Hari Kondabolu

Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu[1] (Telugu: హరి కొండబోలు; born October 21, 1982)[2][3] is an American stand-up comic, actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and the creator of the 2017 documentary film The Problem with Apu.

Hari Kondabolu
Kondabolu in 2016
Birth nameHari Karthikeya Kondabolu
Born (1982-10-21) October 21, 1982
New York City, New York, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, podcasts
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Years active2000s–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Relative(s)Ashok Kondabolu (brother)
Websiteharikondabolu.com

Early life and family

Kondabolu was born October 21, 1982 in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, to Uma and Ravi Kondabolu,[2] who had immigrated from the city of Tenali in the Coastal Andhra region of South India.[4][5] His mother was previously a physician in India, and both parents became the heads of New York area medical labs. Ravi Kondabolu had immigrated to the United States in 1978.[6]

Kondabolu attended public schools in Queens: PS 69 in Jackson Heights, PS 115 in Floral Park, MS 172 in Floral Park,[7][8] and Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, where he graduated in 2000.

Kondabolu is the older brother of rapper Ashok Kondabolu, who is a former member of the group Das Racist.

Education

Kondabolu continued performing standup when he attended Bowdoin College; he called his years at Bowdoin "incredibly formative"[9] and continues to spend part of every year in Maine.[10] He studied at Wesleyan University during his third year, focusing on identity and race, globalization, and "the impact of popular culture on society."[11]

Although his stand-up comedy career was gaining traction in 2007, he was accepted to the Masters in Human Rights program at the London School of Economics in 2007, and thus took a hiatus year from stand-up to earn his MSc.[12][13][14]

Stand-up comedy

While in Seattle, Kondabolu began participating in its alternative comedy scene.[4][15] His act included "a bit where I used to read the U.S. citizenship application onstage."[16] In 2006, Kondabolu performed at the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle, which he credits as his "big break," as a booker for HBO's Comedy Festival saw his name on the Bumbershoot website.[17] Later, Kondabolu also filmed "Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives" in Seattle.[18][19][20]

Kondabolu on stage in 2017

Kondabolu has since made numerous television appearances as a stand-up comic. His first notable television appearance was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2007, when he also began to appear in a variety of national comedy festivals, including the 2007 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival.[21] In October 2012, he performed stand-up on an episode of Conan and, in March 2014, he performed stand-up on The Late Show with David Letterman. He has made several appearances on Comedy Central, including a 2008 episode of Live at Gotham,[22] three episodes of John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show in 2010 and 2012,[23][24][25] and most prominently, his own episode of Comedy Central Presents which aired on February 11, 2011.[26] He has also appeared a number of times on British television, including on Russell Howard's Good News in 2011 and 8 out of 10 Cats in 2012. In 2012, he had a recurring sketch as part of BBC Three's Live at the Electric hosted by Russell Kane.[27] He has also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival[28] and was a featured comedian for the US State Department-sponsored "Make Chai Not War" comedy showcase in India in 2012.[29][30]

From 2012 to 2013, he was on the writing staff for the FX comedy series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, produced by Chris Rock and hosted by W. Kamau Bell, on which he often appeared as a correspondent.

His first stand-up comedy album, Waiting for 2042, was released in March 2014 on Kill Rock Stars.[31]

His second comedy album, Mainstream American Comic, was released on July 22, 2016 on Kill Rock Stars.[32][33] It debuted at #1 on the iTunes US comedy charts[34] and at #2 on the Billboard comedy charts.[35]

Since 2017, Kondabolu has served as a panelist on the NPR comedy news quiz Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.[36]

In 2018, he spoke about his experience of teaching a workshop at the Columbia River Correctional Institute Comedy School in North Portland as a guest on Live Wire! Radio.[37]

Themes

Kondabolu's humor often centers on social issues such as poverty, racism, and a rejection of Indian stereotypes seen in media. He has spoken about the challenges of dealing with white fragility when addressing race in his comedy.[38] He has also addressed a variety of other social subjects, such as the LGBT community.

Podcast host

Kondabolu and his younger brother Ashok performed in a monthly, mostly improvised talk show together in New York City called Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Project. Past guests have included Ajay Naidu, Aasif Mandvi, Bell, Leo Allen, Victor Vazquez (Kool AD of Das Racist), Charles Mudede and Blue Scholars. In January 2013, they started Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Podcast.[39] After a hiatus from 2015 onwards, the podcast debuted again as the Kondabolu Brothers Podcast in 2018 on the Earwolf label.[40][41]

He is a co-host of the podcast Politically Re-Active with Bell, which debuted in June 2016.[42] He also debuted as a rotating host on The Bugle alongside Andy Zaltzman in the fall of 2016 after the departure of John Oliver.[43][44]

Acting and film

Kondabolu wrote and starred in Zia Mohajerjasbi's 2007 short film Manoj,[45] which has played in comedy and film festivals around the world, including the Just for Laughs Festivals in Montreal and Chicago, and which mocks comedians who broadly exploit their ethnic backgrounds for their material.[46] In Manoj , Kondabolu portrays both Manoj, a fictional Indian immigrant comic who plays to white audiences by repeating their stereotypes of South Asians, and an Indian-American who is critical of Manoj's approach.

Kondabolu portrayed "Crossword Businessman" in the 2009 film All About Steve,[47] a movie he mocks in Mainstream American Comic.[48] He also played a supporting role in the 2016 film Five Nights in Maine,[49] although none of his scenes were included in the final 75-minute cut of the film.[50][51] Also in 2016, he appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in the Comedy Central web series White Flight.[52]

Kondabolu is the lead, creator, and executive director of The Problem with Apu, a documentary about the character Apu from The Simpsons that premiered in November 2017 on TruTV.[53][54] The film contextualizes Apu within minstrelsy and other tropes in American pop culture history that have historically stereotyped minorities.[55][56]

See also

Discography
  • Waiting for 2042 (2014)
  • Mainstream American Comic (2016)
  • The Best (Worst) Of The Bugle With Andy (Redacted) Zaltzman And Guest(s) (2017)
  • Hari Kondabolu's New Material Night: Volume 1 (recorded 2012, released 2017)[57]
  • Hari Kondabolu's New Material Night: Volume 2 (2020)

References
  1. Beem, Edgar Allen (Summer 2011). "Stand Up With a Social Conscience" (PDF). Bowdoin. 82 (2). Maine: Bowdoin College. p. 39. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  2. Beem, p. 38
  3. Zaltzman, Andrew; Kondabolu, Hari (2018-10-19). "Hari Kondabolu Day: Bugle 4084". The Bugle (Podcast). Event occurs at 11:04. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  4. "Bklynr | Hari Kondabolu Walks Into a Bar". bklynr.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  5. Sharma, Neha (2012-04-20). "The Small Town South Indian Boys Of New York". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  6. Bertrand, Donald (1998-10-05). "Metro People in Profile: Ravi Kumar Kondabolu, Chief Technologist, New York Flushing Hospital". New York Daily News. p. 4 – via Proquest. Then came word in 1992 that the Indian government planned to use the Wyra acreage for other purposes. "My brother and I rushed back to India and offered our own money to start the college," he said. In 1994, Kondabolu Venkaiaah Choudary Memorial began in rented quarters with only 28 students. ... Ravi, who lives in Jamaica Estates, said he works long hours as chief technologist in the cardiology department of New York Flushing Hospital in an effort to send at least $15,000 annually back to India to support the college.
  7. Kondabolu, Hari (2015-10-01). "Noteworthy graduates: Hari Kondabolu, comedian". United Federation of Teachers. New York Teacher. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  8. "WELCOME - Irwin Altman Middle School 172 - Q172 - New York City Department of Education". schools.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  9. O'Donnell, Matt (2015-07-06). "Leaving the 'Late Show'". community.bowdoin.edu. Bowdoin News. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  10. Hari Kondabolu Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. SFstandup.com, 15 October 2008. By Nato Green. Retrieved 27 Dec. 2011.
  11. "Interning with Senators". News India - Times. 2003-07-25. p. 21 – via Proquest.
  12. "Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU | Hari Kondabolu (2014-2015)". www.nyu-apastudies.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  13. "Degrees Awarded in Autumn 2008" (PDF). LSE Digest. The London School of Economics and Political Science: 76. 1 August 2007 – 31 July 2008. Retrieved 2016-08-05. MSc in Human Rights: ... Merit ... Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu
  14. Blair, Elizabeth (July 18, 2013). "Comedian Hari Kondabolu On Diversity, Race And Burger King". NPR.
  15. "Bio — Hari Kondabolu". www.harikondabolu.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  16. Gross, Terry (2014-04-21). "For Comic Hari Kondabolu, Explaining The Joke IS The Joke". National Public Radio. Fresh Air. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  17. Chitnis, Deepak (2014-03-04). "Growing up I'd tell people, even other Indians, that I was Telugu and they would have no idea what that meant: Hari Kondabolu". The American Bazaar. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  18. "In Warn Your Relatives, Hari Kondabolu Steps into the Spotlight and Nails It". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  19. Adams, Erik. "Hari Kondabolu gives you more to think about in Warn Your Relatives". TV Club. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  20. Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari. "Warn Your Relatives: Hari Kondabolu's new special is best when it's at its simplest". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  21. Scanlon, T. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Human Rights Master's Degree", Seattle Times, July 24, 2007
  22. "Live at Gotham". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  23. "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show: Season 1, Episode 2". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  24. "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show: Season 3, Episode 1". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  25. "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show: Season 3, Episode 5". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  26. "'COMEDY CENTRAL Presents' is Back! Featuring Today's Best and Brightest Stand-Up Talent, the 15th Season Premieres Friday, January 21 at 11:00 p.m." news.sys-con.com. PR Newswire. 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2016-08-05. Fresh new episodes from this season will include stand-up performances from Jack Whitehall, Al Jackson, Chelsea Peretti, Chris D'Elia, Hari Kondabolu, Jay Larson, Jessi Klein, Kyle Kinane, Louis Katz, Matt Fulchiron, Mike Vecchione, Natasha Leggero, Nate Bargatze and Sheng Wang.
  27. "Live at the Electric: Hari Kondabolu". BBC. Archived from the original on April 22, 2013.
  28. Hari Kondabolu (October 17, 2011). "Das Racist Cover Story: These Colors Don't Run". Spin. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  29. "State Department Sends 'Chai' Comedy Tour To India". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  30. "American Center Kolkata Bulletin" (PDF). The US State Department. January 2012. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  31. "Comedy Listings for March 14–20". The New York Times. March 13, 2014.
  32. "Hari Kondabolu's New Album 'Mainstream American Comic' Is Out Next Month". 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  33. Marah Eakin (June 6, 2016). "Exclusive: Hari Kondabolu announces new record, premieres first track". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  34. "Hari Kondabolu on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  35. "Comedy Albums: Top Stand-up Comedy Chart". Billboard. August 22, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  36. https://stats.wwdt.me/panelists/hari-kondabolu
  37. ""Fresh Starts" with Gary Shteyngart, Hari Kondabolu, Maxine McCormick, and Lenore | Live Wire Radio". www.livewireradio.org. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  38. "Hari Kondabolu Says His Mom Is Hilarious — And Not Because Of Her Accent". NPR. 2016-09-16.
  39. "Kondabolu Brothers". www.kondabolubrothers.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  40. Kondabolu, Hari (4 Mar 2018). "The Kondabolu Brothers Podcast debuts THIS THURSDAY MARCH 8TH on @earwolf". @harikondabolu. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  41. "Kondabolu Brothers podcast on Earwolf". www.earwolf.com. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  42. "Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell & Hari Kondabolu". www.stitcher.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  43. "Hari Kondabolu on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  44. "VIB - Very Important Bugle". Soundcloud. The Bugle podcast. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  45. Mohajerjasbi, Zia (2008-09-24). "MANOJ". Vimeo. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  46. "MANOJ KRISHNAMURTHY IS DEAD — Hari Kondabolu". www.harikondabolu.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  47. "All About Steve - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  48. "A Special Blend of South Asian Humor". Mainstream American Comic (Comedy album). Kill Rock Stars. 2016-07-22.
  49. "Five Nights in Maine (2016)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  50. Kruse, Andy. "Episode #31: Hari Kondabolu". Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  51. "Five Nights In Maine looks at grief close up". 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  52. "Matt Braunger launches new webseries "White Flight" and tour dates - The Laugh Button". The Laugh Button. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
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  54. "The Problem With Apu". DOC NYC. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  55. Routhier, Ray (2016-08-01). "Comedian Hari Kondabolu, a Bowdoin College grad, in Portland on Friday". Maine Today. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  56. Lisa de Moraes (May 10, 2016). "TruTV Greenlights Three New Series & Six Pilots; 'Fameless', 'Hack My Life' Renewed". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  57. "Hari Kondabolu's New Material Night Volume 1, by Hari Kondabolu". Hari Kondabolu. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
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