Hello and welcome to How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. The podcast that celebrates the things

that haven't gone right. This is a podcast about learning from our mistakes and understanding

that why we fail ultimately makes us stronger because learning how to fail in life actually means

learning how to succeed better. I'm your host, author and journalist Elizabeth Day and every

week I'll be asking a new interviewee what they've learned from failure.

Asim Chaudry is an actor, writer and director. He's perhaps best known for co-creating the

BAFTA award-winning mockumentary sitcom People Just Do Nothing. The show follows the fortunes

of a pirate radio station with, as they proudly proclaim, over a hundred listeners and Chaudry

stars as Chabadi G, the station's hustling entrepreneurial manager. The show catapulted

Chaudry to international success, roles followed in the Wonder Woman movie Charlie Brooker's

Band of Snatch and if you've ever been on a BA flight and paid attention to the safety

video, you'll recognise him instantly as the inept director of a sketch involving

national treasures, Sir Michael Cain and Olivia Coleman.

Chaudry is rapidly approaching a sort of national treasure status himself. During lockdown, he

put out a comedy podcast called What a Sad Little Life, which took its title from a legendary

episode of Come Dying With Me and released music including the rap track Brown Skin, which

tackled Britain's racist past and present. Capable of both great humour and great thoughtfulness,

Chaudry's jokes often contain a deeper message. Apart from the time on Chicken Shop Day when

he said his ideal woman was a combination of Tiffany from EastEnders, Vanessa Feltz and Mary Berry.

His talent is multifaceted and Chaudry is refreshingly unbothered about staying in his lane.

When people say I can't do something, it drives me on harder, he once said, just like

Chabadi who thinks he's a player, a hustler, a ladies man, I'm the eternal optimist.

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