WILL CHOI: Hi, I'm Will Choi and today my guest is a stand-up comedian, Emmy-nominated
filmmaker, and actress -- please welcome Kiran Deol!
KIRAN DEOL: Pool shark Kiran Deol and Will Choi!
Mm, yeah, that's the look. That's it.
WILL: [LAUGHS]
[MUSIC]
WILL: Go, Kiran, go!
You can do it!
Hit the...
[LAUGHS]
KIRAN: This is a game about your mind.
WILL: [LAUGHS] There you go!
KIRAN: Yaaaay!
WILL: We did it.
How did you get started doing comedy?
KIRAN: I remember going to a comedy club in, like, my hometown when I was, like, 17 years
old and had worked out all of this garbage high school material.
I don't think I've told anyone this.
[WILL: OK.]
So we go to the club and we were so excited and there was this comic on stage and I was,
like, with my three friends.
He goes, "Who's excited to be here?"
And we all raised our hands and were like, "Whoo!"
You know?
And he was just like, "Wow, Destiny's Child over here."
He's like, "Maybe you guys need to, like, shave your armpits.
I feel like I'm seeing a 5 o'clock shadow."
And I went from, like, being so excited to, like...body-shamed [WILL: Yeah, yeah.]
in a comedy club.
But also because of that experience now, I'm like really big on, even if you're making
fun of someone in the audience or, like, having a good time, you don't want it to ever be
at the expense of the person.
[WILL: No, of course not.]
You've gotta remember that, like -- and you're really good about this too -- remember that
the people who came to a show...that's their night, man.
They came out and, like, you want everyone to leave feeling good.
WILL: If you're gonna make fun of something, it's in jest and it's not in, like, in a mean...
KIRAN: Yeah, mean-spirited. 100%
For instance: your next pool shot.
WILL: [LAUGHS]
KIRAN: [LAUGHS]
WILL: What's the moment you had on stage where you, like, were like, "I love this.
This is it.
This is what I want to do"?
KIRAN: I don't know if I had exactly, like, a moment like that, but what I will say is,
like...a crowd.
You get live energy. [WILL: Yeah.]
I used to go to the [Hollywood] Improv when I was first starting out and had this night
called Comedy Juice -- killer after killer -- and you would literally hear waves of laughter,
almost like the ocean, of laughter.
And the room was warm when it was done and I was like, "Oh, that's..."
WILL: That feeling?
Yeah.
KIRAN: Yeah, that feeling, and being able to do that and create that.
Literally, warm.
WILL: Yeah, 'cause you get that automatic feedback, whereas if you're acting or making
a documentary, you don't know until the process is way over.
KIRAN: Right.
Or playing pool like brilliant geniuses that we are.
Do you mean to make it jump?
Is that...?
WILL: That's just bad technique.
KIRAN: Oh, I thought that was a technique.
I was like, "Look at the jumping!
I love that!"
WILL: Nope!
KIRAN: It's really all about faith.
I don't know if you guys have read "The Secret"? [LAUGHS]
Boom!
WILL: Very close.
Where do you find inspiration for your jokes or your material?
KIRAN: A lot of times I think that it's stuff that, like, makes you...like, how can you
take something that's, like, frustrating or ridiculous or silly and then turn it into
something you can kind of laugh about and find a way to make funny?
Something like equal pay.
Straight white women make about, like, $0.77 to the dollar, so like $0.23 less than dudes.
So like, "Women should just get a discount on everything!"
And then it's, like, extending that so it's like hopefully you can start thinking about
it and engaging, but also like let it be a little fun.
I'm also less...you know [SHOUTS], like, less want to murder everybody on the planet.
The gentle player.
She's -- [GASP] Wow!
WILL: There you go!
KIRAN: Guys, this interview is over. You gotta end on a high.
WILL: Good for you! [KIRAN LAUGHS] You're on your way.
KIRAN: You're, like, "Between the cheating and blind luck..."
[WILL LAUGHS]
WILL: Who are your comedic heroes?
KIRAN: Out of, like, big people?
I think Dana Carvey.
I used to really love --
WILL: I used to love Dana Carvey!
KIRAN: I love Dana Carvey!
I would recite pieces of his stand up and stuff.
I loved him.
I loved Robin Williams' comedic acting [WILL: Sure.], rest in peace.
It's always funny 'cause, like, jokes are the opposite of songs.
People always want to hear a song again and again, but it's, like, with jokes...
"What else do you got?" You know?
Which makes sense. [WILL: It's interesting.]
You constantly have to be changing or evolving.
Or stagnate and die.
[WILL LAUGHS] I'm aiming for the second one.
Just...plateau.
WILL: Yeah.
[WILL LAUGHS]
KIRAN: These just go...
This is actually pretty relaxing.
It's like when you do the rake with the sand...what's that called?
WILL: I don't know, rake in sand?
KIRAN: [LAUGHS] Yes, yes, yes.
The old rake in sand.
WILL: Is there any piece of advice that you would want to give to any young up-and-coming
comedians or just people who want to pursue comedy?
KIRAN: Try not to put too much pressure on yourself.
Don't think about it that you're going to be up on stage one time.
Think about you're going to be on stage 7,000 times, 10,000 times.
And then it makes everything a little less precious and it makes it, like, kind of a
journey. And try to enjoy yourself 'cause at the end of the day it's comedy.
You know, and if you're not enjoying yourself then...
you're just playing a terrible game of pool.
WILL: [LAUGHS] So we won pool?
KIRAN: We broke the game.
In a good way.
WILL: In a good way.
The pool gods would be very happy with --
KIRAN: Yeah, we leave and then just immediately get hit by a car.
It's like, "That's what the pool gods think of you!"
[WILL LAUGHS] "How dare you!"
[MUSIC]