Chances are that you’ve heard of Lilly Singh, Mindy Kaling or Russell Peters. Sharing a South Asian heritage, these three comedy stars faced challenges navigating an unconventional career path. Immigrants in North America often sacrifice their dreams to secure a stable future. But major cultural shifts in modern-day society have granted today’s youth the freedom to pursue their passions.
Representation of one’s own culture in comedy is so important. It ensures that all individuals are seen and heard in the entertainment arena. Today, meet a rising Indian-American comedian from Michigan: Shounak Vale.
Vale has embraced his love of comedy, and dreams of one day headlining his own Netflix comedy special. Among other venues, he has graced the stage at an Ann Arbor favorite, The Blind Pig, and Detroit Shipping Company. After graduating from Michigan in 2018, he started working as a Software Engineer at Capital One and moved to Washington DC, eventually finding his way to the big Apple. Although friends frequently told him he would excel at stand-up comedy, he didn’t take it seriously until after college.
“I started going to open mics in DC and I absolutely sucked but was having fun! I enjoyed writing jokes and seeing if they would get a laugh, so I kept going to open mics, meeting comedians in the scene, figuring out how the scene works when it came to shows. Eventually, I started getting booked on shows with actual audiences and worked on getting better! At some point it turned into more than just a hobby where I realized that I truly enjoyed the craft and would love to make it a long-term thing,” Vale said.
Vale admitted that he hasn’t faced many of the difficulties that immigrant children usually do while pursuing a non-traditional realm of work.
“One challenge I know a lot of Indian-Americans face when it comes to pursuing a creative field is not getting the support of their parents, but that’s one thing I’m lucky enough to say I don’t have to worry about. My parents have been fully supportive of me and this career path. They are my biggest fans and I can’t thank them enough for it.”
When preparing for gigs, Vale takes inspiration from his life experiences, transforming snippets of real situations into comedic episodes.
“The first comedian I ever watched was Russell Peters — the videos that went crazy viral on Youtube years ago. Other comedians who inspire me include Hasan Minhaj, Nimesh Patel, Alingon Mitra and Ralph Barbosa,” he said.
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Like the many comedians before him who have paved their own paths to success, Vale aspires to one day get his own Netflix special. But before then, he says he would love to progress to the point where he can make a living through comedy.
Vale will be at the Motor City Comedy Festival the week of September 17. He also regularly performs every Sunday at a bar in Brooklyn, New York called Halyards. On November 16, he will be running his own 30-45 minute set in New York City. Check out @shovalecomedy on all social media platforms for more.
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