Good comedy – the kind that has you in stitches – should be so easy to watch, you don’t even realise the blood, sweat and tears that has gone into it.

“It’s not easy to make people laugh,” admits Asim Chaudhry. “You can make people cry, there are are universal things that we all feel; a pet dog dying, we’re all going to cry. For horror you can give someone a jump-scare, but to make someone laugh is so tough, because everyone has a different sense of humour.

“So if you can make someone laugh, if you can make a lot of people laugh, it’s a great thing. It’s a powerful tool.”

Chaudhry has pulled this off with Chabuddy G, a comedic character who is utterly compelling, memorable and hilarious. Part of the BBC mockumentary People Just Do Nothing – following a pirate radio station in west London – Chabuddy G is a hapless entrepreneur who is eternally optimistic about his doomed business ventures, be it an internet cafe or snack food called ‘Peanut Dust’.

Even though Chaudhry, 34, says “Chabuddy is a big part of me”, he couldn’t be more different from the character he’s played for 10 years. While Chabuddy unintentionally makes you scream with laughter, Chaudhry is in full control and knows exactly how to execute the perfect joke.

For Chaudhry, the key to good comedy is vulnerability. “My type of comedy is always self-deprecating, the joke’s always on me,” he says. “Growing up, I would use comedy as a kind of defence mechanism – you know, I’m going to call myself a nasty name before you can. I’m going to diss myself so much, and in such a funny way, you will have nothing left to say.

“But I didn’t even know I was doing that – I just found it funny to laugh at myself, because I don’t take myself too seriously. I don’t think anyone should, and I think the best comedians and the best comedy is not nasty comedy.”

Chaudhry first realised he could make people laugh when he was about eight or nine, “doing impressions of my uncles and my dad”. He remembers doing an impersonation of his father, who always used to say the word ‘chock-a-block’ over and over.

“It’s just a funny word,” Chaudhry explains. “Chock-a-block is such a weird word, and you put it into the mouth of this immigrant from the Nineties in west London, and it’s a different word – it’s charming and lovable.”

Chaudhry’s father became the inspiration for Chabuddy, with a lot of the entrepreneur’s exploits on People Just Do Nothing ripped straight from real life. “Some of the stuff has been quite close to the bone, my dad’s been a good sport,” says Chaudhry with a chuckle. “My dad used to have an Italian restaurant and it’s in the series, we joke about it. All the chefs were Indian, they weren’t Italian, and my dad would give them fake names like Gino and Mario – Gino’s name was Gurdeep, Mario was Mandeep. The risotto was basically biryani. That was real life, and I put that into my show.”

Chaudhry also inherited his father’s confidence. “He walks in a room, and he will make five friends straightaway,” Chaudhry says. “He’s really just a very lovable, larger than life personality. And I’ve definitely got that from him. Confidence – I think not arrogance, it’s confidence.”

However, he does say: “With great sense of humour comes great responsibility,” and Chaudhry has been compelled to keep people laughing throughout the various lockdowns – not just for others, but for himself as well.

He says: “Making people laugh, I felt the need to do that. And in turn, it made me happier. Making people laugh makes you happy. There’s nothing better than ripping a joke, and you just kill it.”

Chaudhry’s favourite fan messages are from people who felt low and found some relief in his comedy. “It’s about escapism – it’s a cliche but laughter is the best medicine,” he says. “It’s about not taking things too seriously in life and giving that moment to yourself to laugh… Life is so serious, and right now more than ever, we need to laugh.”

Walkers has partnered with Asim Chaudhry and Comic Relief to help raise awareness of the positive and instant power that humour can have on people’s mental wellbeing. Find out more on Twitter @walkers_crisps.