Yoon Kim
Comedian Hari Kondabolu is known for finding humor in even the worst things in life. He says he gets it from his mother.
“I grew up in a household where my mom always was able to take the darkest thing and make it funny,” he reflects. “It was the way she coped with stuff. For me, it feels natural.”
You get a sense of this from his 2016 album Mainstream American Comic. On one track the thirtysomething Kondabolu describes how, on the Fourth of July, after wishing his mother a happy Independence Day, Uma Kondabolu, a former physician, replied: “Thanks, son, but I lost my independence thirty-five years ago.”
Another time, Mother’s Day greetings go awry. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. How do you feel?” the comic asked. “So, you ignore me all year and then throw flowers at me for a day? Fuck off, kid,” came the reply.
2017 is shaping up to be quite a year for the Kondabolu, a native of Queens whose parents immigrated from India. He has teamed up with fellow comedian W. Kamau Bell for a second season of the “Politically Re:Active” podcast and is taking his act on the road, including headlining New York’s legendary Carolines in May. In March, he released a top-selling comedy album, Hari Kondabolu’s New Material Night Volume One.
One mid-morning in early May, Kondabolu spoke with me by phone about living in the Trump era, bell hooks, and his bromance with Kamau Bell—among other things.
Q: People call you a political comic. How do you would describe your work?
Hari Kondabolu: I just see myself as a comedian. I talk about issues that are close to my heart—usually things having to do with oppression and power and injustice. I say that and people are like, “Well, those are political things.” But to me, these are the things that shape everybody’s day-to-day [life], and that seems bigger than just calling it “political.” To me, that’s observational.
Q: I’ve read that you build your comedy around observations. Is it that you’re seeing events unfold that are instances of oppression, like racism or sexism, and then you think about it and work from that germ of an idea?
Kondabolu: Basically, you’re asking, How do I write my material? I’ve been collecting my thoughts since I was sixteen years old. It has less to do with particular moments or reading the paper. It has more to do with just making sure I document interesting ideas and observations and conversations that I have in my life. And then trying to add context to them so I can say them publicly.
Q: How do you make something that people consider to be a downer funny?
Kondabolu: Comedy is an incredible defense mechanism. It’s a way we protect ourselves. It’s a way that we cope with pain. I’ve always used comedy to deal with unpleasantness in my life and in the world. I don’t always know how I make it funny. I just know that’s how I think.
I’ve always used comedy to deal with unpleasantness in my life and in the world.
Q: How did you start working with W. Kamau Bell?
Kondabolu: Kamau and I have been friends since right before the 2008 presidential election. Our mutual friend, [comedian] Nato Green, put us on a tour together in San Francisco—like, a pre-election tour.
As soon as we saw each other’s performances, we were like, “Ohhhhhh, we’re supposed to be friends.” And it kinda started from there. I would make frequent trips to San Francisco, and we’d hang out. You know, I remember telling him, “When you get your TV show, I wanna write for it.” And this was well before he had a TV show. And he’s like, “What are you talking about? I don’t have a TV show.”
We’ve been friends a really long time, and it’s amazing to find someone who shares your ethos, who wants to create a more just world, who approaches jokes with the idea that words have meanings. Like, that’s why the language exists; there’s meaning to it, so choose your words carefully and be careful with the ideas you put out into the world. Not everybody has that ethos, but Kamau certainly does—and that’s a big deal to me.
Q: I was reading this story about Chris Rock’s return to stand-up on Rolling Stone’s website, and it mentions that he predicted that Donald Trump would win. So, I was wondering, at any time during 2016 or 2015, did you think that Trump would win?
Kondabolu: There were moments I had mini heart attacks thinking about the possibility, but, no, I didn’t realistically think he would win. No. I dreaded it, but I didn’t think it would happen, no.
Q: So, what things are you optimistic about right now?
Kondabolu: I’ve seen a certain politicization. You know, even through the Iraq War, there [were] incredible movements and marches. Occupy was exciting. Of course, the Obama election was a lot of people’s first attempt at democracy and voting. This is something else. People are mobilizing, marching in the streets, because they know what country they want.
They started marching before Trump had even [done] anything, because they knew what was coming, and they wanted to make sure there was a public statement to him, to the country, to the world, saying that this is not how we do things here; we’re not gonna stand for it. And, so, every single day I see more and more people say, call your Senators, call your reps, cuz this is about to happen. There’s a certain awareness that had not previously been there.
There’s a generation of younger people who have more access to information. They’re able to decide this is wrong based on what they’ve seen. They grew up with the first black President, and that was normal to them—this must be a shock. All these things make me feel optimistic, that there’s going to be change eventually.
Q: It was apparent from your public dialogue with bell hooks last year at St. Norbert College that you’re a tremendous admirer. What was the first thing by her you read, and how did that affect you?
Kondabolu: I think it was Killing Rage. And also Black Looks. The idea that anger is OK, that was one of my big takeaways. This idea that you’re held hostage by racism and that you’re constantly being put down and beaten down in these subtle ways, and it’s shaping you, and it’s OK to have those feelings.
To me, especially with the work I do, it made me feel a lot better about the fact that I did feel terrible about the world. And I should, because injustice is not something to take lightly.
I think there’s a lot of self-hate when you’re a person of color, there’s a lot of “How come I feel this way? How come I can’t fit in? How come I’m being treated this way? What am I doing wrong?” And just being able to know that, no, you’re not alone. And you have every right to be upset, and showing anger is not showing weakness.
Q: Have you read any of bell hooks’ writing about love?
Kondabolu: I read The Will to Change. It’s so personal and reading it, certainly, was hard. Thinking about things I’ve done in relationships or things I’ve experienced, I’m like, I wish I’d read this before that. I wish I knew what was happening here or another way to interpret it.
It’s an interesting thing. You know how people talk about whiteness studies? The idea that you need to understand whiteness as a construct, you need to understand how whiteness plays out and how privilege works and how it’s important for white people to really think about that and to really sit in it. I think being a man, and reading that, it was kind of like, Let me sit in it. What is my role in all this? It’s easy to say all those things abstractly, but when it comes to love, that’s not abstract. And to sit in that position—[and ask myself,] what can you do and what have you done? It was a hard read for me, but it was a good read.
Q: I’m interested in the trajectory you’d like to see your career take.
Kondabolu: Maybe [I’ll get] a television program where I’m out front and I’m able to share opinions every single day. I hope to have a platform that allows me to speak to more people and to make more people laugh—as well as to share my truths with more people. I think that’s something that every comic wants. Stand-up will always be my heart, it will always be the thing that drives a lot of this.
I do a lot of podcasts. I have one with Kamau. I’m developing one with my brother [Ashok Kondabolu, a.k.a. Dapwell of the now-defunct rap group Das Racist]. I’m on The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman once a month.
Q: Is there anything else you want to tell The Progressive’s readers?
Kondabolu: I have an album out called Mainstream American Comic that I think people would like. My first album, Waiting for 2042, unfortunately, feels very meaningful now. So, if you haven’t heard or seen my work, I would go through my back catalogue and listen to them because I feel like, unfortunately, they still hold true.
Courtney Becks earned her master's in journalism from UW-Madison.