When they\u2019re not flipping tables or throwing glasses of wine in each other\u2019s faces, some Bravo celebrities try to make the leap from the small screen to the stage. Some have even attempted to become pop singers, though no one has ever accused any of them of sounding like Adele. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anisha Ramakrishna\u2019s crossover into live comedy, however, is no fluke or novelty. The star of Bravo\u2019s Family Karma<\/em> made her stand-up debut last year at New York\u2019s famed Carolines on Broadway. Now she\u2019s in the middle of a national tour, which includes a stop at San Jose Improv on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in India and raised in Indonesia, Ramakrishna was a 30-something entrepreneur with a clothing line when she and some other cast members were discovered on Instagram by a talent executive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Family Karma<\/em>, which conveniently began airing right at the start of the Covid lockdown in 2020, was the first reality show to focus on young Indian-American professionals from multi-generational families living in Miami and dealing with the pressures of dual cultures, careers and relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the series, fans watched Ramakrishna fend off her parents\u2019 demands to tie the knot and have children, try online dating and freeze her eggs. They also watched her crack jokes and act funny (some of which went viral), like the time she told a producer that her \u201cdating age range\u201d was somewhere between \u201c31 to a coffin.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n After three seasons, Ramakrishna got her happy ending when last October she married a nice Indian man from Scottsdale, Arizona, where she currently splits her time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks after her nuptials, Ramakrishna was invited to perform in an all-female South Asian comedy night called the Kutti Gang at Carolines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d been told I was funny, but I’ve never had any stand-up experience,\u201d says Ramakrishna. \u201cI just went and did it kind of like a one-and-done deal and had fun with it. But I actually did pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On her podcast, Currently Cringing, <\/em>Ramakrishna talked about getting into comedy at 38 and why she prefers to think of herself as a storyteller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love it because it\u2019s just me,\u201d says Ramakrishna, who names Eddie Murphy, Kathy Griffin, Chelsea Handler and Russell Peters as influences. \u201cThere\u2019s no one to blame. There’s no one to point the finger at. You either have it or you don’t. When the jokes don\u2019t land and the room is silent, you know not to say those jokes again. It’s pretty black and white. On a reality show, you can say that the viewers aren’t there, you can factor that in. But when you\u2019re doing stand-up comedy, it\u2019s just you on stage with an audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Success from Carolines led to a spot at the Miami Improv, where, according to Ramakrishna, she \u201cbombed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had put so much pressure on myself to impress my parents, their friends, my community,\u201d remembers Ramakrishna. \u201cThose are the people you want to impress the most, especially when you’re South Asian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But flopping in front of her hometown crowd didn\u2019t deter Ramakrishna from pursuing stand-up. Although on stage she pokes the usual fun at her family, Indian culture and newlywed life, her humor can be universal to anyone. (When a woman in her audience once said her mother-in- law lived in Africa, Ramakrishna told her she had \u201cwon the lottery of life.\u201d) <\/p>\n\n\n\n The comedy \u201clate bloomer\u201d has done more than a dozen stand-up dates so far but more importantly, she\u2019s helping to break the social barriers for other comedians of South Asian descent, particularly women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI talk about it in a comedic way, but part of my message in my shows is to fake it till you make it, and it\u2019s very important,\u201d says Ramakrishna. \u201cJust believe in yourself, even if others don\u2019t. I was in my late 30s and didn’t know what I was doing when we started Family Karma.<\/em> I didn’t have a job, wasn’t in a relationship, and those are the things that give you credibility in the world, but especially in South Asian culture. Everyone thought I was ruining the community, tarnishing my family name and my reputation as a woman in the culture. And now people are calling me a trailblazer. Fans of Family Karma<\/em> know my humor, so they\u2019re gonna think I\u2019m funny regardless. But the ones who don\u2019t go and buy tickets to my shows and think I\u2019m funny are the ones that make me think, \u2018OK, I\u2019m gonna keep doing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anisha Ramakrishna<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thurs, 8 p.m., $25<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Improv, San Jose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anisha Ramakrishna tickles the laughter out of audiences during her post reality TV show days. She’s coming to San Jose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14825,"featured_media":20171421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[1932],"tags":[10768,5274,537,5951,10667],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n