Alternative comedy: representation of brown culture through lily Singh’s podcasts

Abstract

Abstract Stand-up comedy has gained much popularity in the recent age. The platform has widened its scope to not just performing for the live audience but through podcasts, you tube channels and other social networking sites. Comedians talk about various issues through several perspectives like politics, psychological issues, racism, and other underlying themes. Alternative Comedy has lately acquired an indispensable place in the world of comedy as it voices out the suppressed views and ideologies of the vulnerable societies. South Asian comedians like Lily Singh, Rusell Peters, Hasan Minhaj are some of the emerging comedians who express their angst and issues through comedy content. They are now well recognized comedians. Lily Singh is also known to put across her diasporic sentiments in her videos in which she celebrates her identity and breaks the general stereotypes associated with Asian culture. Hence, this paper will focus on the elements of South Asian diaspora, expatriate discourse and brown culture that have been vocalized specifically through Lily Singh’s podcasts.