The Funny Indian Newsletter, Vol. 226
July 2025: That Was a Cold Play
Welcome
Welcome to The Funny Indian Newsletter!
Ozzy & Hulk in the same week? PoC - Please give your White friends a hug.
Here are my (other) Musings and Updates…
Musings
Crowd Work
Tuesday night was the turning point.
Flashback to three weeks ago. I’m on a video call with the New Delhi-based social media agency I recently hired.
“Rajiv, we have enough of your evergreen material to last for several months. But is there any way you can record a new hour in a couple of weeks and send it to us?”
“Um, DAVE CHAPPELLE can’t record a new hour in a couple of weeks. But I am from Ohio, too. So let me see what I can do.”
I call up Aaron Mliner, who founded and runs The Nitecap, a small but mighty comedy club a 10-min walk from my Burbank house.
We pick July 15 and I start to promote. With its square footage and low ceilings, it’s the kind of room in which you can place 15 people and it’ll feel packed, especially if you’re planning to film with four cameras. Once we hit about 30 tickets sold, I ostensibly stop promoting.
For the first few years of their careers, many comedians hear, “You’re funnier than your material.” It takes most of us at least 10 years to “find our voice.” Louis C.K. (Rest in Peace) explained it to our mutual friend Bonnie Mcfarlane this way: “Once I found my voice, everything became material.” It’s your point-of-view, your turn of phrase, your way of putting things. So, my own delivery of my own material coalesced and I became as funny onstage as offstage.
But… as many of you consumers of comedy know, when a comedian comes up with something in the moment shows you how funny we REALLY are. Some standup purists might disagree—but the audience’s reactions will prove you wrong.
I marketed the show with this line:
"I told my social media agency I'm the best crowd-work comedian in the world. They said, 'Prove it.' I will."
So, how’d it go? Well, Aaron truly set me up to win. The vibe at The Nitecap is great: the outdoor bar, the old-school Pepsi vending machine, the lights… and he did a wonderful job of bringing me to the stage—and booking four rock-solid comics who did a total of 30 minutes before I even came up. Two women, one of whom is bisexual. Not that we’re only our identities, but that’s exactly what the Left and the Right have taught us in this country. We are only our identities. Nothing else.
ANYway… When Aaron asked me at what point I want my “light,” I stammered, “I really don’t know. I have no idea how this is gonna go. I’m taking 7 minutes of material up there for what I hope is a 90-minute set. Light me at 45 because I need to give ‘em at least that. Then again at 60 and 75, if needed.”
After 88 minutes, Aaron finally gave me the stop signal. Not because the crowd was done—they couldn’t have been more supportive—but because, well, an hour and a half is enough. And even though each individual person was “here for it,” you never know what the vibe is gonna be. It was incredible. And so I am super duper grateful.
How will the recording turn out? I hope it’s amazing.
Will the clips go viral? The agency has so little control over that, even if they know a bit about algorithms.
Will my follower count increase? Time will tell.
Will my bookings and rates go up? Only potential buyers (will) know that.
But here’s what I do know: I’d wanted to do an all-crowd-work set for over a decade, well before it became the primary standup art form people scroll through on Instagram and TikTok. I’ve seen most comics’ crowd work and I think it’s garbage. They go for the easy, surface-level joke. They don't have the patience, the confidence, and the skill to lay in the cut, let the track breathe, and sit in the discomfort so you can get to the real gold.
I’ve long claimed I can do better. I hardly practiced. I pulled a Rajiv: call everyone you know to watch you do something you’ve never done before. And I believe I nailed it. I followed the age-old advice: Just Be Yourself.
In a game where craft is everything, that’s the metric I’m using for success.
Of course, I love writing, and I'll continue to do so. But the ability to walk up there and sling it? I just made my job (and therefore my life) much easier.
Thank God for my family, friends, The Nitecap, and #standupcomedy.
What are YOU doing to make yourself better? When's the last time you tried something for the first time? Would love to hear your stories.
Updates
See
Future:
09/20: Hindu American Foundation (Sacramento, CA)
09/27: Akshaya Patra (Las Vegas, NV)
Past:
07/15: Crowd Work @ The Nitecap (Burbank, CA)
07/17: Shaheen & Riyaz’s 25th Anniversary Party (Chino Hills, CA)
Like
This is nuts. I posted this Friday and it got 10K+ likes by the end of the weekend.
Watch
The last man to walk into the scene is Conan’s head writer. He emailed a few of us to be in this sketch. Random but fun. Shot it a few weeks ago in Toluca Lake. Contains some strong language. I’ve long said I’m TV-clean. You can now say the S-word on TV. I don’t drop any F-bombs but others do. Enjoy!
Watch
Hit me with a feel-good example of how someone helped BUILD COMMUNITY near you. How are YOU doing so? We need it more than ever.
Watch
I’ve seen the majority of The New York Times’ Top 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century. Here’s my take.
Watch
Do Brown people not support other Brown people for office? (So what do they do in India?) (And Pakistan, etc.?) #zohran
Like
Laugh
Since this is a FUNNY Indian Newsletter, I present here the 5 funny things that I saw, heard, wrote, or remembered for the last month... otherwise known as FIVE - Funny Indian's V Events. Enjoy.
Wow. This DOES hit deep. He’ll always be Al Bundy to me.
I don’t think we can legally send this without a reference to the Coldplay Kiss Cam. The Phillies had some fun with it.
A little bit #NSFW but the turn is hilarious.
Sorry, ladies. Been married a decade this week. It’s true. If it doesn’t load, scroll to the first comment.
Shane Gillis is polarizing but his ESPYs monologue was great.
Close
THANK YOU to all of you for your support. You are my true core of fans — I couldn't do this without you.
Love,
- Rajiv