Q: What's the first joke you ever wrote?
A: The first joke I wrote is a joke I still use today. "You don't want to play Monopoly against an Indian. We take the hotel/motel business very seriously."

Q: What is the source of your sense of humor?
A: I was picked on a lot growing up, and I learned pretty quick that making people laugh was a good way to get out of it. That, combined with my parents being from India, made for a pretty funny environment.

Q: In school, were you the class clown or the quiet nerd?
A: I was definitely the class clown.

Q: Is it better to be feared or loved on your way up the comedy ladder?
A: In my opinion, neither. I would rather be respected, by the audience as well as my peers.

Q: Your stardom: a karmic inevitability or old fashioned luck?
A: Every night when I was growing up I would stand around and tell the kids in the neighborhood jokes until it was time for me to go home. So I guess the answer is "Karmic inevitability". I don't know what else I would rather be doing.