Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
Award winning DC based comedian talks to Asian Fortune about playing tooth decay in a school play and the challenges of being a female comedian.
By Suchi Rudra
With three solos shows to her name—Woman on Top, McGoddess and Good Girls Don’t. But Indian Girls Do—and far-flung comedy festival appearances from Trinidad to England to South Africa, funny girlVijai Nathan is quite serious about comedy. The Indian American comedian’s jokes may cover the classic trio of love, life and family, but it’s her daring and witty perspective of Indian culture that has won her dozens of national awards and accolades over the past 10 years. Nathan, who currently trains business leaders in public speaking through SpeakeasyDC and is at work on a new solo show, chats with Asian Fortune about racism at school, women in comedy and performing stand up at a Hindu temple.
Q: How did you get to be so funny? Is it genetic?
A: Well, when I was a kid, my mom would crack everyone up at dinner parties. She’d imitate everybody, even trying to be the Korean woman at the grocery store. That’s kind of her thing. My dad was just outrageous at times. He’d try to be funny, but he was best when was he just being himself, not trying to be funny. He always did like to shock people, so maybe that filtered through. He was so on board once I became a comedian, and told me, ‘The dirtier, the better.’ I was like, ‘Dad! Really?’
Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a comedian?
A: I knew from an early age I wouldn’t fit into the expected Indian career roles, although I’d love to, because it’s so much easier on an Indian person if you’re really good at computers or medicine—you have a path, you’re set up. I was doing things differently than my two older sisters, so my parents didn’t know what to make of me. They just were like, ‘Let’s just hope she doesn’t fail.’ (laughs) I started to be attracted to other things—but didn’t know how to develop that. By second grade, I was really awesome at presentations, at making something fun or funny, even getting a feel for the room. It’s weird because I realize now that’s what I was doing. But I was ‘fat, foreign and dirty’, the trifecta (laughs), so when I auditioned for school plays, I would try out for everything and get no part or the worst part. I felt like that was racism. I mean come on, did the tooth fairy have to be white? Me and a Japanese girl had to play tooth decay. (laughs)
Q: What messages do you want to convey with your comedy?
A: Because of the racism I experienced growing up, I always felt I was on the outside, that I wasn’t understood. My parents said ‘You’re Indian, not American’ and at school they said ‘You’re a foreigner, you’re not American.’ Nobody wanted me to be American, but I was! (laughs) So when I started doing stand up, I wanted to show who Indians really were, that they are just like any Americans. That’s what I thought I should do so people can relate to me and understand me. I did jokes about guys I dated—but it was all made up. I was trying to say, ‘Hey, we’re not so different!’ When I moved to New York City, my jokes were technically funny, but not truthful, and the audience there could really see it. New York knows Indians, and they also like being challenged–so that challenged me to write real things about my real life, my Indian family. The more I talked about their interactions and my lack of dating, people found me funnier and started to relate to me. I think the goal of comedy is to be really funny and truthful. Then people then start to relate, and it starts to change something in them.
Q: What’s one memorable moment from your career so far?
A: Once, I had to perform at my mom’s temple, and the age range was 4 to 88. That was awesome! I’m not used to doing jokes for Hindus, and my mom was like, ‘Be clean, okay?’ But I got a such a diverse group of people to laugh—some grew up here, some in India, some had no idea what I was talking about. But they were all laughing.
Q: Who are your comedy role models?
A: I love Kevin Hart, especially old Hart. He talks about family and is amazing at bringing very real and flawed characters to life. I get to see into their world, and it made me laugh about things that were not funny, like death or being poor.
Q: You’ve been compared to Mindy Kaling–what do you think about that?
A: My sister looks more like Mindy Kaling, and she even works at a hospital. The comparison is because Mindy is also south Indian. I have the rounded features and that Dravidian nose. When I was in L.A., people kept looking at me and thinking I was her. Yes, she is skinnier, richer and a great writer–but I have better hair. (laughs)
Q: What are some of the challenges of a career in comedy?
A: I think female comedians are judged a lot more. A male comedian’s jokes are judged less on values and morality than those from a female comedian. If I had joke similar to Russel Peters, for example, he’d still be thought of as more funny. There’s a line that’s there, and it doesn’t go away, but you have to decide that you’re going to cross it and own it. There is a double standard, and you should be aware of it as a female comedian, although it is changing.
Q: What advice do you have for young Asian Americans wanting to pursue a career in comedy?
A: Be really true to yourself, think about what makes you laugh and don’t worry about trying hard to be funny. Find the funny in yourself. The other thing is–do not be afraid of failure. I think that’s something that Asian Americans and south Asians are terrified of. It’s not in our vocabulary–murder would actually be better than failure! (laughs) We are raised to succeed, to not make mistakes. But stand up has taught me to not be afraid of failing, because it’s trial and error and you can only get good when there are lots of failures.
