[INTERVIEW] Aziz Ansari
photo: lisa ackerman[Aziz Ansari is an amazing comic out of New York. I kept seeing his name all over the UCB Theatre schedule mailing list and was curious about him. I then got the Invite Them Up CD and was thrilled to see that he was on there. And he was hilarious too! It’s not every day you get to hear a comedian be funny. Comedians historically have not been funny. He breaks the mold. He’s got a website Azizisbored.com where you can see all of the videos he’s made and be kept up to date with his schedule. He’s just recently been on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and now he’s here, on my site, to give you the straight dope - as opposed to a crooked dope?]
The Game Rag: Aziz Ansari. Bio. Now.
Aziz Ansari: Originally from South Carolina, Aziz Ansari is a standup comedian based in New York City. Rolling Stone recently included him in their annual “Hot List” as their choice for the “Hot Standup.” New York Magazine also included him in the list of the “10 Funniest People You’ve Never Heard of, But Should of.”
This summer he will appear in the Todd Phillips/Scot Armstrong feature School for Scoundrels with Billy Bob Thorton and Jon Heder. He has appeared on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and occasionally does commentary for VH1’s Best Week Ever.
Together with Rob Huebel (”Curb Your Enthusiasm, “Arrested Development”), Paul Scheer (”Best Week Ever”), and director Jason Woliner (Weekend at Bernie’s, “Shining Time Station”) - he is part of the short film collective known as the Human Giant. The group produced the much acclaimed short film series “Shutterbugs” and also the forthcoming “Illusionators.” You can see those and other films at his website azizisbored.com.
On Mondays, he hosts the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre’s popular standup show, “Crash Test.”
He also has a tough time finding a middle ground between modesty and arrogance when writing his bios.
TGR: How much time do you devote to writing comedy?
AA: Hard to put a time frame on actual writing. As far as standup, I write whenever something happens to me or I just randomly think of something I think can be good for standup. For things like “Shutterbugs” or “Illusionators,” it varies. We improvise a lot of stuff and we usually are pretty loose with the script.
TGR: How much time do you devote to critiquing R. Kelly?
AA: “Trapped in the Closet” is one of the most interesting pieces of pop culture I’ve ever seen. After doing the live show in LA with Paul Scheer, we met Drevon (who played “Big Man” the midget), the actress who played Bridget, and 2 of the producers. It was pretty cool. Their R. Kelly stories are insane. One time Kels [R. Kelly] threw a party and people walked in and were like “Wow, this classical music is really loud!” They looked up and Kels had rented a full orchestra to play on his balcony. There was also a large cake shaped like a camera that Drevon (the midget) fell into. Kels also takes his tour bus wherever he goes (e.g, if Robert wants to go to Starbucks, he goes in his tour bus.)
TGR: How important has the internet been for your career?
AA: The internet has been great in that its let me spread around things like “Shutterbugs” to people all over. Its cool to be able to make something like that and share it with anyone on the internet. It’s great that people can check out my work, even if they don’t live in NY or LA.
TGR: Is it hard to do jokes (that everyone will get) about the music you like because of it’s “underground” nature?
AA: Well, I try to make the punchlines of the joke work even if someone isn’t familiar with what I’m talking about. That applies if I’m talking about M.I.A. or America’s Most Talented Kids (my latest TV obsession). We recently shot some videos for this indie rock award show, and there are more insider-y jokes in that. But whats great about the internet, is I can just send those to indie rock blogs and I know they’ll catch the jokes.
TGR: Did you grow up with video games? or was it just something that your friends had?
AA: I had a NES, Genesis, N64, and Dreamcast.
TGR: Favorite Soul Calibur character?
AA: I guess it’d have to be Kilik, even though he’s kind of an all around good character. People give you shit if you use the kind of normal, all around good characters. But really, does anyone like using someone weird like Voldo?
TGR: What’s up next for Double A?
AA: Producing more shorts with Human Giant (me, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and Jason Woliner) and releasing “Illusionators,” our new short about Paul and I being the greatest magicians that ever lived.