Going on a TanGent
Rajiv Satyal is an American comedian. He is the first person ever to perform stand-up comedy on all seven continents.
Rajiv Satyal was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in materials engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2000. During college, he interned on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, for Rep. Steve Chabot. Satyal did two co-op terms at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Then he got a job, working for Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati. Satyal co-led branded entertainment strategy for all brands in North America for Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser. While at P&G, Satyal created content for Home Made Simple, a site visited by 15 million people per month. He was named P&G’s Funniest Employee in 2005. Satyal performed stand-up routines at corporate events. In 2006, Satyal left P&G and moved to Los Angeles. We’re not sure what this says about P&G, but Rajiv is the third comedian to come out of the Cincinnati offices of Procter & Gamble.
Satyal’s TV-clean act resonates with Middle America. Satyal did not do any ethnic humor during his first few years.
It was Pete Sampras, then World No. 1 men’s tennis player, who told Satyal to start doing Indian jokes. Satyal has described his performance style as alternatingly self-aggrandizing and self-deprecating. “I feel like growing up in Ohio, it made me kind of more of an everyman being able to relate to people in the heartland of the country. I think people on the coast have their own sensibility, but it’s hard to know what works inland. A lot of comedians are like hurricanes; they knock it out on the coast, but when they come inland they die.” The actress Eva Longoria once told Satyal she thought he was “hilarious”.
Satyal opened for the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in front of 17,000 people in San Jose, California. He also hosts a podcast entitled, The TanGent Show, formerly known as The Funny Indian Show. He has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Kevin Nealon, Seth Godin, Russell Peters, Kumail Nanjiani and others.
But one of his funnies bits turned out to be the minutes he spent with us on The Approach Shot.
