COMEDIAN STAN SALEH OPENS UP ON DROPPING OUT OF UNIVERSITY AND BATTLING DEPRESSION

Popular comedian Stan Saleh revealed the surprising mental health struggles and financial hardships that led him to comedy.

Speaking during an interview on the Buzz Central podcast with host Cheptoek Boyo. Saleh disclosed he had to drop out of university,  “It’s one of those bummer stories. I was depressed by the time I started doing comedy. It was my final year of law school, I was doing a diploma in law, and I realised I will not be able to pursue a degree in law. It broke me.”

The comedian described his rock-bottom moment, “I was in the school library when this realisation hit me because we had some financial issues back at home. I sat in the school library very depressed, self-loathing, beating myself up.“

Salvation came unexpectedly through comedy videos,” I went to the school library, logged into a computer looking for inspiration. I There was a guy on YouTube, he had a suit on, then that guy started talking. I was not getting inspired but started laughing. The guy was making fun of everything. I look at the name, Trevor Noah.“

This began his comedy education, “I just went in that wormhole of Trevor all the comedy videos he has ever done. After that, I watched Michael Che. I started watching Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, and for me, it was a whole new experience. I was like this is what Kenya comedians are doing. That’s how I just decided to try comedy.”