Negin Farsad is addicted to your laughter

SEE NEGIN 6/26 AT GOLD Comedy LIVE!

Negin Farsad was named one of 50 Funniest Women by Huffington Post, named one of the 10 Best Feminist Comedians by Paper Magazine, and was selected as a TEDFellow for her work in social justice comedy. She is the author of How To Make White People Laugh, a memoir-meets-social-justice-comedy manifesto which was nominated for the Thurber Prize for Humor and recommended by Oprah Magazine. Farsad is host of Fake the Nation, a political comedy podcast on the Earwolf network and she’s a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. She is director/producer of the feature films The Muslims Are Coming! starring Jon Stewart, David Cross, and Lewis Black and Nerdcore Rising, starring Weird Al Yankovic (both available wherever movies are streamed/downloaded).

What advice do you have for how to level up from open mics + bringers to actual SPOT-spots?

Ask for actual spots spots.

Describe your worst gig. 

An audience of 400 in Berkeley, 200 of them children, no one told me there would be children.

On your deathbed, what transcendent advice would you croak at a young (female/LGBTQI) comedian?

Stop hating yourself.

 

Favorite response to a heckler or troll?

I find that ignoring them deflates them.

 

What’s your first impulse when someone says “women aren’t funny”?

Yawn.

 

When you were coming up in comedy, what helped you stick with it?

The laughs are addictive.

 

Best comedy advice you ever got?

Don’t jump into the material, it feels too mechanical.

 

Worst comedy advice you ever got?

“Wear pants so being female is less distracting.”

 

How has being funny helped you in your offstage life, either recently or when you were younger?

I can handle any audience. In real life that means I can hold down a conversation with a pair of socks if I need to.

Favorite response to “What’s it like to be a woman in comedy”? 

It’s like being a man in comedy but with more tits.

 

Negin Farsad was named one of 50 Funniest Women by Huffington Post, named one of the 10 Best Feminist Comedians by Paper Magazine, and was selected as a TEDFellow for her work in social justice comedy. She is the author of How To Make White People Laugh, a memoir-meets-social-justice-comedy manifesto which was nominated for the Thurber Prize for Humor and recommended by Oprah Magazine. Farsad is host of Fake the Nation, a political comedy podcast on the Earwolf network and she’s a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. She is director/producer of the feature films The Muslims Are Coming! starring Jon Stewart, David Cross, and Lewis Black and Nerdcore Rising, starring Weird Al Yankovic (both available wherever movies are streamed/downloaded).