Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari | |
|---|---|
 Aziz Ansari, September 2008 | |
| Occupation(s) | Actor Comedian Writer Producer |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Website | http://www.azizisbored.com |
Aziz Ansari (Abdulaziz Ansari) (born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and comedian. He stars as Tom Haverford on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. Ansari also created and starred in the critically acclaimed, cult MTV sketch show Human Giant. In November 2009, it was announced that Ansari and Jason Woliner will collaborate in developing three films with Judd Apatow and Universal Pictures. Ansari will appear in, and Woliner will direct the projects.[1]
Biography
He was born in South Carolina and his parents are from Tamil Nadu, India. He attended the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville SC.
Career
Stand-up comedy
Ansari began his career performing stand-up comedy in New York while attending New York University. He performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre frequently. In 2005, Rolling Stone included him in their annual "Hot List" as their choice for the "Hot Standup",[2] and he won the Jury Award for "Best Standup" at HBO's 2006 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.[3] He tours colleges and music festivals occasionally, and has also toured with the Comedians of Comedy and the Flight of the Conchords. Ansari headlined his own comedy tour, the Glow in the Dark Tour, in the fall of 2008 and early 2009.
In July 2009, near the end of the Glow In The Dark tour, Ansari filmed a DVD/CD special for Comedy Central. The set, titled Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, aired January 17, 2010, with a CD/LP/DVD release on January 19.[4] This new set included many new topics some of which were: Cold Stone, Gay Rights, Facebook and Kanye West.
Human Giant
Around the summer of 2005, Ansari began collaborating with fellow comedians Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer (both of the famed improv troupe Respecto Montalban), as well as director Jason Woliner to make short films. The first series created by the group was Shutterbugs, which followed Huebel and Ansari as cutthroat child talent agents. This was followed up by the Illusionators, which starred Ansari and Scheer as Criss Angel-style goth magicians. In mid-2006, MTV greenlit a sketch series from the group which debuted April 5, 2007. The critically acclaimed show completed two seasons. The group was offered a third season, but they were unable to accept due to other commitments.
Parks and Recreation
In June 2008, Ansari was announced as the first cast hire for NBC's new comedy from producers of The Office.[5] The show, Parks and Recreation, debuted in April 2009. Ansari's performance as Tom Haverford has received notable praise from critics, including Yahoo! TV which placed him in the number one spot of their list of "TV MVPs: The Most Valuable Performers of the Fall Season."[6]
Other notable television work
In addition to his work on Parks and Recreation, Ansari appeared on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords[5] as a xenophobic fruit vendor. He also had a recurring role in season eight of the ABC sitcom Scrubs as Ed Dhandapani, a new intern to the hospital. Anzari's character was fired by the hospital and written off the show to allow him to film Parks and Recreation.
Apatow-Universal development deal
In the summer of 2009, Ansari appeared in the Judd Apatow film Funny People with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as an energetic stand-up comedian named Raaaaaaaandy. Apatow liked Ansari's character and commissioned him and Human Giant collaborator Jason Woliner to create online shorts centered around Raaaaaaaandy to promote the film. These shorts proved successful and the Raaaaaaaandy character became the subject of one of the film ideas Ansari and Woliner are currently developing for Apatow Productions. Two other ideas in development are "Let's Do This", a road movie about two motivational speakers, and an untitled film about two disgraced astronauts who must return to space to clear their names.[1]
Personal
Although some Indians and other Americans expect Ansari to perform work based on his ethnic ancestry, he avoids such issues in his comedy. “I like talking about things that are going on in my life, because that’s always going to be different and original,” he says. “No one else is gonna be talking about my personal experiences."[7]
Recently he has been working on a mixtape with Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio. No release date has been set, claiming "We'll put that shit out when we want."[8][9] A website has been created to promote the mixtape since.[10]
Filmography
| Films | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Other Notes |
| 2006 | School for Scoundrels | Classmate | |
| 2008 | The Rocker | Aziz | |
| 2009 | Funny People | Randy Springs | |
| Observe and Report | Saddamn | ||
| I Love You, Man | Eugene | ||
| 2010 | Get Him to the Greek | TBA | (post-production) |
Television
| Films | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Other Notes |
| 2007 | Flight of the Conchords | Sinjay | |
| Human Giant | Cast Member | ||
| 2008 | Worst Week | Morgue Employee | |
| 2009 | Reno 911! | Insurance Representative | |
| Scrubs | Ed Dhandapani | (4 episodes) | |
| Parks and Recreation | Tom Haverford | Regular cast member | |
| 2010 | Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening | Stand-up (in January) | |
Discography
- Raaaaaaaandy Mixtape (with Dave Sitek)
References
- ^ a b "Apatow, Universal pick up pitches. Ansari, Woliner score with trio of comedy concepts". November 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
- ^ "Hot Standup", Rolling Stone
- ^ HBO's Comedy Fest announces winners, HBO press release, festivalfocus.org, 12 March 2006.
- ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/37085-aziz-ansari-preps-stand-up-album/
- ^ a b Schneider, Michael. Aziz Ansari hired for 'Office' spinoff, Variety, 12 June 2008.
- ^ http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/tv-mvps-the-most-valuable-performers-of-the-fall-season--724
- ^ https://venuszine.com/articles/art_and_culture/culture/2046/Aziz_Ansari
- ^ http://www.thefader.com/2010/02/18/aziz-ansari-has-a-new-mixtape-with-dave-sitek-doesnt-let-us-do-a-drop/
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T_TTTGfuLU&feature=player_embedded
- ^ http://randymixtape.com/
External links
- Official website
- The Human Giant
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Aziz Ansari on National Public Radio
Interviews and articles
- Wall Street Journal Profile - 2009
- Human Giant profile, New York Magazine
- Winner - Jury Award - Best Standup - 2006 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen
- Human Giant Named One of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" in 2006, Variety
- Interview With Scene Missing Magazine
- Pitchforkmedia - Human Giant Interview, 03.10.08
- Pitchforkmedia - Human Giant Interview, 03.29.07
- Human Giant interview, The Onion AV Club
- "No One Says '9/11.' No One Needs To.", The New York Times
- Human Giant 24 Hour Marathon Coverage, The Onion AV Club
- Human Giant 24 Hour Marathon Coverage, Village Voice
- "Aziz Ansari Will Make You Laugh": 2007 interview by Ranjit Souri in The DesiConnect
- Interview with Aziz Ansari - Liberation Frequency Magazine UK