Raving

 

I’m a comedian. I do 8 things:
perform standup, host, act, write, speak, consult, rant & rave.

Raving

I’m a raver. I don’t mean glow sticks and water at 4 am. I just love lists. I love things. And I love to hate things.

Lists | Links | BCS Standings

Lists

Here are the things I love:

The Record of Records

Top Brands List

Favorite Movies Post-1990

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Links

Here are the sites I love:

WAIF – My Dad gives a weekly program on Saturdays
Laugh Factory – My home club in LA
Radio Dil – NY/NJ station that carries my weekly podcast

My friends do cool things:

Rakesh Satyal – My brother

Russell Peters – One of my comedy mentors

Kevin Nealon – One of my idols

Raman Sehgal – A traveled friend

Live Absolute by Menx – I write for her site

This Generation by Nancy Taylor – I write for her site

Brand Me Live by Melissa Johnson – I was her 1st client

Sara Knows Best by Sara Bedinghaus – Just a cool chick

When Do You Skip Gold? by Anonymous – Financial perspective

The Dating Advice Girl by Erin Tillman – Yep, I could use some

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BCS Standings

You know how in college football the rankings change every week depending upon the performance of the teams? Well, I’ve decided to do that for my friends. I’m calling them Brownie Points, appropriately.

I list out the top people who have done the most stuff for me. If you’re not on it, then… work harder. (This is obviously a joke. But… funny ’cause it’s true.)

The BCS is updated every Monday for the previous week’s Monday to Sunday.  The BCS is open to non-family members only; family has to do stuff for you – or to you.

The big difference between this list and real life is that this one is only limited to 10 entries whereas the BCS is 25.

Oh, and in real life, no one actually does this.  So, what does being #1 mean?  You get a free piece of merchandise.

For the week of Mon, Feb 7 – Sun, Feb 13:

  1. Laura Krage – Drove in the middle of the night to meet me at a gas station in Minnesota to return my bag that her husband accidentally picked up after our flight.
  2. Organizers of the U of Wisconsin – La Crosse show – Drove me in the middle of the night to the gas station in Minnesota to pick up said bag.
  3. Alexis Thomas & Russell Parrish – Hosting two awesome parties in NY and feeding us well.
  4. Alok Bansal – Busing it up to NY for one night of debauchery, despite mixed signals from me on whether I could even see his a@@.
  5. Melanie Kannokada – Getting us VIP tix to her TV debut filming of Rules of Engagement.
  6. Tim Karunaratne – Buying me a drink in celebration of Melanie’s debut.
  7. MONROK – Mock support of my creation of the new crew of young Indian Hollywood.
  8. Sunkrish Bala – Carryover from last week.
  9. Surina Jindal – Carryover from last week.
  10. Derek Kwan – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Jan 31 – Sun, Feb 6:

  1. MONROK – Scooping me at LAX on the way late night tip & hosting an impromptu after-party that I decided to throw.
  2. Sunkrish Bala – Rolling 5 deep to my Laugh Factory show on Fri – and rallying the troops.
  3. Surina Jindal – Rolling 5 deep to my Laugh Factory show on Fri.
  4. Derek Kwan – Rolling 5 deep to my Laugh Factory show on Fri.
  5. Sugar Sammy – Bought me a drink at The Roger Room on Sat.
  6. Melanie Kannokada – Carryover from last week.
  7. Alok Bansal – Carryover from last week.
  8. Dayna Solomon – Carryover from last week.
  9. Sarah Forgan & Matt Doane – Carryover from last week.
  10. Rob Calvert – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Jan 24 – Sun, Jan 30:

  1. Melanie Kannokada – Co-wrote/-produced our show for PhillyFest and, as usual, stepped up and committed the script to paper, amongst a million other things.
  2. Alok Bansal – Took me out for a sorely-needed round of drinks on Friday and gave me a place to crash all wknd in Philly.
  3. Dayna Solomon – Brought her fiance to my Laugh Factory show. Always a supporter, she has kept this friendship alive by putting up with my traveling ways.
  4. Sarah Forgan & Matt Doane – Spent their wedding anniversary with me at the Laugh Factory. That’s trust.
  5. Rob Calvert – Radio DJ friend from WEBN, now in Philly, tried & tried to track me down to meet up and didn’t hold it against me when it didn’t happen.
  6. Jim Lafferty – Carryover from last week.
  7. Lisa Moloney/Lance Herrington – Carryover from last week.
  8. Travis Cohen – Carryover from last week.
  9. Erin Tillman – Carryover from last week.
  10. Casey & Catherine Basil – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Jan 17 – Sun, Jan 23:

  1. Jim Lafferty – Gave an excellent speech at GE about Work/Life balance – and followed up w/ me on email.
  2. Lisa Moloney/Lance Herrington – Booked me for corporate gig at GE in Cincinnati.
  3. Travis Cohen – Had me on his weekly podcast.
  4. Erin Tillman – Came over to do my weekly podcast, giving me content at the deadline.
  5. Casey & Catherine Basil – My fave couple had me over and fed me.
  6. Amir K & Max Amini – Carryover from last week; Amir hit me up for another Saturday night spot at Ha Ha Cafe.
  7. Jane Le – Carryover from last week.
  8. Derek Kwan – Carryover from last week.
  9. Ramesh Arora – Carryover from last week.
  10. Jon Langdon – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Jan 10 – Sun, Jan 16:

  1. Naela KD Lindsay – Brought 3 people to Laugh Factory again and continued to do a lot of work for FI.com.
  2. Amir K & Max Amini – Saw me walking down the street and advocated for me to walk in and drop 12 minutes on a very hot Saturday night show, thereby reconnecting me to the Ha Ha Cafe.
  3. Jane Le – Recommended… and stayed on me until I registered for… a class with Diana Castle, which I think will take my acting to the next level.
  4. Derek Kwan – Brought 5 people to the Laugh Factory on Thursday… after bringing so many thru the years.
  5. Ramesh Arora – Brought 5 people to the Laugh Factory on Thursday.
  6. Jon Langdon – Childhood best friend putting up with my not picking up the phone for days on end and staying a good pal.
  7. Josh Yoo – Coming out for a drink when he had tons of work to do on Wednesday and then following that up by coming to the Laugh Factory on Thursday.
  8. Jon Schreiner – Carryover from last week.
  9. MONROK - Carryover from last week.
  10. Meena Dimian – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Jan 3 – Sun, Jan 9:

  1. Jane Le – Recommended… and stayed on me until I registered for… a class with Diana Castle, which I think will take my acting to the next level.
  2. Derek Kwan – Brought 5 people to the Laugh Factory on Thursday… after bringing so many thru the years.
  3. Ramesh Arora – Brought 5 people to the Laugh Factory on Thursday.
  4. Jon Langdon – Childhood best friend putting up with my not picking up the phone for days on end and staying a good pal.
  5. Josh Yoo – Coming out for a drink when he had tons of work to do on Wednesday and then following that up by coming to the Laugh Factory on Thursday.
  6. Jon Schreiner – Carryover from last week.
  7. MONROK - Carryover from last week.
  8. Meena Dimian – Carryover from last week.
  9. Noman Khan – Carryover from last week.
  10. The Gandhis – Carryover from last week.

For the week of Mon, Dec 27 – Sun, Jan 2:

  1. The Abneys & Wrights – For continuing the nearly-40-year tradition of having us over every Christmas Eve for an amazing dinner and company. This has come to define the Holidays for us.
  2. The Organizers of the New Year’s Eve Party in Appleton, Wisconsin – Sujatha Kailas, Sonu & Yogesh Pareek, & Nidhi Kumar hosted me and my friends at their fun get-together and got us nice Wisconsinesque gifts.
  3. Jon Schreiner – My freshman year roommate at Case Western came to downtown Milwaukee to hang out and drive us around on New Year’s Eve Eve.
  4. MONROK – Had nothing better to do than fly out to Wisconsin on New Year’s Eve to keep me company.
  5. Meena Dimian – Scooped me up last-minute at LAX at midnight on a Saturday. It’s good to be home.
  6. Noman Khan – Carry over from last week.
  7. Drs. Ramesh & Saroj Gandhi & Family – Carry over from last week.
  8. Dave Williamson – Carry over from last week.
  9. Azhar Usman – Carry over from last week.
  10. Cindy Chiang & Ernie Halvorsen – Carry over from last week.

For the week of Mon, Dec 20 – Sun, Dec 26:

On Vacation

For the week of Mon, Dec 13 – Sun, Dec 19:

  1. Noman Khan – Booked me on a corporate gig and landed a meeting for Funny ‘Cause It’s True.
  2. Drs. Ramesh & Saroj Gandhi & Family – Invited me to host their son’s wedding in Miami, FL – my 1st trip there – and treated me so well.
  3. Dave Williamson – Friend of a friend who had me come to Miami for a last-minute show at a comedy club.
  4. Azhar Usman – Gave me a place to crash & ride in Chicago.
  5. Cindy Chiang & Ernie Halvorsen – Gave me a place to crash for 2 nights in Chicago… and hung out with me.
  6. Charles Peters – Shout-out to my new comic friend in Miami (and his bro, Alex) for treating me to dinner & giving me a ride all the way from the Ft. Lauderdale airport to my hotel in Miami Beach.
  7. Nadia Wilson – For scooping me from O’Hare on a frigid night and dropping me off in Wrigleyville… always good times over dinner & drinks.
  8. Curtis Kadohama – Friend from Case Western and LA who was a welcome familiar face in Miami… provided recos on all the hot spots.
  9. Sunanda Patel – Carryover from the #1 spot last week… still checking up on me after my Grampa’s passing.
  10. Dustin Brewer – Carryover from the #2 spot last week… doing post-launch website cleanup.
    For the week of Mon, Dec 6 – Sun, Dec 12:
  1. Sunanda Patel – 1st person to ever win the award.  A real honor.  There for me in DC when I found out my 98-year-old Grampa had passed.  A true friend.
  2. Dustin Brewer – Stepped up in the 11th hour to lead the team of Sarah Miller, Brian Maier, and Bobby Uhlenbrock in the launch of the new FI.com.
  3. Shivali Madan – Crashed w/ her for 4 days in NY.  Providing a place for me is a surefire way to make the list.
  4. Vinoda Basnayake – Crashed w/ him for 4 days in DC.  Ditto.
  5. Tim Karunaratne – Got me an audition for a network sitcom.
  6. Pooja Kumar – Persisted until I met for the 1st time ever w/ a helpful astrologist.
  7. Alok Bansal – Crashed for a day in Philly.
  8. Samia Khan – Stayed extra hours to see me on the East Coast.  Picked me up at Train Station in the cold.  Rides are another surefire method of getting on.
  9. Naela KD Lindsay – Did last-minute help for FI.com.  Working for free.  (If I pay you, your chances are much slimmer of making it on.  #2 was above-and-beyond.)
  10. MONROK – Drove the editing of our 1st video.  But mostly she’ll cry if she doesn’t make the list.  Especially since her sister (#3) did.

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