NBC did a presentation for Parks and Recreation during the Television Critics Association winter press tour. The gang riffed off each other about anti-Bones tweets and sci-fi TV crossovers. This after insisting there’s very little improv on the show. We caught up with Aziz Ansari in an exclusive interview at the after party and talked about his own comedy. His standup special Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening is out on DVD on Tuesday Jan. 19, after airing on Comedy Central.
Crave Online: Are you standup shows more packed since Parks and Recreation?
Aziz Ansari: I mean, it’s definitely helped. More people know me and they come out more. I’m excited I have my special coming out next week which I’m very excited about. Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening will be on Comedy Central. The DVD and stuff comes out on Tuesday the 19th. I think that’ll help too. It’s something I definitely want to keep doing as I go along with my career no matter what I do. I want to try to keep up with standup if I can because I find it really fun. There’s something cool about just a live show that you can’t really experience when you’re doing just film stuff.
Crave Online: What sort of material do you talk about?
Aziz Ansari: My standup, the way I describe it is if you see Louis C.K., his standup’s about being a guy in his 40s that’s raising kids. My standup’s about a guy in his mid-20s who’s just dickin’ around all the time. So it’s kind of hard to talk about standup but I think it’s really good. I’m really excited. It’s my first special. I’m really proud of the way it’s turned out. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of that I’ve done in my career.
Crave Online: When did you shoot it?
Aziz Ansari: I shot it in July and it’s airing next week. It was when I was finishing up my tour that I did last year.
Crave Online: A lot’s happened since July, so when you develop material now, what are you talking about? Beyond the broad young guy dicking around, are there topics in the world, things that happened to you since July?
Aziz Ansari: Yeah, you know, I’ve been writing a new act that I want to tour with this year so I’m just working on that now. I kind of just talk about whatever’s going on in my life.
Crave Online: How do you develop material? Do you carry notepads and write stuff down?
Aziz Ansari: Yeah, I do that. I kind of will jot down notes when something pops in my head and then I’ll kind of develop that on stage and kind of refine it as I do shows. Then after I do a tour, when I do a tour it’s pretty tight and it gets better as I do the tour. Then I record a special. That’s what Louis C.K.’s done and that’s what I want to try to do.
Crave Online: Are there people you test stuff on before you take it to a club?
Aziz Ansari: No, I just kind of try it out on audiences. I perform a lot at UCB theater and the Improv in L.A. Those places I’ll go and do sets where I try new stuff that I’ll do on the road when I go on tour.
Crave Online: Why is Louis C.K. such an inspiration?
Aziz Ansari: I think him and Patton Oswald are probably my favorite comics out there. I just think they’re really good and I find the stuff they do to be the kind of stuff that I want my stuff compared to. It’s the standup I like. So much standup is not very good in my opinion so when you see stuff that’s really good, it’s good.
