TanGent Show

Aasif Mandvi is an actor, comedian, writer, and longtime Daily Show correspondent, known for his work on television, film, Broadway, and his one-man show Sakina's Restaurant. His book No Land's Man is a collection of stories about growing up between India, England, and America and finding his way through an acting career while constantly negotiating questions of identity and belonging.

This episode is a little different from the usual Tangent Show because I sat down with Aasif in front of a live audience at JCCSF to talk about the book. We talk about the major inflection points in Aasif's life, from seeing Bugsy Malone as a kid to moving to New York "with eight dollars in his pocket", writing Sakina's Restaurant because the roles he wanted weren't being written, and eventually getting the call from The Daily Show that changed everything for him.

Aasif and I also get into what it means to write honestly about your own life without stealing somebody else's story, the immigrant experience, race and representation, and why South Asian artists are finally getting more opportunities to tell their own stories. And because there was a live audience, we get some questions that you simply cannot manufacture in a studio - including one that Aasif immediately declared was going into his next book as the most absurd question he's ever been asked.

Read Aasif's book "No Land's Man"

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Melanie Chandra is an actress, model, and former Miss India America who made the leap from Stanford mechanical engineering and McKinsey & Company into entertainment. She went on to star in Code Black, appear in The Brink, and build a career across film, television, and modeling.

We get into why awkwardness is actually a pretty useful thing, and her admiration for people who have figured out what genuinely makes them happy. Her answer to "Who has it figured out?" is especially great - not some billionaire or celebrity, but her parents, because they built a simple life around being happy and staying in love.

We touch on the decision that changed Melanie's life: leaving a prestigious consulting career without a Plan B to pursue acting and modeling full-time… Sometimes having a backup plan can become an excuse not to commit. In the end she gives some incredible advice on how to stay true to yourself and figure out what actually makes you tick. Plus, we spend an entirely unreasonable amount of time discussing Pinkberry.

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Azhar Usman is a comedian, actor, writer, and producer best known as one third of Allah Made Me Funny. He's also worked on shows like Ramy, Mo, Ms. Marvel, and Patriot. Before comedy, he somehow managed to become a lawyer.

Azhar and I have been friends and collaborators for years, including co-creating our Make Chai Not War shows, so I knew this conversation was probably not going to stay on the rails... And it really didn't. We started with comedy movies and somehow ended up spending a huge chunk of the episode talking about Stand by Me and why a movie I'd always thought of as a coming-of-age story is, through Azhar's perspective, also a deeply spiritual one.

We get into ego versus arrogance, the difference between confidence and humility, what it means to actually work on yourself. I asked him for a few quick answers at the end, but after spending almost an entire episode on one movie, I probably should have known better.

Watch Azhar's recent comedy film: "The Islamic States of America"

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Janina Gavankar is an actor and musician who has appeared on The L Word, True Blood, The League, and The Gates. She also just starred in the hit movie Best of the Best which recently premiered on Netflix and hit #1 movie in the world on that platform. On top of all of her acting accolades, Janina is also one of those people who seems to have about six completely different careers happening at once. She trained in music, was in a girl group signed to Cash Money Records, became the face of Microsoft's viral Ms. Dewey, and was one of the first actors to get on Twitter.

When Janina and I sat down, I quickly realized that "actor" didn't really cover what we were talking about. We get into why she cares more about being respected for her craft than being famous, and her idea of the "arc of commitment" - knowing when to stop dabbling and really go for something.

We touch on creativity, being afraid to be normal, making music, getting stronger instead of trying to get smaller, and why she thinks everyone should leave people better than they found them. Naturally, we spend a completely reasonable amount of time discussing chai, chocolate, and whether there is such a thing as being a super-taster.

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My guest on this episode is someone I've known my entire life - my mom, Lalita. She taught elementary school for 36 years and, after retiring, somehow decided that sitting around wasn't for her and started teaching Hindi at Miami University. So naturally, I thought I'd bring her on the podcast and find out what she actually thinks about life, work, family, faith, and all the questions I've been asking other people for years.

There's something pretty special about interviewing your mom this way. I knew a lot of her answers already, but hearing her articulate them made me see parts of her life differently. She talks about why family comes first, why she's never really understood the concept of being bored, how she thinks people should choose work they actually enjoy, and why she considers her greatest accomplishment to be seeing her children and students succeed.

One of he most meaningful parts of this conversation comes when she talks about bringing me home from the hospital as a baby and calling it one of the happiest and most miraculous days of her life. That's a pretty good answer to the Groundhog Day question.

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This week I'm talking to an extremely special guest: my brother Vikas. He works in market research and consulting, has an MBA, and is probably the only person I know who can turn a discussion about college into a detailed analysis of why people waste time.

Since we grew up together, there's a lot of shared history here. We talk about growing up in Fairfield, Ohio, why Cincinnati is "okay" but still feels like home, the movies that shaped all three of us brothers, and the study sessions at our parents' house that were supposedly about school but usually involved snacks, ping-pong, and a lot of hanging out. Vikas also gets surprisingly honest about struggling in college, going back for his MBA, and what he learned from having to prove to himself that he could do it.

And then there's why he's terrible at cooking, why he'd happily spend a million dollars traveling and doing nothing, and why our family's shared obsession with movies has apparently turned into a competitive sport. It was fun getting to know my brother a little differently, even after all these years.

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Rakesh Satyal is, most importantly, my brother. But he is also an esteemed author and editor, best known for his novel Blue Boy, a coming-of-age story about a young Indian American boy in the Midwest. He's also spent years working in publishing in New York, bringing together a rather unusual combination of literary brain and pop-culture obsession. Since Rakesh is indeed my brother, I figured I had a little more freedom than usual to ask him the questions I actually wanted answered. We discuss why he thinks manners matter more than people realize, and what it means to have a distinctly "Rakesh" quality in writing—something that can be both highbrow and lowbrow simultaneously. But the conversation gets much bigger than books. We talk about celebrity, history, anxiety, ambition, money, the Internet, and creativity. He also tells one of the best stories I've heard about a drag queen and a pot of red dye.

Pick up one of Rakesh's books!

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Fahim Anwar is a comedian, actor, writer, and former Boeing engineer who went from doing stand-up in Seattle while working in aerospace to performing on Conan, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Comedy Central. He also was a part of Goatface with Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, and Aristotle Athiras, and has appeared in shows like Chuck, The Carmichael Show, and United States of Al.

When Fahim and I sat down, we ended up talking about comedy in a way I really enjoy - not just jokes, but the actual mechanics of doing this weird job. We get into the difference between talent and hustle, why Fahim has a romantic notion of letting the comedy speak for itself, and why he'd rather spend hours quietly grinding at The Comedy Store than handing out flyers on Hollywood Boulevard. Fahim explains why he loves the process of "engineering" a joke (appropriate...) and what a bad show can teach you.

Watch Fahim's new special "Intrusive Thoughts"

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Maz Jobrani is a comedian, actor, writer, and a founding member of the comedy group "Axis of Evil". He's built a career talking about culture, politics, immigration, and family, while also appearing on shows like The Colbert Report, Grey's Anatomy, and Superior Donuts.

Maz and I go all over the place in this conversation, but underneath all the jokes is a pretty consistent question: how do you build a life around the things you actually love? We talk about why he'd happily keep doing comedy and acting even if he had all the money in the world. He touches on the pressure immigrant parents can put on kids to choose a "real" career, and why he thinks more people should find a way to get closer to the things that make them happy.

Maz is remarkably thoughtful about all of it, but he's also exactly the kind of guy who can turn a discussion about finding your purpose into a story about accidentally walking past his mark on The Late Late Show.

Watch Maz's most recent special "The Birds & The Bees"

Get tickets to see Maz live, on tour!

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Sebastian Maniscalco is one of the sharpest observational comedians working today, with a style built around turning everyday annoyances into very specific, very funny outrage. He's gone on to star in films like Green Book and The Irishman, release multiple stand-up specials, and become one of the biggest live comedy acts in the world.

When Sebastian and I sat down, I was fascinated by how much of his comedy really does come from simply living his life. He talks about constantly turning new experiences into material and the difference between being funny and actually being good at stand-up. We also get into what makes a comedian's voice distinct and the particular art of letting a joke breathe.

Naturally, we get into what pisses Sebastian off. Cheap people. Bad customer service. People staring at their phones instead of interacting with the humans standing right in front of them. Somewhere in there, the conversation turns into a much bigger discussion about manners, work ethic, immigration, and whether being accessible has replaced being mysterious.

Watch Sebastian's most recent standup special "It Ain't Right" on Hulu

Catch Sebastian on tour!

Pick up some of Sebastian's merch!

Listen to Sebastian's Podcast "Pete & Sebastian Show"

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