Kumail Nanjiani

And so when I started doing stand-up, in the beginning, you're so terrified to get on stage that anything that you can hold onto when you're there is good.

So I was writing very jokey jokes for the first few years.

But it was fairly early, you know?

It was like...

four or five years in, which is pretty early for standup where I realized, I was like, oh, I have to find a way to be myself on stage.

That to me, otherwise this isn't worth it.

I was sort of playing this persona of a guy who was really nervous because I was really nervous and it was very easy to lean into it.

And it was funny.

And I was good at that kind of comedy timing, like the funny, like the sort of nervous comedy timing.

But four or five years in is when I felt like a fraud.

And I was like,

this is only worth doing if I can really be myself on stage.

And so then, even in my writing and acting and all that, like you talked about playing Stephen, Welcome to Chippendales, even in that performance, my goal is to show parts of myself, is to reveal something of my insides on camera.

And so that's always been something that I've really, really valued.

Like, I've never been...

I really, you know, like sketch comedy, for instance, which to me is in some ways the opposite of that, at least how I perceive it.

It's never been something that I've really, really, it's never been one of my things.

I've tried writing it.

I've tried acting in it.

I'm not good at it.