The Indian Private Party

Tapan (the Indian Comedian) asks if I am up for doing a birthday gig for an Indian family. They will pay. I have never worked with Tapan before but I have heard he is very funny and I want to work with him. I am a little weary of Indian birthday gigs in restaurants. I did one last year and had kids screaming around the stage the entire time. On top of that I had to follow a belly dancer! Guess who the audience remembered. The consolation was the money.

Tapan is persuasive and the money is good, so I agree to make the trip down to Milpitas, CA. My poor Ford Focus! The entire way down it rains and I get lost, but I finally find the small plaza in Milpitas that has been taken over by Indian restaurants and shops. The shopping plaza concept is great, you can setup little India, little Italy, little China in plazas. Commercial segregation and variety. Such is America.

In little India the audience is all Indian, but very attentive. There are kids but they are either listening or playing with their balloons. My routine is supposed to be PG, so I strip out every single sex joke. There is a baby poo joke, and I leave that in.

The show is a blast. I set it up well and then Tapan takes it home. Afterwards some of the audience talks to us. I collect my paycheck and drive home, satisfied!

I reflect back and realize that if I write for the Indian audience, my experience in America is a Goldmine. It's because I have the same viewpoint as they do. When an American comic makes fun of an Indian accent and people laugh, it's because they share an experience of the Indian accent. But I can't go to an American audience and make fun of an American accent. There is no shared experience. With an Indian audience, sky's the limit.