Sajit mentioned comedienne Vijai Nathan in his post. She is that doubly rare breed, a female desi comedian. However, she didn’t spring fully formed out of Robin William’s forehead onto the stage. Her origin story involves a past as a copywriter until one day, her comedic talents were unleashed by a comedy workshop. The moment when she quit her day job to pursue comedy full time became a part of her act:
“… her father was furious: “He said: ‘Vijai, how could you do this to your family? I have struggled in this country for 25 years and you’re going to disgrace me this way?’
I said, “But dad, I just want to make people laugh, you know, be a comedian.’
He said ‘Oh, your mom told me you wanted to be a Canadian…” [Link]
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p>Audiences also have a hard time getting it sometimes, too:
“This guy shouts out: “Woo! Keep it going for the Cherokee. Yeah!”
I said, “Sir, I’m not the kind of Indian with bows and arrows. I’m the kind with unlimited access to nuclear weaponry...” [Link]
She actually started out “really bad Clinton impressions” and much more mainstream jokes before developing some very desi material:
… my parents were always worried that I was becoming too American. My Dad would say: ‘So you want to wear pants, eat cows, have minty fresh breath. That’s it, you’re going back to India.'” [Link]… her mother overheard her singing along with Madonna, and put a stop to it by insisting, “Vijai, you are not like a virgin, you are a virgin!“… [Link]
Despite the difficulties involved in the profession, and the fact that her parents are often the butt of the humor (she apparently mentions her father’s playboy collection), they are supportive of her and she is grateful:
… those years were difficult, but Nathan’s family became her backbone … There were even plenty of times she thought about quitting, but Nathan says, her father encouraged her to keep going. [Link]
Awwww. Except for her (implied) preference for curly fries over pakoras, her story sounds pretty traditional in the end. One of those perfect blend things 
Related Links: Girls, Girls, Girls, Wikipedia on Rasika Mathur
I lowe it 😛
dude, the commenting is messed-up. How did the comments for this post wind up on the Freer-Gallery post?
Wow..she’s hilarious.
I’m a big fan of standup comedy – and I’ve seen her perform once or twice, but it really didn’t do anything for me. It seems like she’s a funny woman, as in, if you were chilling with her, she’d be cracking you up the whole time, but on stage…eh.
This is funny.
If this is an acceptable “come back” line, than it proves that American born people of Indian ancestory benefit from the growing geo-political influence of India.
There is a tendency that I have noticed (I could be wrong) in some American born people of Indian ethnicity to discount it. Thats why I am pointing out the above.
A better sketch comedy actress/one person show person, the stand up isn’t that tight, but it’s not bad.
If this is an acceptable “come back” line, than it proves that American born people of Indian ancestory benefit from the growing geo-political influence of India.
There is a tendency that I have noticed (I could be wrong) in some American born people of Indian ethnicity to discount it. Thats why I am pointing out the above.
There’s a spectrum of views on India among 2gens. On one hand, you have flat-out India nationalists who cheer every time something postive comes out in the press about India; at the other end you have India haters who curse their karma for being born to a tribe of brownz. Most lie in between. In my experience, most 2gens are quite pro-India, though its obviously not the first political priority, and yes, it benefits self-image as much as it enhances out-group perceptions, which is why that joke probably “works.”
Sometimes, and I’m sure you all will tell me if this is pathetic, I take what I can get. If India’s growing geo-political power makes people reconsider India as a backwards, overpopulated nation full of starving children, wandering cows, friendly elephants and levitating ascetics*, then it’s OK by me. And I will use it in jokes.
*Fine. I know some of this is true.
As Hello_Mumbai mentioned here, it’s not that her material isn’t funny; it’s that she’s been using the same material for years. There’s little incentive to see a second show of hers, but when seeing her for the first time, you’ll laugh.
wow. our family knows her. wwe saw her do an act at one of the mainly two temples we frequent(well not me nearly as much as them)
I saw her perform at a temple event as well (it was a fundraising function). She was really funny.
Anyone can point me to some of Russell Peters’ material? I have heard he is amazing.
A search on You Tube for Russell Peters yeilds this.
Just search our archives.
Somewhat off-topic (my specialty), but interesting read, all the same.
sriram: which temple? i saw her at murugan temple in lanham, md.
You can also find Russel Peters links on Badmash.com
Russell Peters is not THAT amazing. All he basically does is various ethnic accents,and points out the difference between ethnicities, which is mildly amusing at times. Vijai Nathan is the real deal, because her topics are relatable to our real lives, which is much more difficult to do in a hilarious way. Also, I think she might be, along with ‘Kelly Kapoor’ from The Office, my long lost twin (triplet). Not that that has any bearing on anything.
Yes, meenbeen, Russell is good at what he does, but Vijai’s stuff is more challenging.
In real life, as a comedian, comedy writer and person, Kelly Kapoor aka Mindy Kaling is funny as hell. Just thought you should know.
Honestly is it THAT big of a shock to see a comedian who is a woman? To refer to Robin Williams as the proto-comedian? It’s so backwards. Just look in the direction of Margaret Cho or Chelsea Handler and you’ll see female comedians come in profusion.
Thanks for the heads up on this one, though.
Female comedians also talk about how their increase in numbers is recent, and how this used to be a very difficult profession for women.
I found her routine very stereotypical/FOBish.
For Russell Peters, check out these clips.
Vijai Nathan is one of the funniest comedians I have ever seen. Very insightful thoughts on life as an Indian woman!
I just saw a DVD called “Indian Invasion Comedy: Civilizing the West” featuring Vijai Nathan along with four other very funny Indian stand up comedians: Rajiv Satyal, Vidur Kapur, Mark Saldana, Dalia McPhee. (www.indianinvasioncomedy.com)