A friend emailed me over the weekend, notifying me that desi stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu was going to appear to on Jimmy Kimmel on Monday, February 19. Unfortunately, I was out of town and didn’t get to check my email in time (drat!) so I missed the whole thing. And I’ve been scouring the internet since then, trying to find the clip for this post but I have yet to find it. (If anyone can point me to it, I’ll upload it here.)
UPDATE: My friend emailed Hari and asked him for the clip, and he was nice enough to send it to her. Here you go. I love it!
I’m usually not a huge fan of stand-up comedy, although there’s a few comedians that I follow. My favorite is Aron Kader (which shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who reads PSID) — mainly because his material is gutsy and clever and yet non-polarizing at the same time. And, he’s a cutie.
In any case, I’d never heard of Hari Kondabolu until I received my friend’s email. According to his website, he’s only 24, which makes his appearance on Kimmel even more impressive. But this line in his bio had me intrigued:
Hari Kondabolu discovers big laughs with material most comics wouldn’t think about exploring: Racism, Privilege, and Power.Looks like he doesn’t hold back.
His writing is also snarky and witty and much more subtle. This excerpt from his blog had me smirking:
The most common annoyance I have at comedy shows are MCs or hosts (always White comics…I’m in Seattle) introducing me to the stage with a corny joke about me being “Indian.” For some reason, many white comics feel this is new ground and continue to introduce me with jokes like:His blog is worth a look.“Ladies and Gentleman straight off the reservation…” OR “Let’s hear it for our favorite Cherokee comedian!” OR “Our next comedian is Indian…DOTS NOT FEATHERS!”
You get the picture. Hack. Straight-up hack.
I generally smile and move on with my set. Sometimes, however, I’m just not in the mood for the bullshit. For example, several months ago after an intro similar to the ones listed above, I came on stage and uttered this line:
“Thanks Tom for that wonderful introduction. Ladies and Gentleman, let’s give it up for the BISCUIT…oh…I meant, the CRACKER… sorry, I get those two things confused as well.”




