Unapologetically Brown

Hari Kondabolu is among a growing breed of assertive, political, south Asian comics taking the world by storm.

- Vaisakh E.Hari

In the Netflix special Warn Your Relatives, comedian Hari Kondabolu shadowboxes on stage, figuratively. The bespectacled second generation Indian origin entertainer does not display any tic. Unlike Dave Chappelle, he does not rub his fingers over his mouth, eyes lost in a distant dream, before he launches into a polemic that inevitably draws first blood. Unlike his contemporary John Mulaney, the shadow of a snigger does not flash across his face before his devilish tongue spritzes into action. Unlike Chris Rock, he does not rave and rant like a preacher gone rogue.

Kondabolu’s work is more a game of hide and seek with the audience. With a straight face, he launches into jokes about his heritage—population in India and controlling parents (“It is important that I know how many people are here, because my father will ask me after the show how many people showed up. Being from India, a crowd of 800 would not impress them.”). But, the tone changes at the speed of light, as he shuttles between 9/11 jokes, race, politics, and god masturbating to gay men, peppered with Jonathan Swift and Kurt Vonnegut references. Kondabolu remains elusive, always keeping the audience at an arm’s length, as he shifts lightning fast between conflicting identities. One second, he is the nerd; the next, the cool guy. One second, he is the victim; the next, the villain. Is it so important that he not be pigeonholed? “I want to control how I am viewed, how I am defined. You are gonna make fun of me, but it will be based on what I tell you,” he says.