Bay Area-based, Indian-born comedians Samson Koletkar and Abhay Nadkarni are presenting The 4th Annual Desi Comedy Fest! This 11-day South Asian stand up comedy extravaganza is touring comedy clubs and theaters in 9 cities throughout Northern California: San Francisco, Berkeley, Mill Valley, Santa Clara, Union City, Alameda, Livermore, Santa Cruz, and Mountain View.
The festival, the largest of its kind in the US, will run August 10-20 and feature 40 South Asian comedians from all over the US, India and South Africa with diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.
As festival co-producer Abhay Nadkarni explains that "2017 has been a great year for South Asian comics. Aziz Ansari hosted Saturday Night Live, Hasan Minhaj hosted The White House Correspondents Dinner, Kumail Nanjiani is back with a new season of Silicon Valley, and Aditi Mittal got her own Netflix special, just to name a few."
Co-producer Samson Koletkar feels that, given the current political state, it's important to host a place for South Asian voices to be heard, and "breaking stereotypes with humor is an effective way to do so.”
For more information, a full list of performers, and to purchase tickets, click here.
Here is the full list of dates, times, and venues for the festival:
- Fri, August 11 @ 8pm: Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda
- Sat, August 12 @ 8pm: Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara
- Sun, August 13 @ 7pm: Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St, Berkeley
- Mon, August 14 @ 8pm: Docs Lab, 124 Columbus Ave, San Francisco
- Tues, August 15 @ 8pm: Throckmorton Theater, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley
- Wed, August 16 @ 8pm: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St, Mountain View
- Thurs, August 17 @ 8pm: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz
- Fri, August 18 @ 8pm: James Logan Center, 1800 H St, Union City
- Sat, August 19 @ 8pm: Bankhead Theater, 2400 1st St, Livermore
- Sun, August 20 @ 7pm: Marines’ Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter St, San Francisco
