Hari Kondabolu: Jokes and Conversations

Hari Kondabolu begins his final semester as the A/P/A Institute at NYU Artist-in-Residence by performing new material developed during his residency alongside friends and fellow comedians Sabrina Jalees (Last Comic Standing, MTV’s Failosophy), Aparna Nancherla (Conan, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell), and Ali Wong (Tonight Show, Writer for Fresh Off the Boat).

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Hari Kondabolu is a Brooklyn-based, Queens-raised comic who has performed on the Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He released his debut stand-up comedy album Waiting for 2042 in March 2014. Kondabolu was most recently a writer and correspondent for the Chris Rock-produced FX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.  A former immigrants rights organizer, he is the 2014-15 A/P/A Institute at NYU Artist-in-Residence.

Aparna Nancherla has an intimidating name, but don’t be scared! She’s a joke entrepreneur who peddles in both writing and performance (AKA scribble-scrabble and jibber-jabber). In fact, she most recently wrote for and sometimes appeared on the late, great Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, on FX-then-FXX. Her artistic journey took off in Washington, DC (it’s all about the Washingtons), but she now resides in the biggest apple in the gosh darn world. Aparna’s comedic goggles are dry and observational, and her act is sprinkled with absurdist wit and a whimsical point of view. Other credits include Conan on TBS, @midnight and Adam Devine’s House Party on Comedy Central, VH1’s I Love the 2000s, Time magazine‘s “140 Top Tweeters of 2014,” LA Weekly’s “12 Comedy Acts to Watch,” and Serial Optimist’s “10 Comics You Must Know.”

Sabrina Jalees is a comedian, actor, keynote speaker, and writer based in New York City. Since stepping onto the stage of Toronto’s Yuk Yuk’s amateur night at 16, she’s become one of the most recognizable faces in the Canadian media. Lovers of comedy were immediately intrigued by the ½ -Pakistani, ½ -Swiss teen’s humor (…mostly because she was so damned clever and admittedly, partially due to her moustache at the time). Going on to record a CTV Comedy Now special, perform at the famed Just For Laughs Festival and break Mike Myers’ record as the youngest improviser ever hired by Second City. Between now and then she’s crossed over into acting (CBS’s Flashpoint, Lifetime’s Mom at Sixteen), hosts a Canadian reality series (YTV’s In Real Life) as well as a national radio show (CBC’s Laugh Out Loud) and is best known for her rapier wit as a fixture of the most popular show on Canada’s version of MTV (Much Music’s Video On Trial). She’s turned some important heads (NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Logo’s Year End Review, Animal Planet’s The A-List, MTV’s Failosophy) and she’s working on turning a few more (i.e. You). Check out her website (…if you don’t like her you’re probably racist).

Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian living in Los Angeles. After SF Weekly selected her as “The Best Comedian of 2009″ and the SF Bay Guardian awarded her “Best of the Bay,” she decided that it was finally time to depart her hometown. In 2010, Comedy Central listed Ali Wong as one of 7 “Comic’s to Watch.” In 2011, Variety Magazine named her as one of the “10 Comics to Watch” , and Ali appeared in the 2011 and 2012 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, QC. Since then, Ali has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the new season of John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show, appeared in Oliver Stone’s Savages and was a series regular on NBC’s Are You There Chelsea.  In 2012, she hosted the Golden Globes live coverage on E! You can catch her on Chris Hardwick’s late-night game show @Midnight, the new season of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy, and as Lina Lark on the upcoming ABC drama Black Box.

Photo of Hari Kondabolu by Yoon Kim.