“What does every comic joke about? Their own life… so everything that people see in my comedy whether it’s on my social media, the comedy special, or now my podcast, whatever they see, it’s all real; nothing orchestrated about it… sometimes the truth is so much stranger than fiction that I have to dial it down,” – Zarna Garg

Zarna Garg is an Indian-American stand-up comedian and screenwriter. A proud mother of 3, Zarna believes brown women across the globe have the right to laugh at anyone and anything. A regular at the iconic Comedy Cellar and Carolines Broadway in NYC, Zarna has also performed in Las Vegas and the famed Kennedy Center. A TikTok sensation with over 100 million views and 500 thousand followers, Zarna’s accolades also include winning Kevin Hart’s Lyft Comics comedy competition and the 2021 Ladies of Laughter Newcomer award, as well as winning the Top Comedy Feature Screenplay Award at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. The Universal Radio Network’s own Sapreet Buttar had the chance to sit down with Zarna to talk about her career in comedy, how it started, her experience as a South Asian female within the space, what she wishes to convey through her comedy and much more in this interview.

At the beginning of the interview, Zarna gives a quick introduction and some background insight into who she is (1:46), how her kids played a significant role in her getting into the comedy scene (2:23), the unique ability of her’s to convey the struggles that immigrants go through into comedy (4:25), and how she’s also bringing cultural awareness within her comedy (6:01). Next, Zarna and Sapreet discuss her journey of being a South Asian female comedian and the type of feedback she has received (7:06), what her most memorable accolade/achievement is (9:39), and her opinion on comedy scenes vs. emotional scenes and which is more difficult (12:11). Sapreet then tests Zarna knowledge on the city of Edmonton, including questions on the city’s hockey team (14:11), what Edmonton residents refer themselves as (17:01), and what the city of Edmonton is also known as (17:59).