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Aziz Ansari’s Goes Public as a Feminist While Promoting his “Live!” Tour
Aziz Ansari wears a lot of hats: comedian, actor, humanitarian. More so, he is a voracious Twitter-verified foodie. And in what seems to be a growing trend lately, with every celebrity out there from Beyonce to Joseph Gordon-Levitt declaring their support for gender equality, Ansari officially added “feminist” to the list of words that describe him during his spot on a recently aired David Letterman show.
Aziz Ansari wears a lot of hats: comedian, actor, humanitarian. More so, he is a voracious Twitter-verified foodie. And in what seems to be a growing trend lately, with every celebrity out there from Beyonce to Joseph Gordon-Levitt declaring their support for gender equality, Ansari officially added “feminist” to the list of words that describe him during his spot on a recently aired David Letterman show.
The appearance came as part of a media blitz for Ansari’s ongoing tour, Live!, that spanned not just U.S. cities throughout the month, but will make its grand finale in London in November.
The fourth of Ansari’s individual tours since he headlined his first, titled “Glow in the Dark, in 2008,” Live! delivers a fresher, funnier slate of his distinctive brand of humor. Ansari’s stand-up is a mixed bag of miscellaneous pop culture-centered bits, riotous reflections on personal anecdotes, and more notably, using as well as calling out racial stereotypes—particularly of his own South Asian heritage, without being combative or offensive, just straight-up hilarious.
Make no mistake, his routines, generously seasoned with obscenities, are undoubtedly of the “think twice before you watch them with your parents” variety.” But rather than gratuitous—a fatal flaw of many stand-up comics’ acts—his use of profanity usually only adds to the humor, and is further tempered by the inclusion, in his latest shows, of more sensitive material reflecting a deliberate intention to underscore his now-public support for the current cultural spotlight on female empowerment. In fact, the way he “came out” as a feminist itself perfectly encapsulates his matter of fact, yet tongue-firmly-in-cheek style:
“If you look up feminist in the dictionary, it just means someone who believes men and women have equal rights. And I feel that everyone here believes men and women have equal rights. “You’re a feminist if you go to a Jay-Z and Beyoncé concert and you’re not like…shouldn’t she make Jay a steak?’
The overall effect is that of a highly receptive, but still feel-good, positive outlook on both mundane and hot-button issues.
Veering away from the world of business that a degree from New York University had groomed him for may have been an unconventional career move (and thus, one he initially hid from his parents), but his talent and steady upward trajectory so far have confirmed that his future was slated for comedy all along. After college graduation in 2004, the 31-year-old South Carolina native worked his way through open-mic nights, drew regular crowds at his Upright Citizens Brigade Theater shows, and starred in MTV variety show “Human Giant.”
Upon moving to Los Angeles in 2009, he landed a film role as a comedian in Judd Apatow’s “Funny People.” Though the appearance was small, its payoffs since have been anything but: a series of national stand-up tours, more ventures into the movies with parts in “Get Him to the Greek” and “Ice Age: Continental Drift” among others, and a recurring, American Comedy Award-nominated role on NBC television show “Parks and Recreation,” now on the cusp of its seventh final season. As the quick-witted and cocky Tom Haverford, the unlikely name and race-neutral plotlines for his character are further proof Ansari’s successful transgression beyond racial parameters so often set forth by show business.
While no stranger to filled theaters, Live! has exceptional significance for Ansari: October 9th marked his first time performing—two shows in a single night, at that—at Manhattan’s iconic Madison Square Garden, widely regarded as the penultimate venue for performing artists the world over. Fourteen years since his first stand-up gig in New York City, Aziz Ansari has come full circle—and he’s only just getting started.
Check out Aziz Ansari’s Tour Dates & Blog