Desi Making Waves

By Beejal Patel

A Traditional Indian...Comedienne?

Comedian Vijai Nathan always knew she was a performer at heart. After a five-year struggle, working odd jobs, and odd hours, Nathan has transformed herself into a one woman show, in high demand, traveling the world and making audiences of all types laugh.

For Nathan, every topic is on the table, from religion and politics to sex and racism - all from the perspective of an Indian American woman with the experience of growing up in a traditional Indian family.
In fact, she says, it was her experience with racism that fueled her passion to explore a career as a comedian.

“I dealt with racism while growing up and I was brought up not to fight back, because my parents were worried something worse would happen,” Nathan says. “So I held this all in and never stood up for myself. One of the reasons I was drawn to standup, is I could confront racists through comedy.”

It’s like putting a little sugar in someone’s medicine, Nathan says. Here is a taste of one of her classic jokes during a performance at a steakhouse in West Virginia.

“At the end of my show, a guy shouts out, ‘Keep it going for the Cherokee.” So, Nathan cleverly replies, “Sir, I’m not the kind of Indian with the bows and arrows. I’m the kind with unlimited access to nuclear weaponry.”

Sure it’s a great comeback, but Nathan doesn’t hear the laughs all the time. There are stretches, though rarely, that people just don’t get it. “You just have to get through those times,” Nathan says. “There are times when you can perform for 20 minutes and no one is laughing. Sometimes you can tell, it might be your material, or it might be that audience isn’t a big laughing audience.”

Breaking them in is a challenge, Nathan says. But there’s nothing that she can’t handle, after what she’s been through.

Nathan admits it has been a tough road. In 1997, Nathan quit her job as a copy editor at the Baltimore Sun newspaper, a move that shocked her parents.

“I wasn’t really happy with what I was doing,” Nathan says. “I felt like I wanted to say something and do something that meant something to me.” After taking a comedy class, people told her “you're so funny, you’ll be the next Margaret Cho.” That was all the boost she needed to pursue her dream.

For a few years, Nathan worked as a waitress, then moved to New York and found a receptionist job while doing standup comedy at night. Those years were difficult, but Nathan’s family became her backbone. “There were a lot of times I was not making a lot of money,” Nathan says. “My family would help me.”

There were even plenty of times she thought about quitting, but Nathan says, her father encouraged her to keep going. “They saw how much comedy made me happy, and how happy I made other people.”

Within the last year and a half, Nathan’s comedy career has taken off. She has performed at theaters around the world, from South Africa to Topeka, Kansas. She also performs for colleges, universities, and Indian crowds.

A long road traveled considering she came from a traditional Indian family, with two sisters--one is a doctor and the other is a lawyer. But, Nathan says, she was always the person who never did the traditional thing, and now, it’s all paying off.

Vijai Nathan’s latest show is called “Good Girls Don’t, But Indian Girls Do.”

For more information on how to bring Nathan to your city, visit her website at www.vijaicomedy.com.

Beejal Patel works as a reporter at KATV in Little Rock. She is a graduate of University of Missouri with degrees in Political Science and Broadcast Journalism. Beejal has worked at television stations in Missouri, and Texas. She is originally from the Chicago area.

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