American comedian Dan Nainan, slated to perform in Gurgaon in the coming week, considers 2014 as his best year as a standup artiste in 13 years. As Nainan gives his newly purchased Tesla S a quick spin on the roads of suburban New York, he simultaneously speaks to us about his passion for cars and comedy.
His sense of humour and his new blood red baby go with him everywhere and he likes to keep both clean. “I do 100 per cent clean comedy; all above the neck and nothing below the waist,” he says.
Of all his performances so far, the one with US President Barack Obama at the Gala at the Ritz Carlton, Washington DC, 2012, was the most memorable. “I was watching him from the corner of my eye, and he was throwing his head back and roaring at my jokes. That was the ultimate thrill of a lifetime. When I met him afterwards, he said, ‘Dan is f-ing hilarious’.”
Nainan has always tried to turn real life experiences into comedy. At times, some of it is born out of tragedy, like this one time when he got arrested for shoving a journalist into his seat. “He kept tweeting rubbish about me, so other comedians and I went upto him and he started talking offensively. So, I shoved him into the seat, but he fell down (maybe because I am a black belt) and then he decided to file a case against me. But my Congressmen well-wishers had this investigated and all charges were dropped. Later, when I spoke to Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple computers, he told me, any news is good news and that’s probably one of the reasons why I’ve had the best year so far,” he says. Nainan went on to narrate that story at many of his shows, adding tones of humour to it, turning the incident on its head.
Ending the year with a few more performances, one of them being his evening at the Trident Gurgaon, he has gathered enough material to entertain the sensibilities suitable for this part of the world. “I do a lot of observational comedy. I even did a show with comedian Kapil Sharma in Chicago for 5,000 Gujaratis some time back, and Kapil and I rocked it, so I know the pulse of Indians and will be providing 100 per cent swacch (clean) comedy for G town,” he laughs.