff, but I do it on an average of once a month. If I’m going to perform, I’m probably going to be doing it at Bird’s (Oyster Shack) on Wednesday nights or for a special event on campus. A lot of comedians come out and it’s pretty cool. And if anyone ever wants to get started in comedy, they do comedy workshops on Tuesday nights and you can workshop your jokes and perform the next day. That’s how I started comedy here. Initially, I started comedy in high school for a pageant and I never did comedy before; I just needed to put down a talent on my form. But I did my routine and won the pageant—that was awesome. From there, I did a few shows in high school and have just been doing it here for three years.