Rajiv Satyal – Funny Indian Comedian

Comedian Rajiv Satyal sits down with renowned author/speaker Dr. Deepak Chopra to ask him a series of questions – some [...].

I drove a mile up the street to interview the biggest comedian in the world. I sat down with Russell Peters at his mansion in our shared town of Studio City, California, to ask him my famous (well, after this) litany of questions in Episode 118 of The TanGent Show. As with all of mine, I did not edit, so what you’ll hear is a raw, real conversation between two comics and a peek into Russell’s daily life when he’s actually not touring the planet. Despite the fun interruptions and a bit of an ADD start, the result is a remarkably free-flowing chat that simultaneously showcases Russell’s legendary wit and features his seldom-seen serious side. Russell initially claims he wants to keep it to 30 minutes but we went for almost two hours (like both of our first times). We actually continued chatting after the outro so the official podcast is 1 hr 25 min. (I’ll release the rest, where we reviewed Rolling Stone’s 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time, in the future.) Russell reveals his love for The Police and rap (ironically made by people who don’t like the police), describes the merits of being punched in the face, resents the recent attention to bullying (which happened for the second straight episode), reveals what motivates him in a year where he’s going to make $20 million, shares what frustrates him about his career, approves of both my bald head as well as the new name of this podcast, and comes full circle in how to beat the bullies (with a tangent about boxing, which involves, appropriately, being punched in the face). I do let fly with my loud laugh a number of times - but can you blame me? And despite (because of?) our different humor styles, you’ll be entertained by the continual punch-counterpunch between an established global star and a rising one. Since he helped launch my career, I’ve always said that without Russell, there’s no Rajiv. Well, without Rajiv, there’s no 1.5-hr Russell interview. Enjoy.

I drove out to the Westside to sit down with SNL and Weeds star Kevin Nealon at his home. He [...].

I traveled to the Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, offices of Marketing Guru/Blogger/Author Seth Godin to discuss a plethora of topics… the definition of leadership, American exceptionalism, how he knows whether his speeches are successful, how to improve the US school system, how to avoid the “race to the bottom,” how overrated degrees can be, whether you should have a backup plan, the differences between freelancing and entrepreneurship, his latest success (Squidoo), why you should give away as much as possible, what he’s really good at, whether I should hire joke writers, kicking it with Malcolm Gladwell, and the best darned answer to my Jeopardy! question yet. Brought to you jointly by Funny Indian and Brand Innovators, please enjoy my interview with this genius, and more importantly, kind soul.

I was so glad to have caught Chris D’Elia right before his catapult to stardom. He used to call me [...].

I was so glad to have caught Chris D’Elia right before his catapult to stardom. He used to call me [...].

On his only day off in what seems like months and on the eve of the shooting of an HBO pilot with one of his idols, Mike Judge, comedian Kumail Nanjiani finally came by after more than two years of trying to schedule a podcast appearance. (We thought it was a year and actually our first correspondence was January 2011, which is nuts.) And while he’s a kind man to acknowledge just how much I myself am out of LA, it’s clear to see why this man is so hard to pin down. Because he lets his cell phone deactivate every month. Ha. No, that’s the old Kumail. He’s doing recurring or regular roles on Veep and Portlandia, co-hosting perhaps the hottest weekly comedy show in LA (Meltdown), recording a podcast w/ his wife (Emily), and writing and performing standup all over the country (The United States of America). We talk about when puns work, why it’d be better to find a snake in your house than a ghost, why Groundhog Day is such a psychologically great movie, the differences and similarities of baseball & cricket, what a real-life gunshot sounds like, how computer science and philosophy are similar both to each other and also to comedy, the moving goalposts of success, whose approval he seeks, who has it figured out, whether comedy is a meritocracy, the evolution of the definitions of nerds-geeks-dorks, the link between bureaucracy and Nazis, and his advice to the kids out there. You can check him out at kumailnanjiani.com. Or can you? That’s a joke you’ll get once you listen to this truly fun podcast with a hilarious man headed to the top, wherever that may be. Enjoy.

Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were once roommates. Might they one day talk about that time when Hasan Minhaj [...].

Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were once roommates. Might they one day talk about that time when Hasan Minhaj [...].

What you have to realize, says Maz Jobrani, is that many of the men running these countries are insane. One [...].

What you have to realize, says Maz Jobrani, is that many of the men running these countries are insane. One [...].

“Love to,” is what Sebastian Maniscalco said when I told him I’d love to interview him on my podcast. A [...].

“Love to,” is what Sebastian Maniscalco said when I told him I’d love to interview him on my podcast. A [...].

The hottest improv school in the world, Upright Citizens Brigade, has four founding members. I was honored to interview Matt [...].

The hottest improv school in the world, Upright Citizens Brigade, has four founding members. I was honored to interview Matt [...].

Actor, writer, and Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi took a break from filming his HBO series The Brink to sit [...].

You know her as Divya from USA’s globally-syndicated hit, Royal Pains. I know her as a girl I tried to [...].

You know her as Divya from USA’s globally-syndicated hit, Royal Pains. I know her as a girl I tried to [...].

He’s a better version of me. At least when it comes to standup. Seriously, whenever I see Fahim Anwar crush [...].

He’s a better version of me. At least when it comes to standup. Seriously, whenever I see Fahim Anwar crush [...].

Before he was an international superstar following his smash hit, Meet The Patels, he was that fun guy you’d see [...].

She credits me with getting her into the business, which is quite possibly the highest compliment I’ve ever received. We [...].

Azhar Usman and I co-created Make Chai Not War, a Hindu-Muslim comedy showcase that has toured the world. In 2012, [...].

Azhar Usman and I co-created Make Chai Not War, a Hindu-Muslim comedy showcase that has toured the world. In 2012, [...].

“SHE’S coming over here?!” So spoke my then-roommate Hasan Minhaj, as Janina Gavankar made her way over to appear on [...].

“SHE’S coming over here?!” So spoke my then-roommate Hasan Minhaj, as Janina Gavankar made her way over to appear on [...].

~”You must now live in the post-world of your having said what you said.” Think about that for a sec. An example of various aphorisms dropped by my guest, Comedian Prashanth Venkataramanujam. The man with a 25-letter name knows more than his fair share of dollar words, which he peppers into our conversation - with as much skill as I drop in puns - as we cover how we met (he and my next podcast guest, Asif Ali, both opened for me in Chicago years ago), how he got started in comedy in the Second City (he and his friends started doing standup in each other’s basements), why he hates Nickelback haters (what have you done with your life?), why Eminem is the greatest rapper ever (so what if you can DJ a party off of purely jay-z tracks?), what it’s like to have a really, really close-knit group of friends back home, and what a miracle truly is. Enjoy.

Eddie Brill, the long-time booker for The Late Show with David Letterman, had me over to his East Village apartment, where I was wowed not only by the plethora of photographs of him with everybody from Barack Obama to Paul McCartney but also by his captivating, on-going commentary on such a wide variety of topics. Aspiring and established comics alike should take note of this particular episode, as Brill shares what he looked for as he booked Letterman and still searches for as he books the Great American Comedy Festival in Johnny Carson’s hometown. Eddie provides us with food for thought as he shares his thoughts on food. We discuss whether comedy is a meritocracy - after we define that word. And this podcast episode itself closes the loop (after a near-record number of tangents). How so? Well, Eddie and I met as I took one of his renowned (and global) comedy workshops. And here I got to tell him about the comedy workshops we did this year in India as part of our US State Department-sponsored tour. Brill-iant. Enjoy.

The Podfather. No less than Steve Jobs referred to my latest guest as the pioneer of the podcast. Adam Curry hopes to be remembered for more than just what I knew him as - my favorite MTV VJ from the 1980s. And I’m sure that he will be. (And we’ll know he “made it” when there’s a plaque of him displayed somewhere in a public place.) We cover his conversation with Prince, his theories on the world and politics, the pharmaceutical industry (“Is your kid acting too kid-like?”), why online advertising will never pay out (ever-expanding supply), why he lives in Austin (one corporate word: sustainability), what he’s really good at (sifting thru large amounts of data and uncovering discrepancies), what it’s like to have a ton of money and then not, whether humans simply consume more than we produce, and his purchase of MTV.com and Curry.com. The host of the No Agenda podcast might’ve made more Indians jealous with the ownership of Curry.com than me with FunnyIndian.com. It’s a marathon convo - and it’s absolutely worth it. And now you know him from Adam. Enjoy.

I spot-traded with Jeremiah Watkins. Now, that’s a rare statement because the man doesn’t do that. OK, so that’s not exactly what happened. Dare I say we stand in mutual admiration of each other? I dare say, because it’s my podcast and therefore my description and therefore I’ll write whatever I want. Well, I can certainly speak for myself: I am a big fan of J-Dub and all he’s doing so I invited him on my show, where he brought his high-energy personality and quick wit to boot. Only a fortnight ago, I did his Improvised Standup Show, which is a quintessential experience. Jeremiah hosts at Rant LA in Hollywood and introduces about ten comics who bravely ascend to the stage and ask the energetic crowd for suggestions. They (We) then proceed to… improvise. The show is so popular amongst comics that if you get on more than a couple times a year, you’re killin’ it. On this episode, Mr. Watkins and I discuss our love of bombing onstage, our shared fear of kids in horror movies and love of the Beatles, why Tommy Boy is so boss, and our understandably mixed feelings on backhanded compliments. Enjoy.

World-traveled and seasoned comic Dwayne Perkins, the whiz kid from the projects, came to my Studio City residence to speak on many things, including the benefits of stringing together international gigs, explaining the perception of the other 5 boroughs by Brooklynites, appreciating the pun-making ability of optometry places and Asian restaurants, interpreting audience reactions to jokes, being "one of us" when it comes to crowds, having nothing to lose as a rich or poor kid when going into entertainment or sports, lamenting not going into the dot-com industry, and opining about how being funny and nice as a guy is kind of like being pretty and nice as a girl. We got into exactly none of my questions as the convo simply flowed like hot chocolate. Btw, you should pick up his book, Hot Chocolate for the Mind. How do you like that segue? About as much as you like them apples? After all, the Whiz Kid (sort of a Will Hunting) spent some time in Boston. So, yeah... um, buy his book. Kind of titled like those Chicken Soup for the Soul books. So, if Dwayne released one of those in Asia, would it be for the... Seoul? Puns! So, had Dwayne launched a startup with Bill Gates, would it have been MS Projects? Puns! Enjoy.