Long Story Short

Tushar Singh was raised in Huntsville, Alabama with a strict Indian upbringing, a contradiction that set him up for years of awkwardness and an arsenal of stand-up comedy material. As a chubby kid and the only Indian in his grade in elementary school, Tushar recalls sticking out “like a big brown thumb.” Still, he tried hard to fit in and eventually made friends with both rednecks and other “Desis” in his community. 

Tushar manages to tackle controversial issues and awkward topics while still making audiences laugh consistently.

Around his white peers he adopted a relaxed Southern personality, while at home he adhered to a traditional Indian family life and dealt with a strict intellectual father. He spoke Hindi with family, attended Indian conventions, and sat through his father’s astrological readings on a weekly basis. 

It wasn’t until Tushar went to college that he began to question some of the contradictions he’d been raised with. Aspects of Indian culture like the caste system, arranged marriage, sexism, and corruption didn’t bode well with the progressive American ideology he’d come to embrace. These conflicts, as well as the death of his father, led Tushar to stand-up comedy, which he used to explore these issues on stage in a format he’s always been comfortable with: making people laugh.