The daring comedians pushing boundaries
7 years, 6 months ago

The daring comedians pushing boundaries

BBC  

The daring comedians pushing boundaries Netflix US comics of South Asian descent are telling new kinds of stories – and winning fans from many different backgrounds, writes Laya Maheshwari. Alamy Minhaj has become a Daily Show star with his coverage of the US national political conventions in 2016 and his hosting of the White House Correspondents dinner Aziz Ansari is probably the most famous of them all, having gathered fans at various junctures – from his turn as government employee Tom Haverford in Parks and Recreation, his supporting roles in various Judd Apatow productions such as Funny People and Get Him to the Greek, his stand-up comedy tours and, most recently, his award-winning Netflix series Master of None, for which he also serves as writer and, occasionally, director. Netflix Aziz Ansari broke new creative ground with the second season of Master of None, in which he moves to Italy to learn the art of making pasta According to Rotten Tomatoes, the most well-reviewed film in the last few months of 2017 was neither Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk nor Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, but instead – with an astounding 98% rating – the modest romantic comedy The Big Sick. In July, Aditi Mittal, a trailblazing stand-up comic from Mumbai, became the first Indian female to get her own Netflix special, Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say – based on her popular live set.

Comedy Credit Netflix Indian South Asian Pakistani Minhaj Mittal Nanjiani South Asian Descent  daring  comedy  south  pushing  big  indian  sick  netflix  minhaj  white  standup  boundaries  comedians  credit

History of this topic

Urooj Ashfaq: Lot of jokes strike me on stage
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Urooj Ashfaq: Lot of jokes strike me on stage

New Indian Express  

Who are your inspirations? They could be doing anything — playing a caveman, exploring the room, talking to people, doing an entire movie performance without saying a single word, and so on. But I remember people telling us, ‘This is cringe, you shouldn’t be doing this…’ But we went ahead and did it. My style of comedy has a lot …

Asian American Comedy's Revolutionary Rebrand
10 months ago

Asian American Comedy's Revolutionary Rebrand

Huff Post  

Ever since she was a little kid, comedian Youngmi Mayer knew she was funny. Today, she speaks through the lens of her identity: as a woman, as a Korean, as a biracial person, as someone who immigrated to America when she was 20 and realized that life wasn’t all like ”Saved By The Bell,” and as the author of her …

‘It is high time comedians see their own union’: Comics show solidarity with actors on picket lines
1 year, 6 months ago

‘It is high time comedians see their own union’: Comics show solidarity with actors on picket lines

LA Times  

Comedians, including Samson Crouppen, gathered in front of Fox Studios in Century City on Monday to perform stand-up for SAG-AFTRA strikers. Comic Felicia Michaels cut her set short, saying she’d soon devolve into “a bunch of d— jokes, which does feel fair on a picket line in front of Fox Studios.” It was a witty segue into her critique of …

Do South-Asian Comedians 'Promote' Racism Through 'Stereotypical' Jokes? Man's TikTok Rant is Viral
2 years, 3 months ago

Do South-Asian Comedians 'Promote' Racism Through 'Stereotypical' Jokes? Man's TikTok Rant is Viral

News 18  

All those who follow comedians know the fan base that these people enjoy on the basis of the ‘relatable’ jokes that they crack. One TikTok user, whose video is now going viral talks about how these stand-up comedians promote racism with their jokes. He begins by saying, “This is something that has really been bothering me as a person of …

L.A. comic showcase tackles Asian hate by laughing it into submission
3 years, 6 months ago

L.A. comic showcase tackles Asian hate by laughing it into submission

LA Times  

If converting pandemic pain into laughter were a sport in the Comedy Olympics, Asian American comedians deserve to be draped with a pile of gold medals. “The stereotypes are very negative and so I wanted to get into the entertainment industry so I could be a positive role model for Asian women, and this was over 15 years ago,” says …

5 upcoming stand-up comedians LOL-ing their way to the top
3 years, 7 months ago

5 upcoming stand-up comedians LOL-ing their way to the top

India TV News  

5 upcoming stand-up comedians LOL-ing their way to the top From Rohan Joshi to Kanan Gill, we’ve witnessed some stellar comics make history in Indian comedy space. In the sea of popular faces, this Independence Day, witness 5 rising comedy stars creating a special set on all things ‘Independence’ packaged in a rib-tickling stand-up set. From Rohan Joshi to Kanan …

5 Web Series Written by Indian Stand-up Comedians That You Can Stream Next
3 years, 10 months ago

5 Web Series Written by Indian Stand-up Comedians That You Can Stream Next

News 18  

With the changing landscape of standup comedy in India, many comics are coming out of their comfort zones to try their hands at fresh content. Laakhon Mein Ek: Biswa Kalyan Rath Engineer turned full-time comedian, Biswa Kalyan Rath depicted the journey of a teenager who is sent to a coaching institute to help him get enrolled to IIT in the …

What Muslim comedians are really up to
4 years, 1 month ago

What Muslim comedians are really up to

Live Mint  

“I started off doing the typical ‘Muslim jokes’ about circumcision and suicide bombers, but after a while I started questioning myself—why am I doing this? Well, this seemed a great way to combine the two.” Abbas Momin Even as Munawar Faruqui, an Indian Muslim comedian, continues to be held in jail for a joke he did not even crack, a …

As coronavirus lockdown hits India's comedy scene, many faced with financial crunch, uncertain future
4 years, 11 months ago

As coronavirus lockdown hits India's comedy scene, many faced with financial crunch, uncertain future

Firstpost  

On social media, comedians are finding ways to make followers laugh during the lockdown, but for them it’s no laughing time. “In the West, where it’s far less informal with comedy clubs, contracts and agents, you’re still never assured a stable income for two years. As for Mumbai’s migrants to locals ratio, Tanwar estimates a 40:60 split, adding that “minus …

Comedy goes regional
5 years, 6 months ago

Comedy goes regional

Deccan Chronicle  

When stand-up comedian Raghav Thakkar was performing in Hindi at a private corporate event in the city, he received a unique request. In addition to Gujarati, which has found an audience from functions at housing societies to special shows, there are comedians who are exploring Marathi and Malayalam language content in the city. For Mandar Bhide, who has become one …

What’s funny now? Three ways of looking at comedy’s shifting landscape
6 years, 3 months ago

What’s funny now? Three ways of looking at comedy’s shifting landscape

LA Times  

In a seeming golden age of political comedy, some comedians are under fire. As big money collides with changing gender and race dynamics, plus volatile social media, some of comedy’s gatekeepers are finding that comedians are self-censoring. Lorraine Ali, Meredith Blake and Jeffrey Fleishman take a look at the shifting landscape beneath comedy’s seemingly golden era of political comedy. They’re …

‘Of home and heartbreak’: how comedian Hari Kondabolu went mainstream
6 years, 10 months ago

‘Of home and heartbreak’: how comedian Hari Kondabolu went mainstream

The Hindu  

When Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu steps on stage at the Neptune Theater in Seattle, where his Netflix special Warn Your Relatives is being filmed, he looks at the packed audience in amazement and says, “We’ve got 800 people here. “And then I remember that my parents are from India,” Kondabolu explains, going on to imitate his father, “Oh 800 people, …

Rahul Subramanian on the Indian stand-up comedy scene: 'I want comics to be able to say anything'
6 years, 11 months ago

Rahul Subramanian on the Indian stand-up comedy scene: 'I want comics to be able to say anything'

Firstpost  

“I tell jokes about whatever I think is funny. Rahul Subramanian has rapidly become one of the most recognisable faces in Indian stand-up comedy, and he’s very much aware of it. “Yesterday Kumar Varun and I were shooting for a sketch which had an office setup”, says Rahul with a guileless grin on his face, “and there was a moment …

The Laughter Challenge is on us: How dominance of upper caste men affects our consumption of comedy
6 years, 11 months ago

The Laughter Challenge is on us: How dominance of upper caste men affects our consumption of comedy

Firstpost  

A short, fat nurse working in the 50-50 hospital, sister to Lottery, a tall, slim nurse. Bumper was a character on The Kapil Sharma Show, accompanied by ‘Besharam Nani’, who desperately force-kisses celebrities, and Rinku Devi, a Bihari woman deeply dissatisfied in her marriage. Funny men and their entitlement to our laughter Last year, Bollywood star and Padman actor Akshay …

Stand-up for feminism: Indian women comics are making patriarchy the punch-line in their acts
6 years, 11 months ago

Stand-up for feminism: Indian women comics are making patriarchy the punch-line in their acts

Firstpost  

There’s an old desi joke that goes: “If you want to piss your parents off, become an artist.” The fact that this is a dated joke is apparent from the burgeoning number of artistic fields in India. There are clearly plenty of women who want to do comedy, because we always get more applications for our open mic than there …

Comedy of errors: Indian ‘comedians’ and delusion of grandeur
7 years, 1 month ago

Comedy of errors: Indian ‘comedians’ and delusion of grandeur

Op India  

Rather curious trend has emerged on social media recently. More and more of so called comedians in India have taken an ugly turn towards ‘activism’ designating themselves as the last stand between democratic principles and the perceived assault on these principles by Modi-Shah duo in cahoots with RSS and probably These ‘comic-activists’ have joined the shrill chorus of Doomsday Prophets …

Why an increasing number of stand-up comedians are choosing to talk in Hindi
8 years ago

Why an increasing number of stand-up comedians are choosing to talk in Hindi

Hindustan Times  

In the last seven odd years, we’ve seen the rise of stand-up comedy in a way no one really anticipated. Not what you’d expect Until recently, Hindi comedy was associated with what we saw on TV: shows such as The Great Indian Laughter Challenge or Comedy Circus in the mid-2000s were immensely popular. They said, ‘Hume yeh wali Hindi nahi …

Asian Comedy Invasion seeking laughs at Perth's Fringe World Festival
8 years, 1 month ago

Asian Comedy Invasion seeking laughs at Perth's Fringe World Festival

ABC  

Asian nations may already be some of Australia's largest trading partners, but a small group of performers now wants to add another commodity to the list — laughter. A group of rising Asian comedy stars has arrived in Perth for a series of shows as part of the Fringe World Festival. Australian comedian Ro Campbell has imported the stand-up comedians …

Vir Das on the shifting sands of stand-up comedy in India
8 years, 5 months ago

Vir Das on the shifting sands of stand-up comedy in India

Hindustan Times  

Over the last few years, India has witnessed a slew of stand-up comedians and comic groups burgeon — with the likes of AIB, comedian Kanan Gill and others now swanking a huge fan base. Actor-comedian-singer Vir Das, who is considered to be the first one to make a living out of the profession, believes comedy has become “an extremely lucrative …

No country for funny women: Comediennes vanishing from our films isn't a laughing matter
8 years, 6 months ago

No country for funny women: Comediennes vanishing from our films isn't a laughing matter

Firstpost  

A few days ago, a tweet from this writer with a few images of Manorama to mark her birth anniversary led to people sharing their favourite memories of the iconic yesteryear comedienne. Looking back at the manner in which a Manorama or a Tun Tun would just roll their eyes or sneer and later, a Shobha Khote or an Aruna …

A good laugh
9 years, 1 month ago

A good laugh

The Hindu  

At a jam-packed session on the front lawns of the Diggi Palace, a session at the JLF on ‘What Makes South Asians Laugh?’ saw journalist-turned-author Sidin Vadukut, actor Meera Syal, and Suhel Seth in conversation with Sri Lankan writer Ashok Ferry. I feel comedy is universal.” Is the South Asian sense of humour location specific? Especially so when the Merc …

It’s no laughing matter
9 years, 8 months ago

It’s no laughing matter

The Hindu  

“I am proud that, like Mark Twain, I have been able to use humour to lessen people’s hatred.” — African-American comedian Richard Pryor If we are to go by TRP ratings, it would seem that the nation has not laughed as hard as it has in the last two years, since “Comedy Nights with Kapil” — India’s highest-rated non-fiction television …

Comedy without malice
10 years, 1 month ago

Comedy without malice

The Hindu  

P resident Nominated: Members of both Houses of Parliament today nominated a stately Eucalyptus tree as the 17th President of India. With millions writhing on the floor in uncontrollable laughter, comics liberally spray the audience with an undercurrent of Indian foibles — people’s differences, the shrill hot-headed awareness of identity, religious practices, all come loaded with messages of hate. The …

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