Kiran Deol
Kiran Deol is a stand-up comedian/actor who starred on the NBC/Hulu comedy Sunnyside from Mike Schur and Kal Penn, in addition to other shows like How to Get Away with Murder and Modern Family. She stars opposite Alex Winter and Jonah Ray in Destroy All Neighbors, coming to Shudder this January after a theatrical release; and the lead in Meera Menon's latest work in progress feature Didn't Die. She’s a co-host on Crooked Media’s Hysteria podcast and a touring stand-up comedian. As a writer/director, Kiran has made films for HBO and Sundance, premiered at TIFF, been nominated for an Emmy, and shortlisted for an Academy Award.
On the touring side, Kiran has headlined at the New York Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, and can be seen at colleges and comedy clubs across the country. She's hot off of a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which the Guardian called "Engrossing...we get charisma and technical prowess from Deol" with a four star review from the Comic's Comic that she'll be taping at Dynasty Typewriter on Sunday November 12th at 7:30pm.
After an act of violence committed against you last year, a DA gave you a choice: give your assailant 6 years in prison or 2 years of probation. Being faced with that decision places an enormous amount of power in your hands to determine the course of another person's life, in addition to the burden of recovering from the incident itself. How do you talk about this on stage, and what helped you transform the experience from "black eyes to dark comedy"?
I just did my best to find the jokes organically; I think they served as a real pressure valve of relief for me personally. I started talking about it at the local show I run, Peacock. It's weekly on Thursdays at Club TeeGee with a wonderful team. Then over the summer I workshopped the show as a work in progress at local watering holes like Lyric Hyperion, and the Nitecap in Burbank. Having audiences and friends watch the show early helped to give it time and space to iterate and shape to become the show that we are taping on Sunday :-)
How has "Assault on Comedy" felt different from your previous work? Is there anything the performance is revealing to you, about yourself creatively or personally?
This is probably the most personal thing I have done. It certainly feels the most vulnerable. Probably because it centers around a real attack that happened. It also trusts the audience will get on board and go on the roller coaster with you: to create the alchemy of laughter and healing that's intended.
Is there anything, creatively or in entertainment, that you haven't had a chance to try yet? What is something new you're looking forward to exploring?
I look forward to having a budget bigger than I know what to do with. Lol. Maybe that sounds shallow. But a lot of creating entertainment comes down to a collaboration of a lot of people's time, effort, and creativity. Having a good budget means you can pay your people. I would truly like to get to a place where I can pay my people.
What are you working on next, after this show? Where can we see your work? When will the taping of "Assault on Comedy" be available to watch?
Great questions! A film I acted in with Alex Winter called Destroy All Neighbors will be out on Shudder, in January. I just wrapped a feature film by the terrific director Meera Menon, called, Didn't Die. With any luck, that should be out next year. And hopefully Assault on Comedy will be available sometime next year. :-) TBD. Stay tuned.
Are your friends or peers working on anything right now that you'd recommend we check out? Anything we should go see?
Aparna Nancherla has a new book out that is supposed to be terrific that I am really looking forward to reading. Beth Stelling has a new special on Netflix that is directed by Mo Welch, and looks really great. Aida Rodriguez has a book coming out that I can't wait to read. Hasan Minhaj has a new special he is touring that is a hoot and worth seeing.
I am sure there are many more that I am forgetting right now but it's exciting to see so many terrific artists doing wonderful work. I hope it continues.