Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out - 108. Nimesh Patel: Comedy is Cancer Plus Time

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

Comedian Nimesh Patel joins Mike this week for a joke-filled conversation about how to find your comedic voice, how to turn your saddest stories into standup, and whether or not Buddhism and comedy can peacefully co-exist. Plus, Nimesh goes deep on the infamous time he was yanked off stage at Columbia University for making what he didn’t think was a very controversial joke. Please consider donating to South Asian Americans for Change

The story that you have is my worst nightmare, which is that you did a college, you said a joke that they didn't like, and then they gave you the hook. No, they cut the mic. They cut your mic? That hurt my feelings. But the joke was good that you said, it actually not even offensive it's a progressive joke about being gay can't be a choice because no one would choose to be gay if they're already black right right and i said the tag to the joke is the only person that chooses to be gay is mike pence he chooses to not be gay every day like that's like what i was trying to get at

but it was a segue joke yeah it really was it was a transition joke and that hit people's ear wrong maybe 10 minutes later they were on stage like you gotta go

you're not entitled to those jokes and I you know I thought about them they're right so you do think they're right no not at all

no absolutely not. That is the voice of Nimesh Patel. Nimesh Patel is such a funny comic. He is a comic who I've, honestly, I feel like I've known for just years and years and years and years. I've worked with him side by side at the Comedy Cellar. He has a new special called Lucky Lefty. Or I lost my right nut and all I got was this stupid special. It's available on YouTube. I am currently in London with The Old Man and the Pool.

It is at the Wyndham's Theatre. It is the finale of The Old Man and the Pool. Tickets at burbiggs.com. We just added a seventh and eighth show in Boston for Christmas, and that's going to be all new material. The Wilba! Those shows are always so fun because Joe goes. I bet Peter will be there.

My sister Gina will be there. It should be a really fun time. We also just announced shows in Vancouver. We added a third show in Seattle at the Moore Theater, one of my favorite theaters in the world. All of this on burbiggs.com. But today's chat with Nimesh is just awesome. He's a fascinating person. He has a remarkable story about getting kicked off stage at Columbia University when he was performing. He actually wrote a piece about it in the New York Times. We talked about that. He talked about writing for

Chris Rock, for the Oscars, surviving testicular cancer. It's just a great chat with a hugely funny person. Great comic. Enjoy my conversation with the great Nimesh Patel. We're working it. the great Nimesh Patel. Your special on YouTube, which is great,

is called Lefty. Lucky Lefty, yeah. Lucky Lefty. Yeah. I.E. your testicle. Yes. Because you had testicular cancer. I did. You said that you have a fake ball.

You have a fake ball. Yes. Prosthetic ball. Correct. What's it made of? Silicone. I got a titty in my balls. It's my favorite.

I like that line so much. I like that line a lot. So when you, does it, there's no nerve endings in it, right? So you can't feel it, but you can, your other ball can feel it. Yeah, yeah. They're together. So there's some symmetry. Oh, yeah, they're together.

They're hanging out. You know, I feel like the left one, it took a little while for it to get used to the new partner in town. Yeah. I mean, they have to. It's an arranged marriage now, you know. Yeah. They're growing together living together how far into getting it taken out were you like i'm talking about this on stage immediately immediately i knew it was going to be something i have to talk about because i had

come off what like a year of touring yeah i taped my first special thank you china in december 21 yeah january 2022 i have like you know 15 shows left before i can take like a two-week break yeah and then i gotta go back out on the road yeah and i had nothing because i was going back to some of the same cities like i was like just back out this is the best thing that could ever happen exactly yeah it was just like all right that literally fell in my lap like when i was like what the fuck am i gonna talk about and then i was like oh this is what i'm gonna talk about and like if you go back to if i show you my notes from last year yeah i was literally writing it down every day like the things that had just like marking down everything every doctor visit yeah not even it was just like

anything strange that happened that day. Right. As a writing technique, I try to start every year saying, I'm going to recap the previous day every morning. Yes. It's like a fun, important exercise for your own brain. And my memory's starting to go. So I was like, let me do some shit.

And so I was doing that already. I was in that habit. And so when this happened, I was like, oh, this is why this habit is good is good this is why i'm gonna just take notes every day yeah and every day something stupid happened wow and so and so in those like five days in those five days i i got at least 10 minutes a day and then i whittled that down to what it became that's huge yeah it was just like like just sitting that's inspiring me right now. Just sitting in it. You saying that is making me be like, I got to write tonight. Yeah.

But just like five minutes, 10 minutes, just recap what happened. And then your brain was like, oh, that is funny. How do I make that funny? What's funny about it? Or like what lie can I make up about something that happened today that would end up being funny? Right. What's an exaggeration of something that occurred today that's funny? Exactly.

But luckily, every day, something that was true happened. I didn't have to make some shit up. Wow. I was just like, this is crazy. This is going to be a very fun thing to write. It's crazy. There's all this discussion. We talk on this show a lot about how do you find your voice as a comic and all this stuff. And it's this show a lot about like how do you find your

voice as a comic and all this stuff and it's like literally what you're saying is how you find your voice yeah you write every day you write down what happened and guess what that's your voice yes exactly i'm like what and then hopefully something's your brain eventually trains itself to on like the third sentence that you write or say some it's something funny yeah like over time your brain just becomes that way of operating and i'm like oh okay this is cool it's crazy like i didn't realize this at the time but like you wrote for chris rock's oscars in 16 2016 yeah yeah he hosted that's wild yeah that was my first writing job. That's unbelievable. You're telling me, yeah. Was that just from meeting him at the Comedy Cellar?

No, that was before the Cellar. It was... You weren't even past at the Cellar? No, no, no. That was a pivotal, if ever I write a biography or whatever it is, on my epitaph, on my tombstone, it will be like a checkpoint in my comedy life. Yeah, or would be in anyone.

Right. It was 2015. I just got rejected from Montreal for like the third time. And I was really mad. Yeah. Right? More than anything, I was just like, come on. And July 2015 or so, August 2015, I think it was,

Chris is coming to see Langston Kerman. Remember, you did Matchless a bunch of times in Brooklyn Comedy. He's coming to see Langston Kerman. It was before Michael J. was on SNL, I think. No, it was right before. I think he had just gotten Daily Show. It was like that summer almost. It was that moment. It was Michael J.'s moment.

Yeah. I think. He's coming to see Langston. Yeah. He's late, Chris is, and so Langston can't go up. No other comic is there who hasn't already gone up,

and I'm like, well, Chris is coming? They're like, yeah. I'm like, all right, well, I'm going up. Chris walks in. I go up, have a great set. Chris tells me I'm funny afterwards. I'm like, that's the craziest thing that's ever happened to me in my whole life. It's like the ring.

Yeah. You won the ring. I made it at that moment to me. For sure. And then like three months later, he got the hosting job. And I got an email saying, come right. No way. I swear.

I still got the email. That is like, that is the, one of the most affirming things i think that can possibly happen oh it's insanity is that someone who you respect to that degree just says like i think what you're doing is good they don't even have to say you're that good no he's yeah you're good he i mean you've met chris a billion times i'm like you know that face? Yeah. That incredulous face. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You're really funny. Yeah. Chris Rock, bro.

Yeah, he does that thing. Yeah. He goes, yeah, no, he's like, girlfriend's boyfriend's good. It's good. And then he's like thinking about it. He's like, it's really good. Yeah.

Really good. It's like I surprised him or something. Yeah. Interesting. There's a through line to what you're saying between like when you found out you had cancer and you're writing stuff down every day and then you're pitching jokes to Chris Rock years ago

for the Oscars. It all, and like some of them bomb and whatever. Like on this show, we talk about process so much. It's so much comes back to just like doing it and doing it and doing it. It's all just repetition. Yeah, it's like anything comes back to just like doing it and doing it it's all repetition it's all just repetition yeah it's it's like anything you want to get good at it's just you just got to do it all the time i feel like like a lot of times when people ask me for advice it's like they

want they want me to say the hack that's like don't you don't have to do the work yeah you can do this other thing so you don't have to do the work. I don't know what to tell you. I just don't know what to tell you. You have to do it. The hack is discipline. It's just discipline. Do you view yourself as disciplined? Not at all.

Then how do you find it? I have... When you're writing for Chris or you're writing notes when you get cancer every day, how do you find it? I have to give have. When you're writing for Chris or you're writing notes when you get cancer every day, like how do you find it? I have to give myself a pressurized deadline or situation or goal that I'm aiming at. This is great. And. I'm saying this is great because I mean, it's great for me.

It's just a reminder to me to do it. Yeah, yeah. It's, everyone should do it in anything you want to be doing. Yeah. Whether it be writing or, you know, bicep curls, whatever it is. So like for me, I got to set myself a goal and then I have to like, OK. Remind myself I have this goal and then get to work on it, because otherwise I'll just do it like a week before the thing is due. Yeah.

Or like if I have to go out on tour, I'll wait like a week before the thing is due yeah or like if I have to go out and tour I'll wait like a week before to like start cracking on this hour but right now I know I have two months until I go back out yeah for real and so I got to make sure I utilize that time and it's just like a matter of at least putting a work in every day somehow I had Ira Glass on and he was saying this piece of advice about basically like if you want to do anything in the creative space, like start today. Don't do it tomorrow. Even what I'm saying, like what you're saying to me right now is inspiring me. It really is.

And I think about this stuff all the time. And just you saying it, we've known each other for a long time. Like I see you at the cellar killing all the time. I'm working. Thank you. Yeah. And like it's,'s for me it just like gives me a push the first time you and i ended up i think having a substantial conversation with a comedy teller was about your op-ed about your gig at columb Yes. Because you did a thing on the New York Times about how you, the story that you have is my worst nightmare,

which is that you did a college, you said a joke that they didn't like, and then they like, you gave me the hook. They gave you the hook. Yes, I wish they had a hook. Right. It would have been a very, that would have been okay with. Would they cut your mic or grab you or something?

No, they cut the mic. They cut your mic? That hurt my feelings. So when you say they cut your mic, is the microphone off, but you're talking regular? I'm holding the mic, and there's the three young women who kick me off are on stage, and they tell me to say closing remarks. And as I'm giving them, I try a joke. I try to make it a conversation, but it's a joke.

Yeah. And it falls flat. Yeah. And then I forget what I was saying afterwards. And then at mid sentence, like you cut my mic and I'm like, all right,

cool. So they walked on while you're doing standup at Columbia. Correct. And they say, you're done basically. Yes. Could you please come off?

Correct. I mean, this is wild. How many people in the audience? A couple hundred for sure. And are you doing well with the audience? I'm not bombing, but I'm not killing. It's a college.

It's an auditorium. It's not made for comedy. I follow break dancers and poets. I'm closing a show full of really heartfelt poetry, breakdancing, and a bunch of other Asian shit. And I'm just like, all right, what are we doing here? I know this is going to be an uphill battle. And it was. But the joke was good that you said.

And actually not even offensive. It's kind of progressive. It's a joke about being gay can't be a choice because no one would choose to be gay if they're already black right right and which if you think about it is a fairly progressive statement and it's just like pro-gay and it's pro-black as i say it as i say it and as i stopped doing it for a very long time before that show. But I had to fill an hour and I was like, I don't have an hour that I'm happy with

and I need something well-structured. So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what jokes I can put in. I was like, oh, that joke would work really well here because I was making fun of Mike Pence. And I said, the tag to the joke is the only person that chooses to be gay is Mike Pence. He chooses to not be gay every day.

Like, that's, like, what I was trying to get at. But. It was a segue joke. Yeah, it really was. It was a transition joke. And that hit people's ear wrong. And I'm like, when I was saying it, then I stopped doing it because, like, who cares? This is too woke for me.

Like, I didn't want to be that claptor kind of person. And so I was like, screw it. I don't want to do this anymore. But I had to do it because I needed to fill the time. Yeah. And the lesson there is like, just write more new shit. Yeah. You don't want to have to do the old shit.

And that was it. And after I said that, like maybe 10 minutes later, they were on stage. Like, you got to go. You're not entitled to those jokes. And, you know, I thought about it. They're right. So you do think they're right? No, not at all.

No, absolutely not. What are we we are you serious one of the reasons I love it is that is that everybody goes you can't tell

everybody who's not in comedy always says to me you can't tell jokes anymore and I'm always like yeah you can and then I'm like well one of my friends can't

and it's you like that's my only example I know that's the thing it's like you can't tell jokes anymore. And I'm always like, yeah, you can. And then I'm like, well, one of my friends can't. It's you. That's my only example. I know. That's the thing. It's like, and I'm doing better than I've ever done. Right. And after that, I did better than I ever did.

Right. It kind of blew you up. It made me a known entity with a few people. But it's not like my career talk i was just known by more people my name was in a lot more comedians ears but uh you book more colleges or less colleges from it college gigs that i did get after that they were like nah talk about it we're not like that yeah you could say whatever the fuck you want yeah. Yeah. Thank God for the South, okay? Oh, my God. Thank God for those colleges.

Oh, my God. You booked like three colleges in the South? They might be Christian, but God damn it. Those Christians have a good sense of humor. Well, weirdly, you probably became like a signpost for right-wing people. I became, or for at least some people i became uh like see see with that yeah right wing the liberal colleges are taking down their own because yeah the right quote unquote well that's one of their up causes yeah yeah they saw me as uh they my favorite tagline was like the left eating their own as oh you just assume I'm left, quote unquote.

And I am. I lean. I'm progressive, so to speak. But I'm not like one of these hyper-vigilant liberal people. Right. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Yeah. So that was like a big thing.

That was just a full assumption. Yes. Yeah. Based on you not being white. Exactly, yes. A thousand percent. Which is kind of hilarious on its own too, which is the left eating its own

and they don't even ask you what your political affiliation is. No, just an automatic assumption. Well, I was ex-SNL writer, gets kicked off stage from Ivy League University, slash is Indian. Like, isn't this crazy? And that was that was a large part

of the narrative for a while. Wait, were you did you go to Ivy League? No, I went to NYU. Oh, okay. Rejected from Columbia twice. Okay.

Twice. Once from applying once on stage. Once from applying, once on stage. Wait-listed and then rejected. We thought about it a bit longer, and we decided we were right in not letting you in the first time. You graduated in 2008 with a finance degree in the financial crisis. I often say that's why I became a comedian. Graduating with a finance degree in 2008 was about the funniest thing you could do and uh i don't want to say i i'm also

i'm not just a victim of that circumstance i was also not the best student in college and so like i thought i came into college like thinking i was hot shit you know yes went to fucking destroyed my sats yeah freshman year i got a 4.0 gpa so i'm like all right i'm gonna transfer to their uh business program stern undergrad yeah and because how hard could math be and yeah and then i'm competing with people who have been like trading stocks since they were like nine yeah like i don't even know how the market works right like weirdly comedy is a better bet yes and so i got in and uh i did that but i graduated in a way jobless and very uncertain about what i was going to do yeah like i was listless wow and uh for like a year and change, I was unemployed, underemployed. Got the bug, 2009, August, stand-up.

Did it for the first time. I was like, this doesn't seem that hard. Yeah. You just had good sets right away. I had a good set the first time. Yeah. It was the bringer at Stress Factory. What's that?

Oh, really? Yeah, that was my first show ever. That's so funny. I brought 20 of my cousins was my first show ever. That's so funny. I brought 20 of my cousins. Oh, my gosh. That's so funny. So a bringer show for people who don't know, because Zarn and Garg was on the show,

and she's talked about bringer shows, and people are like, what's a bringer show? And so I feel like I have to explain to people. You have to basically bring your own. You got to harass your family to pay like 20 bucks and then drinks and chicken fingers. It's the pyramid scheme of starting out in comedy. A hundred percent, except it ends with that first show.

Yeah, it ends with the first show, unless you want it, want to do more of it. Yeah, I tapped certain friends a lot early on and my family a lot early on to do those bringers. And after that, like once I did that show, I was like, it didn't seem that difficult. I'm smart. I went to NYU, a graduate with a finance degree. How hard could comedy be? Yeah. And it was insanely difficult.

Yeah. It's very difficult. So you were like right out of the gate. You're at the Stratus Factory in New Brunswick. And you're like, well, this is good. I'm going to be really good at this yeah i can try this yeah it seems like uh the investment is merely my time which as an unemployed yeah and my uk 2008 i got plenty of 2009 i got plenty of time and then it became my goal because i was living at home to then move to New York, like micro goal there. I was taking a bus from my parents' place at like three o'clock in the afternoon so

I can hit open mics at like five. And if I missed that 3.30 bus, I would take the four o'clock bus and then I would be destroyed in traffic. I remember sitting in that traffic like, oh, fuck. For the younger listeners, what a bus is. It's this big metal contraption that usually has eight or ten wheels on it. Yep, yep, yep. And people who don't want to drive or have been banned from driving by the government

still have jobs that have to go to work. They take the bus. Do you remember your first joke that worked where you're like, oh, it's still a good joke? Yes. It was my McDonald's chicken nugget arbitrage bit. It's very long, but it's based on a true story where I went to this McDonald's at 51st and 3rd one night. I was drunk and about to go to my friend's place like let me get some nuggets and so I go into the McDonald's and there's two lines but like on the menu I'm looking like all right how much are 20 nuggets and 20 nuggets like eight dollars yeah and I was

like okay that's weird that's a lot because the you get five-piece nuggets for a dollar or four-piece nuggets for a dollar. So I was like, okay, well, if I just get five of those, that's five bucks. This is $8 for the same amount of nuggets. Like why – the box can't cost $3 more. Like what are y'all doing over here? And so I didn't do this this but i just like argued with the cashier i was like do you understand what the heck this is preposterous and but like the joke i said was like they had two lines at this mcdonald's so i ordered a five four piece nugget

and tell them to put in a 20 piece box made it rain barbecue sauce all the way home. Made it rain barbecue sauce? That was just like my, it was my favorite, one of my favorite bits because A, it happened. Yeah. B, I'd taken a scenario. Part of it happened. Yeah, part of it happened. But the other part, I had made the joke. Yeah, yeah. Right?

You embellished the second half. Exactly. And it was complete. Yeah. It was like a full, done, minute yeah thing where like i took people on a small little journey and i got to say stuff like like the part of like what i love about writing is sometimes you'll just do something that's for you yeah hopefully someone in the crowd catches it and i said uh mcdonald's is taking advantage of everyone too drunk to do math. I'm never too drunk to do math.

And like that, like that's my favorite part of it because it's like I'm saying a lot about me. People who are Indian are like, oh, yeah, Indian people never too drunk to do math. And I'm like, I'm saying a lot about myself without having to say it. did you ever get beat do you ever get punched in your life i'm sure i got punched once or twice when i was a kid i think i was bullied when i was like five or four for real yeah yeah i think so this kid jeffrey was a bully um he pushed me into and he never punched me but he pushed me into like a sink like that oh wow like a counter like that yeah instead of it being you know rounded

it was pointed and so i got hit like right here and like went into my head oh i got like mad stitches oh my gosh your parents must have gone nuts yeah i think my mom went a little crazy uh but i was like four or five years old but they were like can't really do anything i think that like that's why my first my mom's first like white people ain't shit moment uh because you're like your first yeah i mean in america yeah for sure i was four or five i'm sure that was the first one where she encountered a white parent that she probably did not like interesting and i think that's interesting to think about but yeah wait what's the white people ain't shit moment in general what does that mean like this is this is a

country made by white people for white people uh and she had encountered a parent that was white that was like belligerent or overly defensive of some kid had done something wrong to her kid and uh there was no like and the school was run by white administrators so she was just like they're not really doing anything they're not taking my side about this whole thing like fuck it right and. Right. And that was like her, I think one of her defining, like, can't trust this shit. Yeah. Kind of moments early on from that I encountered. Did you feel like that, like, as you got older, did you feel like you had that a lot?

What? The white people ain't shit moments? No, absolutely not. lot what the white people ain't shit moments no absolutely not i had a i had a pretty pleasant at least maybe i'm not maybe i'm just blacking out all the moments that people were racist or anything to me but i can't recall like a lot of racial or racist incidents happening yeah it was like whenever i traveled with to places it would be like 20 of us. Yeah. What are you going to say to 20 people? What are you going to say to 20 people?

Go home, all of you. Like, come on, bro. Like, no one's doing that. At least they didn't. Yeah. All right. So, working on new jokes. You're working on new jokes.

For real. All right. That's what I do on the show. Yes, yes, yes. I run new jokes. We're working it out. We're working on new jokes for real all right that's what i do on the show yes yes i run i run new jokes we're working it out we're working it out um let me see how can i be of assistance here let me see what i can find let me see what i can find well this is this is what i think is kind of funny it's like it's like my daughter's eight which is like an amazing age but i can't live in the present and so all i is I just, my brain goes to when she's 16.

She's just going to be like, my dad is garbage. You know what I mean? But when I was a kid, you know, my dad didn't have to worry about that because like they disregarded children. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We would say that and they'd be like, is someone talking? You know what I mean? But now I'm going to have to be like, she's so brave.

I want to amplify her voice. You know what I mean but now i'm gonna have to be like she's so brave i want to amplify her voice you know what i mean i am garbage you're annoyed that you have to be more of a parent than your dad was yeah that's what it is really you're just like i can't wish but you turned out fine i turned out all right i think you know so like as a as a dad you're trying to embrace being a better dad than your dad was i guess so because i just think like what no matter what i think this joke that i've been kicking around which is like no matter what as a parent like your kids will reject you yes that's part of the process of growing up. So start rejecting them now. Start rejecting them now. Flip the switch. That's funny.

Have them come to you. Yeah. But it's like, yeah, so I'm just sort of coming to grips with the idea of like, oh yeah, I guess that's going to happen. And yeah, how's that going to go? Yeah.

But like I had this joke the other day where Jenny and I went to see our daughter in a ballet recital and we're crying and crying because she doesn't have it. You know what I mean? I'm in the business. I have a sense for this kind of thing. She can't stand on her toes yet?

Yeah. It's like 101. If you can't stand on your toes by eight years old, you know ballerining is not for you. No black swan for you, lady. And then I was hugging her afterwards i was like you know you were fantastic and she's like dad and she said this she goes dad you would say i was fantastic even if i wasn't fantastic and i said to her i go you're right like that's true

i go you're much better at logic than you are at ballet of course course, I didn't say. Dad. But that's why she's going to come at me when she's 16. Do you think, I mean, if you were to deliver that joke to your daughter, how do you think she would react? I think she'd think it's funny, actually. Una's really, my daughter's, I mean, of course, I'm biased. My daughter's a genius. My daughter's funny, all that stuff. biased my daughter's a genius my daughter's funny all that stuff but it's like I think she's pretty funny

I think she'd laugh I think for an angle of attack for the bit is your daughter outwitting you no absolutely that's definitely what's happening she would say I'm fantastic even though I wasn't fantastic.

Right. It's like I got checkmated by my daughter. But what if you told her, no, you wouldn't? What if you said, no, I wouldn't? And then she was like, you wouldn't? What kind of father are you? Oh, that's funny. Damn, you're supposed to.

What kind of father are you? That's funny. I always appreciate something that turns the uh the comic into an unexpected like you take an unexpected turn in your voice or your your joke for that yeah kind of thing like normally you would say maybe you would end it on your daughter checkmating you but i think always as like a fun exercise like What's the most extreme? Yeah, like run it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll be fun.

Completely. Yeah, so a lot of things I've been ruminating on lately have to do with like me thinking back to like when I was eight, when I was 10, you know, when I was a teenager. So much of like what I've, you know, like the way, I don't know what your process is in terms of like finding themes and stuff. It's like I kind of just do like a memory dump on stage in the sense of like, what's the thing I remember? What's a punchline for that?

What's the thing I remember, you know, et cetera. Yeah. And the thing I keep coming back to from high school and from being an adult is, I've always been someone who tries really hard. What prevents you from breaking that habit or being different, from not trying hard or changing your process or what what compels you to try as hard as you do i would venture to guess i'm playing

armchair psychiatrist at the moment i like it as dramaturgy or psychology whichever way you want to describe it i think it's i think honestly it's a it's just a void i think the try i think you try hard sometimes in my case just judge myself i think i i think you have a thing where you don't feel you know in my case like you know one of your parents you don't feel maybe as loved as and then and then you're like trying to fill the void that is that uh-huh and then you're like trying to fill the void. That is that. And then you're like, you don't know how. And so one of the ways is just trying really hard by following the rules of what people are doing that they seem like they know what they're doing. And so I think that's why I end up trying too hard. You think if you fixed that void, you would stop trying hard?

Quite possibly. I think about that all the time with Buddhism, because I read a lot of Buddhist stuff. And it's like, a lot of it is, if I arrived at this, the goals of Buddhism, I don't know if I'd have a lot of jokes. That's the problem.

Let's cut the mics. Let's cut the mics. Talk some shit about Buddhism and Hinduism. I've been waiting. Y'all close your ears, everybody. No, for real, though. Do you ever think about that?

I think about it. I've been thinking about it recently, actually. My friend reads a lot of Buddhist stuff, too. And we were talking about this high on my stoop the other day. So it might not be the fullest, most fully coherent set of thoughts on Buddhism and its teachings of acceptance. Because that's what it is, right?

Of course. You're supposed to accept the world. Accept the reality as it is or whatever it is, not even reality. And in Hinduism, it's a little similar where it's like Except the world. Except the reality as it is. Right. Or whatever it is, not even reality. And in Hinduism, it's a little similar where it's like they teach this concept of equanimity. Yeah. Which is being even keeled in any situation.

Yeah. Don't experience sadness. Don't experience happiness. Just be neutral because the only truth in the universe is that we're from the universe. We go back to the universe. Yeah. That's one of the tenets of Hinduism is. And in doing, trying to practice that, you remove your sense of joy. Yeah.

Because you don't find happiness in anything. And if you get something, you're like, am I supposed to feel good about this? Yeah. So it removes, it stops you from feeling that. It's kind of no peaks, no valleys. Exactly. And so like I'm always trying to get to the core thing that makes me feel that way.

Like going back to why you're trying so hard and what void you're trying to fill. I think if you were to catch that thing and not practice Buddhism, you might actually enjoy the thing that you caught, like if you filled that void. And maybe you still keep trying hard because that brings you joy now. Does that track? Can you repeat that last part?

I tracked it right until the end. If you try really hard, if you get to the thing that's making you try really hard, like you're trying to fill a void. So you're trying to work really hard so that you maybe you get this thing yeah if you got that thing let's say it's your dad's love yeah then easy then then i think you would try hard because that trying hard will bring you an additional level of joy right as opposed to right now you're not enjoying the trying because it's not bringing you the thing right you're just avoiding getting that thing right so for me like working very hard yeah for a long time i didn't realize i could i did not know why my parents divorced when i was two yeah right and i had that conversation with my mom and my dad uh not my

father my dad yeah who my mom remarried when i was like four yeah only dad i've ever known i resolved that issue and now like all my work is like freer i just intangibly freer interesting i'm like okay i'm not mad at this thing anymore whatever subconscious mad there was is gone and now whatever work i was doing to not feel that mad yeah is work i'm doing because i just enjoy doing the work yeah so anyway uh hinduism and buddhism are great philosophies and you should practice them if you can that's your save yeah that's your save at the end? Yes. Do you have jokes you're working on? Let's see.

I've been working on a bit about who the first Patel must have been in the country, you know, because everyone's like, why are there so many Patels? And I say this joke in my first specials because it's because we'd be fucking, right? But that made me think about like who was the first guy yeah because the what i know about indians in america how we ended up here yeah early 18 early 1900s late 1800s we were like brought here as work like we were working in like on the in the ports and all that kind of shit and thank you for that by the way yeah you're welcome um we really appreciate it and we talk about it all the time. We, the White Federation of America.

Bring it up in your notes at the meeting tonight. Then from like 1920 to 19... 1920, there's a landmark Supreme Court case, Bhagat Singh, then, versus the United States, where he's fighting, he's arguing for his right to vote in this country um and because caucasians are the only people allowed to vote at the time indian people in india were considered from caucasia like the sub like the geographical to whatever that is right i don't know but so they called us but they called us Caucasians because they already had Indians, you know, natives.

And 1921, that case happens. They say Indians are not Caucasian, so they can't vote. Moreover, you're all being deported. Wow. So they kick like 3,000 Indian people out of the country. Wow. And deport them. And so 1965, America lifts the asian american

exclusion act yeah which like was put into place like keep asians out of the country yeah and the first patel probably came over in like 1965 okay and they but they didn't go to like new york like cool places yeah they end up in like alabama sure yeah or you know and it's like who was that first guy that told and the story is they they tell all their cousins to come over work at the motels work in these places yeah and that's how you know at least part of the patel community became what it is which is like the largest owners of motels and hotels in the country i didn't know that that's's news to me. Very strongly held stereotype and very proud of it.

But Patel Motel Cartel is like a thing. Hudson's definitely said it. Hudson's part of it. Oh, really? For sure. But what I was saying is that first Patel

was definitely lonely and definitely a liar, right? Jacksonville's great. Definitely lonely, definitely a liar. like no jacksonville definitely lonely definitely a liar jacksonville's fantastic you gotta come great joke thank you but jacksonville's fantastic you gotta come it is the ultimate diss track jacksonville's fantastic that's a great album title too jacksonville's fantastic oh my god me and kat williams gonna go yeah yeah exactly nine minute tears about jacksonville i love yeah i love that bit that's great but like that i'm trying to expand that's an amazing bit i think one of the things i love about that bit is that it teaches me something too yeah because you go over like all the like the acts and all the

different history of it and it's like some of it i know some of it i don't know and it's like i really enjoy it especially that lands comedically thank you jacksonville's great and also it hinges on like the person was a liar yes hilarious that's thank you very much i appreciate that dissection of it it's just like what i i think there's a lot of meat on the um like the explanation bones still. Yeah, yeah. I know I can make jokes about each one of those things. Yeah. Again, my MO for writing is try to have a complete bit.

Yes. I have the same exact thing. Well, because without the complete bit, what are you doing? Right. I have tons of jokes. Yeah, I have tons. Trust me. I got cards and cards and cards of jokes and i always say like i'm trying to create a special

that essentially has six 10 minute chunks yes exactly turn this into six structure it add me to it whatever yeah and so with this one i know i'm just i know there's a ton of meat on the historical bones. Yeah, yeah. But it feels like a very early on. I know there's more after Jacksonville's fantastic. I think maybe there's some turn where you say you're a liar in some way or something where like, because I know I'm a liar. You know what I mean?

Maybe the family shows up. They're there with their suitcases that you said jacksonville was awesome right right right you can see that you can play that through where are the where are the women running around butt naked yes that's funny yeah i'll add to it but no bugs at all you said right right right you can start taking apart the places no but i i really do think you could pivot into something that like you where you've done an analogous thing in your life where you're lonely and lying yes it's like when i did this you know what i mean like i tried to you know convince someone to come out with me when I was, you know, just like I was stuck. I was stuck in Fargo.

Yeah, yeah. And I, you know, so I asked an opening act to come and do the show with me. And I was like, it's great. Yeah, yeah. Crowds are great. It's going to be a good time. Great hotel. Yeah, yeah.

I got you, man. There's definitely running water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, yeah, I know you mean it's like that joke is very front heavy and it's got a really strong short punch line but then like it's like well then what yes it's like if this then what else i i kind of envision it as the uh act one yeah of a of a five act hour-long play or a you know of a of a movie well the other thing is like you could dig into like what you could find out the truth of like what the first patel family was it's like it's it's so hard to trace is it really yeah i think like the discovery of like, you know, your theory is that first Patel was lonely and a liar.

And then the act two, I think, is finding out what the real Patel was like and how that compares and contrasts to what your theory is. And then no matter what, like if you're right, that's pretty funny. If you're wrong, that's pretty funny. Usually you're wrong is funnier than you're right.

A hundred percent. That's pretty funny. If you're wrong, that's pretty funny. Usually you're wrong is funnier than you're right. 100%. The first Patel was just an angelic benefactor of a man. Who knows? Yeah, who knows? Or something else. I mean, maybe he was a cult leader. I mean, who knows? I hope so.

I hope I'm like fourth generation victim of a cult. I don't even know it. Jesus. That'd be sick. So the final thing we do is working it out for a cause. And it's like we donate to an organization that you think does a good job and then we link to them in the show notes awesome yeah so like any non-profit that you ever contribute to i have my cousin's non-profit just started uh he's a member and then his wife is a co-founder of it it's called south asian americans for change that's great it's a mental health awareness non-profit mental health in the south asian communities i think like starting to get attention uh just now it feels like almost a groundswell

will happen soon but it's just starting to get attention and And just like I am not a spokesperson for the organization. Yeah. But I'm on not the board, but whatever. Like, hey, here. You're on hey here. Yes. Yeah. I appreciate this organization.

But my way of doing my charity for it is by just going to therapy and telling people I'm going to therapy. That's great. charity for it is by just going to therapy and telling people i'm going to therapy that's great and uh i'm going to be doing like so many bits about it but just there like it's like we can't the community is not can't not think of anything in relation to how is this going to be a bit yeah you know i mean that's half the reason i went is like all right i'm out of shit to talk about again and uh we'll contribute to them. And thanks for coming on, man. The special's great.

Congrats. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, man. Thank you very much. Working it out because it's not done. Working it out because there's no... That's going to do it

for another episode of Working It Out. I love that Nimesh Patel. You can watch that special Lucky Lefty on YouTube for free. YouTube. This is interesting. It's in English, and it's dubbed

into the Gujarati language. That's, wow. That's fascinating. I've never seen that before. You can follow Nimesh on Instagram at FindingNimesh. And you can watch the full video of this on our YouTube channel, Mike Birbiglia, at Mike Birbiglia, on YouTube.

Check that out. Subscribe to the channel. We've been posting these. People have loved the Jim Gaffigan episode, the Ira Glass episode, the Elise Myers episode, Hasan Minhaj episode. It's been, the YouTube experiment has been fascinating. It's something people have asked us for years to do, and we did it.

And all of you, I really appreciate that people have supported that. Check out Burbiggs.com to sign up for the mailing list for the upcoming shows. Our producers of Working It Out Are Myself, along with Peter Salamone and Joseph Birbiglia, associate producer Mabel Lewis,

consulting producer Seth Barish, assistant producer Gary Simons, sound mix by Shubh Saran, supervising engineer Kate Belinsky. Special thanks to Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfall, David Raphael, and Nita Quick. My consigliere is Mike Berkowitz. Special thanks to Jack Andonoff and Bleasures for their music.

They have a new single out this week called Modern Girl. I just, one of my favorite bands on the planet. Incredible. Special thanks to my wife, the poet J. Hope Stein. Little Astronaut is in your local bookstore. Special thanks, as always, to my daughter, Una, who built the original radio fort made of pillows. Thanks most of all to you who are listening.

If you enjoy this show, rate us and just write a thing on Apple Podcasts. It really helps. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell your doctor. A lot of medical talk on the show today. Maybe next time you're getting an exam, feeling a little vulnerable, you could break the tension, break the ice, and go,

Hey, while you're down there or up there or up here or over there, I just want to recommend a podcast you might enjoy. It's where this comedian Mike Birbiglia interviews other comedians and creative folk. Then maybe they'll tell their other patients because laughter is the best medicine, right? No, it's not. It's clearly not. But it is a type of medicine. It is. You know, I would go with medicine for your primary medicine and then maybe secondarily. Or as a tertiary solution, you could go with laughter. All right.

We're working it out, everybody. See you next time.