Childhood trauma shapes us in different ways. For some people, it’s a lifelong source of pain. But others, like comedian Mona Shaikh, seem to use it as a source of strength – not to mention laughs. 

Today, Mona joins me for a wild conversation about the funny side of life (being catfished by a fake Indian finance bro in LA who turned out to be lying about his identity for reasons you won’t believe) and the not so funny (Mona’s childhood abuse, her brothers’ battle with polio and her rocky relationship with her parents).

 

“As you get older, there's a turning point where you're like, my parents are just fucking people who did the best they could. They did the best they could with all their issues and all their traumas. And don't get me wrong. I am super grateful to my mom, to my dad for bringing us to America, for giving us good education, even all the fucked-upness they gave us. I'm grateful for it. Right? ’Cause I chose to take all that shit and turn it into gold. Turn it into something good. You have to.” – Mona

 

Mona also shares about why she incorporates her trauma into her act, the challenges of being a woman in comedy, what needs to change about the American approach to mental health and how 15 years of therapy saved her life.

 

“The greatest gift you'll ever give to yourself is to learn to be alone. It's the single greatest gift you'll ever give yourself. There is no greater gift than the power of sitting alone in your thoughts and sitting with your pain and your trauma and all the fucking mess, just sitting with it and saying, ‘I'm gonna find my way out of this. I'm gonna go to therapy. I'm gonna do self-help, I'm gonna work out whatever the fuck it takes, but I'm gonna carve my way out of this and I'm gonna make a life for myself.’” – Mona

 

In This Episode

• (02:47) How Mona got her start in comedy and whether she still gets nervous performing
• (09:42) Mona’s experience emigrating from Pakistan to the U.S. in high school
• (14:59) Self-hatred, the Kardashians, and “f*cking your way to the top” 
• (19:03) Getting catfished on dating apps by a Pakistani Jewish witch with a federal indictment against him
• (34:04) Beating up a classmate for making fun of her brothers with polio
• (42:51 ) The state of mental health and the predominance of gun violence in the U.S.
• (48:27) Mona’s complicated relationship with her mother, and owning your trauma
• (56:36) Using her childhood trauma in her act, and being a woman in comedy
• (1:15:08) How therapy saved Mona’s life

 

Our Guest

Stand-up comedian, host, and actor Mona Shaikh grew up in Pakistan and started her comedy career after moving to New York. 

Mona has headlined The Laugh Factory, where she became the first Pakistani female comedian to win the venue’s Funniest Person in the World Competition, and is a regular at major LA comedy clubs including The Comedy Story, Flappers Comedy Club, Ice House Pasadena, and more. She also made history when she became the first Pakistani female comedian to headline Hollywood Improv.

Mona can be seen regularly on The Young Turks, The Stephanie Miller Show on SiriusXM and Mo’Kelly Show on IHeartRadio. 

 

Resources & Links

Off The Cuff

• https://www.offthecuff.fm/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/OffTheCuffwithDannyLoPriore
• https://www.instagram.com/1and1otc/
• https://www.instagram.com/dannylopriore/

Mona Shaikh

• https://monashaikh.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/monascomedy/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/monashaikh
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKmhSCKQoNjYxb0VFrzpPzQ
• https://twitter.com/monascomedy/
• https://www.facebook.com/monashaikhcomedian