Hari Kondabolu
Hari Kondabolu is a Brooklyn-based comedian and writer who the NY Times has described as “one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today.” Hari has released two chart-topping comedy albums including 'Mainstream American Comic' which went to #1 on iTunes and Amazon, and his debut album 'Waiting for 2042' which made Best Of 2014 lists including AV Club, Paste and Exclaim! He released a third live comedy album “New Material Night” in Spring 2017.
Hari’s new comedy special, “Warn Your Relatives”, premieres globally May 2018 on Netflix. Filmed in front of a packed audience at The Neptune in Seattle, WA, Hari cleverly blends personal and political humor, magically turning discomfort into laughter as he compares terrorism and mass shootings, explains why firefighters are better than cops and recalls the time he got heckled by Tracy Morgan. Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4pckD4HyY0
Hari made a documentary film with truTV called “The Problem with Apu” about the stereotypical Indian character on The Simpsons. The doc was met with critical acclaim upon its Fall 2017 premiere. He has appeared elsewhere on TV on the Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, John Oliver’s NY Standup Show, @midnight, The Nightly Show and has his own half-hour Comedy Central Presents special.
Hari was a writer and correspondent on the Chris Rock produced Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on the FX network. Kamau has described his long-time friend and collaborator as “the comedy equivalent of a punk rock concert that breaks out at a human right's rally.” Kamau and Hari co-hosted the popular podcast “Politically Re-Active” (First Look Media) which was named in iTunes Best of 2016. Currently, Hari and his brother Ashok (Dapwell from Das Racist) co-host The Kondabolu Brothers podcast.
A public radio regular, Hari has been interviewed on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and has also been heard on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Studio 360, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, Marketplace and The Moth. He has also been profiled by The New York Times and PBS NewsHour. He has made appearances on many podcasts including WTF with Marc Maron, Death, Sex and Money, You Made It Weird, Too Beautiful to Live and 2 Dope Queens.
In the UK, he has established himself with a month-long run at 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and TV appearances on Russell Howard’s Good News, Live at The Electric and 8 out of 10 Cats. He has also been profiled in The Guardian and New Statesman.
Hari has also performed at such notable festivals as the HBO Comedy Festival, South by Southwest, Bumbershoot, Sasquatch, Outside Lands, Moontower, Sled Island, Riot LA, Bridgetown, the Aspen Ideas Festival and Just for Laughs in Montreal and Chicago.
Hari attended both Bowdoin College and Wesleyan University, graduating from the former institution with a BA in Comparative Politics in 2003. A former intern with then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and a former immigrant rights organizer in Seattle, Hari received an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics in 2008. He was named the NYU APA Institute’s “Artist in Residence” for the 2014-2015 Academic Year. In 2015, political website Mic named him one “the next generation of impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and breakthrough innovators.” In 2016, he was chosen to have a public dialogue with legendary feminist academic and writer bell hooks as part of St. Norbert College’s "Delight in the Fight: Disarming Injustice with Humor & Joy” series.
http://www.harikondabolu.com
Twitter at www.twitter.com/harikondabolu
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/harithecomic