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Padma Lakshmihas emerged as an unlikely curator of comedy.
The event raised almost $20,000 for theMovement Voter Project.
It also endeared Lakshmi to the Whos Who of New York comedy.
I paid them in pizza and Champagne, Lakshmi told Vulture.
So Ill probably do that again this year.
That seemed to work well.
Hot tip: When Padma Lakshmi wants to win the favor of comics, she goes to Robertas.
I remember listening to that album [so much] that I knew it verbatim.
And I really have a lot of admiration for comedy.
Its the hardest art form, as a performer.
Why is that?Because every crowd is different, and comedy is subjective.
And its just a scary thing to be up there with nothing but your words.
Were hearing more jokes and funny stories about the diversity of life.
But on the other hand, she found opportunities to laugh at herself in her comedy.
And yet she mentions [his Harvard degree] so many times.
Oh God, thats so true.Rather than saying I went to school in Boston.
Cambridge, I guess, would give it away too.
It could be MIT, but thats a brag too.
As another Asian person, I really identified with a lot of her comedy.
All of those things appeal to me.
Some comedians, like Patton Oswalt, are really into food and are big fans of chefs.
Whats it like to be between those two worlds of mutual admiration?Its a kick.
Ive always admired comics.
I admire anyone whos witty.
When someone calls me funny, its a much greater compliment than when someone calls me pretty.
I always say that beauty is skin-deep, but boring is to the bone.
you could do something about pretty, but someone whos dull you really cant do anything about.
That was a huge coup for me.
I think its much harder to be a comic than it is to be a chef.
Obviously, its physically draining to be a chef.
What role hassocial mediaplayed in your comedy discoveries?
Are you finding a lot of people on Twitter?Some of them.
Benito Skinner, I had seen mostly on Instagram.
I think he goes by@BennyDRAMA7, and for a long time I just called him Benny Drama.
I had no idea what his last name was.
I think shes fantastic.
Shes really funny, and she plays this kind of archetypical opinionated African-American woman fantastically.
She cracks me up.Pat ReganI find really funny and offbeat.
I want to give you an opportunity to weigh in on some recent comedy controversies.
First, the intersection of cabaret and comedy.
So, is singing comedy?Singing absolutely can be comedy.
When I sing, its pretty darn funny.
And not in a good way.
I think thats totally fine.
Comedy is whatever inspires laughter.
I dont think anybody should be miffed.
Being miffed about something tells me that you feel left out of it or youre not able to compete.
But I dont want to slag off anybody.
Theres always that question of what is or is not stand-up comedy.
Yeah, people laughed.Then its comedy.
I dont think of myself as funny.
I think that I make a run at be funny.
You have to ensure the self-deprecation is authentic and not false modesty.
Because truth is funny.
Theres humor in truth, theres humor in pathos, but it has to be authentic.
A lot of the people that seem to excite you do self-aggrandizing humor.
I think thats whyLizzo is having a moment, too.
Its not just in comedy.
In our writing, or our comedy, or our music whatever forms we work in.
A little birdie told me youtook UCB classesa while back.Yes!
Yes, I did.
And Ive been meaning to go back.
My schedule is kind of topped up until January.
Im really wanting to go back.
So a few years ago, I just sort of enrolled myself.
And I got past the first three weekly intensives.
I think I did even perform; it was so much fun.
Recently,I didASSSCAT, and that was really fun too.
There, I just had to be a raconteur and tell a story.
And then they riffed with their improv based on two or three words from what I said.
It was so much fun.
