{"id":20179495,"date":"2025-02-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/?p=20179495"},"modified":"2025-02-19T07:16:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T15:16:03","slug":"abby-govindan-finds-the-funny-in-family-dynamics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/abby-govindan-finds-the-funny-in-family-dynamics\/","title":{"rendered":"Abby Govindan Finds the Funny in Family Dynamics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The cultural divide between kids and their immigrant parents is as common a topic in stand-up comedy as sex and weed jokes. It\u2019s the basis of N.Y.-based comedian Abby Govindan\u2019s one-woman show, How to Embarrass Your Immigrant Parents<\/em>, which she brings to San Jose Improv on Feb. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At only 27, Govindan is already on a nationwide tour, having opened for Russell Peters and Hasan Minhaj. Born in Lubbock, Texas, to Indian parents, and raised in Houston, she started doing stand-up while studying psychology at Fordham University. Govindan made her debut at the famed (now shuttered) Carolines on Broadway. She counts as comedy influences Mo Amer, Ali Wong, John Mulaney, Hannah Gadsby, Aparna Nancherla, Peters and especially Minhaj.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHasan Minhaj was really a trailblazer in a way for a comedian like me to be able to find success,\u201d Govindan says. \u201cHe does storytelling. He does stand-up comedy. And he does them so well. He holds these silences and takes the audience on uncomfortable journeys, and he leads them to places emotionally that are just so raw, unique and creative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Govindan says she found performing on stage therapeutic after experiencing a bad breakup and surviving a suicide attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my darkest moments growing up and being in college, I really turned to comedy as a means of coping,\u201d Govindan says. \u201cIt felt like the comedians were my friends helping me through when I didn\u2019t feel like I could turn to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, she wrote an article titled \u201cTips on How to Disappoint Your Immigrant Parents Without Trying\u201d for the online newsletter of Malala Yousefzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel Prize winner. In it, she lists as examples \u201cdate non-Indian boys,\u201d \u201cdate Indian boys,\u201d \u201cstudy psychology in college\u201d and \u201cdislike the way coconut tastes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Govindan turned the essay into a one-hour show, using texts and emails between her and her parents to crack wise about their family dynamics. It\u2019s directed by Greg Walloch, who also directed Minhaj\u2019s Netflix special, Homecoming King<\/em>, and produced by Daniel Sloss, the Scottish comedian who starred in his own Netflix specials, DARK<\/em> and Jigsaw<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Govindan broke the news of her stand-up dreams to her parents, they were initially less than enthusiastic, a typical response from older-generation immigrants who\u2019d rather see their children pursue more profitable professions. But Govindan insists she refrains from disparaging them in her comedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u2018I carry so much pride in my South Asian heritage,\u2019 comedian Abby Govindan says. \u2018I want to change the conversation around immigrant kids and their parents.\u2019 PHOTO: Kat Soriano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy show is about how I told my parents I wanted to be a stand-up comedian, how our relationship fell apart because of it, and how we built our relationship back up after my brief sit in a mental hospital,\u201d says Govindan. \u201cI make fun of my parents, but I also talk about the ways in which they stumbled and fell, and how at every point they were just trying their best to understand me. And once I granted them that grace, it was a lot more peaceful for me in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are not just my silly immigrant parents. They are complex beings that I reduced to one-dimensional characters. They\u2019re two people who were figuring life out for the first time, just like I am. They were brought up in a completely different cultural context than I am, and I think that I do them a great disservice if I just keep making them the villains in my story,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Govindan is taking her show to London and Sydney, Australia. Ultimately, she\u2019d like to perform in India so she can \u201cgive insight into the Indian-American experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI carry so much pride in my South Asian heritage,\u201d Govindan says. \u201cI want to change the conversation around immigrant kids and their parents. A lot of people share with me after my shows about how validating it is to see me talk about my mental health on stage. A lot of them are other South Asian people who tell me about their own struggles with mental health and their own experiences in the hospital. Storytelling is a means of connecting with audiences, and previous comedians have changed my life for the better. They were vulnerable on stage, and I want to be able to carry that torch. At the end of the day, my job is to get on stage and make people laugh. But I also want to make people think, \u2018Wow, she really made me feel a lot of emotions today.\u2019 Those are the shows that had the biggest impact on me. So I really want to do something that has that kind of an impact on the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abby Govindan performs at 8pm on Feb 20 at San Jose Improv, 62 S. 2nd St., San Jose. Tickets: $31.14\u2013$83.16. improv.com\/sanjose<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tackling the cultural divide between kids and their immigrant parents, comedian Abby Govindan brings her one-woman show to San Jose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14789,"featured_media":20179498,"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":[10768,3638,5239,11543],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\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