Skip to content
Artwork for TanGent Show
TanGent Show · July 27 · 18 min

Aasif Mandvi

Aasif Mandvi is an actor, comedian, and writer best known for his years as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, along with memorable roles in Evil, The Internship, Spider-Man 2, Million Dollar Arm, and The Last Airbender. As both a performer and outspoken commentator, he's spent years using comedy to examine politics, identity, and the immigrant experience from a perspective that's entirely his own. I knew this conversation would go deep pretty quickly, but I didn't expect us to dive in headfirst quite like we did. We spend a lot of time unpacking the 2016 election, media, representation in Hollywood, and the responsibility that comes with having a platform. Aasif doesn't offer rehearsed talking points. He thinks out loud, challenges assumptions - including some of my own - and isn't afraid to wrestle with ideas that don't have easy answers. That said, this isn't a political debate disguised as a podcast. We also talk about growing up between cultures, the strange expectations placed on South Asian actors, and how comedy can sometimes reach people in ways that facts alone can't. Whether you've followed Aasif since his Daily Show days or know him from his work as an actor, I think you'll appreciate hearing him without a script, a teleprompter, or a character to play. Read Aasif's book "No Land's Man" Follow Aasif Mandvi:IMDb Aasif's Komi Instagram Facebook X (Twitter) TikTok

0:00-18:52

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

Aasif Mandvi is an actor, comedian, and writer best known for his years as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, along with memorable roles in Evil, The Internship, Spider-Man 2, Million Dollar Arm, and The Last Airbender. As both a performer and outspoken commentator, he's spent years using comedy to examine politics, identity, and the immigrant experience from a perspective that's entirely his own.

I knew this conversation would go deep pretty quickly, but I didn't expect us to dive in headfirst quite like we did. We spend a lot of time unpacking the 2016 election, media, representation in Hollywood, and the responsibility that comes with having a platform. Aasif doesn't offer rehearsed talking points. He thinks out loud, challenges assumptions - including some of my own - and isn't afraid to wrestle with ideas that don't have easy answers.

That said, this isn't a political debate disguised as a podcast. We also talk about growing up between cultures, the strange expectations placed on South Asian actors, and how comedy can sometimes reach people in ways that facts alone can't. Whether you've followed Aasif since his Daily Show days or know him from his work as an actor, I think you'll appreciate hearing him without a script, a teleprompter, or a character to play.

Read Aasif's book "No Land's Man"

Follow Aasif Mandvi:IMDb Aasif's Komi Instagram Facebook X (Twitter) TikTok

links8

more episodes

All episodes