Zarna Garg on Arranged Marriage, Performing on the Subway and Being Herself

Parade

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00:00The word changemaker to me means spreading positivity however you can.

00:06I'm so excited to be here.

00:12I know that you're the youngest of four.

00:14So talk to me a little bit about finding that comedic relief role in your family at such a young age.

00:19I think to get attention in an Indian family with all the chaos and all the drama that surrounds everyday life in India,

00:27anybody has to learn to get attention.

00:29I think I just made everybody laugh from ever since I can remember having any memory.

00:35An astrologer told your mom before you were born that you were going to be a talker?

00:38Oh my God, my family was so horrified.

00:41So my mom, my whole childhood was like, please don't say it.

00:45Whatever's in your mind, please don't say it.

00:46I mean, in India, that's a fate worse than psoriasis because you can't hide it.

00:52After your mother passed and you fleeing home because your dad wanted to set you up for an arranged marriage.

00:57So talk to me a little bit about that, too.

00:59I had very clear ideas about what I didn't want because I knew what arranged marriage meant.

01:06It meant I might not be able to go to college.

01:08And I really wanted to experience college.

01:11Eventually then you did make your way to the U.S., going to college and then becoming a lawyer.

01:15The other lawyers would laugh out loud at all your legal notices.

01:18Yes.

01:19I remember sending legal notices to opposing counsel and they would be like, this is the funniest notice.

01:24And I was like, did you read I'm Trying to Sue You?

01:27And the truth is that even my comedy is born from that.

01:30Your funny theme, again, even led to your romantic life.

01:33I want to talk about, too, the ad that you posted on an Indian singles website.

01:37Your future husband said it was ridiculous at the time, but clearly it worked, you know?

01:42When I was writing the ad, I wrote what I thought made the most sense in trying to find the kind of person I wanted to find.

01:49When our paths collided, we had a very shared kinship in feeling like it was us against the world.

01:56He, too, comes from very, very humble origins and wanted to make something of his life.

02:02I wanted to make something of my life.

02:04Then it hit him that if he didn't marry me, I was really determined to be married to somebody.

02:10There was no proposal.

02:12It was more like, okay, this makes sense.

02:15Even when you guys were raising a family, you still pursuing your dreams constantly.

02:19You launched about 18 LLCs.

02:21You then went up to write a screenplay.

02:23I learned off of YouTube how to write a screenplay.

02:26And I took one class in Midtown.

02:28I knew that I had written something good.

02:30And I started researching film festivals where you can submit and win.

02:34Then I won the thing.

02:36And they were like, you know, do you have another script?

02:38I was like, what?

02:41Okay.

02:42So I had to take a step back and be like, this is not going to work.

02:46And that became the first, like, iteration of what else do funny people do?

02:50Because I had never been to a comedy club in my life, even as a viewer.

02:54You then went to your first open mic night.

02:57You would practice for basically anyone around you who would listen.

03:01Once I realized what open mics were and all, how comedians practice, I was like, oh, I can

03:07turn every hangout with every parent into an open mic.

03:12I'm going to just show up in the subway and do my thing and see what happens.

03:16And that's exactly how I did it.

03:18No one's going to tell you.

03:20We don't like you.

03:21In comedy, a lot of times when you're coming up, it is largely white and largely male.

03:28When I started doing comedy, I didn't actually know how male dominated or white it was.

03:33I didn't know what a big deal comedy seller was.

03:36I just walked in and I was like, somebody said do five minutes.

03:40I'll do it.

03:40You wrote this New York Times bestselling memoir, This American Woman.

03:43You also have starred in A Nice Indian Boy to rave reviews.

03:45What's that on his arm?

03:47It's a tattoo of Ganesh.

03:49Our Ganesh Bhagwan, he did that for you.

03:53He did it for us.

03:54Why would you?

03:55You opened for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

03:57You had a successful comedy special on Amazon Prime.

03:59Another one, Zarna Garg, Practical People Win, dropping July 18th on Hulu.

04:04You have a successful podcast with your family too.

04:06I want to ask how it feels now to have all these things happen for you.

04:09I feel like I've been ordained.

04:12Like destiny wanted me to be here.

04:14I never thought I'd be in front of a screen.

04:16But the director of A Nice Indian Boy was so determined that this was my part.

04:21And I took a leap of faith on his judgment.

04:24I feel like my community sadly has been a little behind in accepting the gay community.

04:29And I want to be a voice in pushing that culture forward for us.

04:34I remember at one event, a very elderly Indian man, uncle, he said, you know, I've lived in

04:40America for 50 years and I've laughed at jokes that I don't understand.

04:44It's the first time I have laughed and really loved something like this.

04:50When I get scared or I get nervous, I think of that man because it's true.

04:55That man and millions of other men and women like him are out there being seen through me.

05:01You've really created change by just being authentically yourself.

05:05So I just kind of want to ask how you think people can tap into just being who they are to make change.

05:11You have to stop worrying about what people think.

05:12Success is written every day by people who look like me and you.

05:16There's millions of Zarnas out there writing their own stories.

05:19There is a whole world of people waiting to receive you.

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