Chicago Comedian Meg Indurti On Breaking Down Stereotypes Onstage
By Jason MarckChicago Comedian Meg Indurti On Breaking Down Stereotypes Onstage
By Jason MarckIt’s not unusual for a group of comedians to get together to do a benefit, but Thursday’s event at the Cards Against Humanity theater has a unique twist.
Six Chicago comics who are either immigrants or the children of immigrants will take the stage as part of “Bordering On Hilarious: A Comedy Showcase Benefiting The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.”
Morning Shift checks in with one of the performers, comic and writer Meg Indurti, about her experiences growing up as an immigrant, and how those experiences have shaped her comedy.
On moving to the U.S. from India at age 7
Meg Indurti: In Massachusetts I was the only brown kid in my school so everyone was like, really confused. They’d ask me questions about India like ‘Do you guys have TV’s over there, and bathrooms?’ And I was like…uhhh, yeah, where do you think I’m from?! And because I had an accent sometimes I was literally embarrassed to speak, so I would write a lot more. And most things I wrote were made up and funny, so I think that led me into wanting to be a writer and a comedian.
On walking the tightrope between people laughing with her culture versus at her culture
Indurti: I’m always hesitant to do things like an Indian accent on stage because I don’t want you laughing at the accent or laughing at my culture. But at the same time there’s definitely things about it that are easy to make fun of because of the double worlds you’re balancing. I think the biggest difference is that I’m the one that’s doing it on stage. It’s not some white guy talking about Indian culture, it’s me talking about it from my perspective of being an Indian woman or being an immigrant, and all the double standards that come with that. So it’s not based on stereotypes, it’s based on my actual experiences.
GUEST: Meg Indurti, comedian and writer