The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Looking inward
Hari Kondabolu is known for politically charged commentary but says he’s coming to Cleveland with more personal laughs
Given that it arrived in 2018 and that the Hari Kondabolu is known for politically charged humor, it’s hardly surprising that then-President Donald Trump is a major topic early in his Netflix standup special, “Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives.”
“No more Trump stuff — we have a lot of other things to talk about tonight,” he says about 25 minutes into the act, before pausing momentarily.
“I can’t believe he won, though!” he adds. “I mean, seriously?!?”
Kondabolu, who was born and raised in New York City and now resides in the borough of Brooklyn, is an Indian-American entertainer who isn’t bashful when it comes to talking about race in America. (If his name rings only a vague a bell, it may be because he drew attention for his 2017 documentary “The Problem With Apu,” which examined the handling of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian immigrant character on “The Simpsons.”)
Was Kondabolu — who is performing this weekend in Cleveland at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre — optimistic the election of President Joe Biden in 2020 would usher in a new era of racial harmony?
“No, I did not believe that at all,” he says with a laugh during a recent
phone interview. “There have been many presidents since the beginning of this country, and racism seems to have lasted through it.
“I think, maybe, there was a moment I had that brief feeling when (Barack) Obama got elected, but that was, like, a very quick moment.”
Kondabolu says he has reasons for hope about where the country is going, with, for example, diversity in media and the emergence of young activists such as Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg, suggesting. However, the idea there’s a passionate new generation ready to change the world is countered by someone such as Kyle Rittenhouse, who, at 17, fatally shot two men — and injuring another man — in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020 during a time of racially charged social unrest. (Rittenhouse eventually was acquitted of all charges brought against him for the incident.)
“It’s almost like there’s this assumption that this next generation is going to fix everything, and you immediately are hit with the fact that, no, they’re just like us — they have this range, as well.
“On some fronts, I’m still hopeful, but, you know, it’s hard, man,” he continues. “We’re talking about (needing) major systemic changes, and — especially with the (U.S.) Supreme Court being the way it is for the foreseeable future — I don’t see how that’s gonna happen.”
And, hey, it’s not as if he walks around thinking about the fact he’s an Indian-American. He’s simply constantly reminded of that fact, he says.
“When I meet people, they ask me, ‘Where are you from?’ And they want to hear ‘India,’ I immediately know there is no conversation that’s going to happen,” he says. “Like, after a while, it’s just like, ‘Can’t we just talk about baseball or something? Or anything? They’re must be something we have in common that leads to me not being interrogated.’”
It’s not as if everyone sees him in racial terms, of course. In “Warn Your Relatives,” he tells one hilarious story about how he once was mistaken for — wait for it — musical artist Kid Rock and another in which a heckler turned out to be actor-comedian Tracy Morgan, who, after the show, suggested he do certain kinds of material tied to his general appearance.
The first story is so outlandish that you wonder if it’s a product of artistic license; every word of the second rings true.
“They’re both true,” he says, adding he’s happy a friend was with him for the Kid Rock situation.
“It would be too absurd — I wouldn’t be able to deliver it because I knew it was false, but it happened,” he says.
He knew the Morgan encounter was a gift when it was happening.
“I’m, like, ‘Everything about this is perfect,’” he says. “Like, ‘You must know you are helping me — every word you say to me is basically a joke device itself.’ ”
The set he’ll perform in Cleveland will differ significantly from “Warn Your Relatives,” Kondabolu says.
“This hour is definitely more personal,” he says. “That’s not to say there isn’t commentary about the world and all that, but a lot of it is (about) what it’s like to have a child during a global pandemic, what’s it’s like when the world’s on fire and this is the time you say to yourself, ‘Let’s bring a child into this.’”
Kondabolu hasn’t spent much time in Cleveland, having played Hilarities one night but never before headlining a weekend at the club. And this stop — coming a week after one in San Francisco — will be one of the last ones before he records the routine, with the nature of its release still to be determined.
“My goal was to play different markets and get a sense of, is this working in the Midwest? In the
South? Is this working in the East? The West Coast? And that’s what I want — I want an hour that really can reach people regardless of their context.”
That said, he plans to throw in some Northeast Ohio-specific material at Hilarities — about the changing of the city’s Major League Baseball team from the Indians to the Guardians.
“I’m really happy it got renamed; I think that’s great,” he says. “At the same time, it’s the worst name. I hate the Guardians as a name.
“There’s a million other names that could have worked. I mean, honestly, the Cleveland LeBrons wasn’t mentioned, but I would have voted for that.”
Kondabolu’s resume also
includes writing for the TV show “Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell,” as well as co-hosting a podcast with Bell, “Politically Re-Active.”
And Kondabolu was featured heavily in the 2020 Netflix documentary “Spelling the Dream,” which looked at the recent domination by IndianAmerican children in the n the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“It was fun for me to talk about it like (it was) sports basically,” he says. “It’s the one thing that our community has that we have a dynasty in.
“And it’s cool to just be able to acknowledge these kids and the fact that it’s a weird phenomenon,” he says, before adding, “There’s reasons for it.”