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VPR's coverage of arts and culture in the region.

Hari Kondabolu Brings Serious Laughs To ArtsRiot In Burlington

Courtesy
Comedian Hari Kondabolu performs at ArtsRiot in Burlington on Sept. 18.

Comedian Hari Kondabolu is known for his smart comedy, which often digs deep into issues of race. His newest album is called Waiting for 2042. That’s the year when it’s projected that white people will be the minority in the United States.

In an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman earlier this year, he hit on immigration: “I hate how immigrants are talked about in this country. I was watching CNN, my mistake,” he said. “They were interviewing this woman in Arizona, who’s against immigration. And she says, ‘Look, we’re just trying to bring this country back to the way it used to be.’ The way it used to be? Lady, you’re in Arizona. It used to be Mexico.”

Hari Kondabolu will be in Burlington on Thursday night as part of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series.

Kondabolu is a smart guy. He has a masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics. So why tell jokes to drunk people?

“I always did comedy. Since high school on, I’ve written down every thought I ever had and tried to make it funny,” he explained. “I grew up in New York, a very big comedy town. And I moved to Seattle to be a Human Rights organizer. I did comedy at night. It was a passion, and it took off,” he said.

His big break was on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2006, followed by a gig in the HBO Comedy Festival. “All of a sudden I had a comedy career I didn’t plan on having,” he said. But social justice seeps into his comedy, and he often focuses on racism.  

In a routine on John Oliver's Stand Up NY program, he talked about how people will sometimes ask where he’s from, and when he answers "Queens, NY," that doesn't satisfy them, and they continue to press for answers, based on his skin color.

“That will come in, in big cities and small towns. And even if it’s attached to ‘I’ve been to India,’ it’s very frustrating because I don’t care about your trip to India, I just met you,” he said. “It limits a person’s identity to one thing. The second you ask that question before you know my name or what I’m interested in, or who I’m am, you’ve already taken yourself out of the running to be a friend of mine.”

Kondabolu said when he comes to Burlington on Thursday, the core of his comedy won’t change, but he does try to add some local touches. He’s especially interested in a local controversy in Winooski, where a bistro took a sign about bacon down, after a person complained that the sign was offensive to Muslims and vegans. That touched off an online firestorm of criticism, mostly from outside of Vermont, from people who thought the bistro was capitulating.

“It’s fascinating because you could be critical of, is that sign really a big deal?” Kondabolu asked. “The more important thing is that someone in your community stepped up to say, ‘It’s not worth it to me to offend you, because I care about my business and the community enough. Then why are you upset?’ And also, it doesn’t look good for the town, once we start removing our signs the tourists are not going to come anymore. I mean, I don’t think that was really the appeal to your town in Vermont to begin with and if it is, it’s sad.”

Hari Konabolu will be appearing on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at ArtsRiot in Burlington.

Melody is the Contributing Editor for But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids and the co-author of two But Why books with Jane Lindholm.
A graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.
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