All Smiles for Comedy Producing Graduate Student

As a communications professional and master’s student by day and a comedy producer by night, Ambi Narula, MiM ’25, is proving that her journey as a storyteller is no laughing matter.

Narula, a communications and program specialist at the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices within the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, is making a name for herself in the DMV comedy scene as the CEO and producer of Comedy Bonfyre.

Launched in 2021 as an online show during the COVID-19 pandemic and later shifting to in-person productions, Comedy Bonfyre enabled Narula to build a community through her passion for comedy and help others find joy in difficult times. It also served as an ideal environment for her to positively enact change in the comedy industry by emphasizing and embracing diversity among acts. The show has since featured comedians from Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and Comedy Central.

“I created Comedy Bonfyre to be a space for people who are like me—women, LGBTQ+ friendly, people of color—and it's been wildly successful,” says Narula. “Now I have a community group chat with roughly 70 comedians in the area who all identify as that, and I’m proud of what I’ve been able to build.

Narula’s trajectory in comedy and storytelling stems from her love for writing. As an undergraduate student, she transferred from Montgomery College to UMD’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism after her freshman year with aspirations of a career in communications. Journalism was Narula’s ideal fit because she enjoys interacting with others, and “you’re taught to talk to anyone and can go into any room.”

 It was also during that time that she began venturing into the comedy scene. While attending a “Women in Comedy” course, she performed her first standup set as her final project. The encouraging experience prompted her to identify ways in which she could continue to stay involved in comedy. With her marketing and communications skills, she found a home with comedy show production and subsequently created The Hysterics, UMD’s underrepresented genders comedy group. 

After graduating in 2020 and spending time working on Comedy Bonfyre, Narula put comedy production on hold as she applied to graduate schools and began her full-time position at the Fischell Institute. Shortly after returning to UMD, Narula learned about the Master’s in Management Studies (MiM) program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and knew she had found the ideal program to support her comedy and communications ventures.

“I didn’t want to do more journalism because that’s what I did for my bachelor’s degree. The logical route, to me, was business. I got connected with the MIM program and fell in love,” says Narula. “It was exactly what I needed at that moment, and I’ve enjoyed my experience so far.”

The program, which exposes students to data analytics, entrepreneurship and consulting, has served as a boon for Narula, given that she can apply classroom lessons to her professional and comedy projects in real-time.

In particular, Narula is excited to take leadership courses and the program’s capstone course, “Experiential Learning,” because it will enable her to work closely with the Smith School’s alumni advisory boards.

“It’s so cool to be part of such deep conversations with these people, learn from them and apply this to my day-to-day role,” says Narula. “It helped me understand the mindset that I'm now a business professional and I can be a business.” 

Since starting the program, Narula has struck a balance between working full-time, completing graduate school and producing comedy shows when possible. The University of Maryland has “always been home” for her, and she’s grateful for this opportunity that allows her to explore her passions and continue growing in a familiar environment. 

“I just enjoy what I do for a living. It's literally a dream come true to work in communications, produce and do grad school,” says Narula. “I get to be at the intersection between the journalism school, engineering community and business school. I'm all over the place, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”