Rajiv Satyal

Satyal worked at Procter & Gamble from 2000 to 2006.[6] He started in purchasing at P&G but switched to marketing in 2004.[7] Satyal began but did not finish an MBA at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He gained admission to New York University Stern School of Business after fewer than three years of full-time work but did not attend.[8] Satyal co-led branded entertainment strategy for all brands in North America for Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser.[8] While at P&G, Satyal created content for Home Made Simple, a site visited by 15 million people per month.[9] He was named P&G’s Funniest Employee in 2005.[7] Satyal performed stand-up routines at corporate events.[10] Satyal left P&G and moved to Los Angeles in 2006 at the age of 30. He was brand manager of FIJI Water for 12 weeks.[2] He is the third comedian to come out of the Cincinnati offices of Procter & Gamble.[11]

Satyal started doing standup comedy in 2002[5] at Go Bananas Comedy Club in Montgomery, Ohio.[2] He was a UC College of Engineering student when he started. His brother, Rakesh Satyal, saw an article about the Funniest Person in Cincinnati contest and encouraged him to enter. Rajiv had some material written for a book he was thinking about, but instead, used it at his tryout. He made it to the semifinals his first time around in 1998. The next year, he won. For the next three years, Satyal teetered on whether he wanted to do comedy. He would do a few shows one weekend, then shy away from it the next. He became serious about comedy in 2002.[12]

In 2005, Satyal entered the Funniest Person in Cincinnati contest, this time in the semi-pro/professional division, and won.[3][10] Satyal has worked with Dave Chappelle, Kevin James, Tim Allen, Kevin Nealon and Russell Peters.[2] By April 2008, Satyal had opened for Peters over 15 times.[9] Satyal and Nealon met in 2005 at the Cincinnati Funny Bone and saw Batman Begins together and had dinner. Since Satyal moved to Los Angeles, Nealon has asked Satyal to open for him often.[3]

Along with fellow comedian Azhar Usman, he co-founded "Make Chai, Not War" in 2012, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Department. The tour visited seven cities in India. The tour was covered by NPR on their program All Things Considered, as well as being recognized on Capitol Hill.[13] Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) grilled U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about it. "I can understand that maybe you're not aware that your department spent $100,000 on three comedians who went to India on a promotional tour called ‘Make Chai, Not War’."”[14]

Satyal was hired by Velvet Suite Marketing to speak to NFL players about personal branding. He spoke to the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.[15]

Satyal puts together comedy shows for corporate innovation sessions.[6] He runs a consulting business called Standpoint Agency,[2] an agency that helps marketers generate insights for their businesses.[16] Brands such as Dannon, P&G's Herbal Essences and Gillette have signed up.[6]

He hosts a podcast entitled, The TanGent Show, formerly known as The Funny Indian Show. He has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Kevin Nealon, Seth Godin, Russell Peters, Kumail Nanjiani and others.[17]

He has been blogging on his website since 2002.[18] Satyal has over 50 million views on YouTube.[13] He has stated that his career goal is to host the Oscars.[19]

Satyal developed a 90-minute one-person show, No Man's Land, which sold out shows in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

Satyal named University of Cincinnati's radio-station-turned-media group "BearCast".[2]

Film

Television

Web

Radio