New York Times showcases comedians who use race to inform their humor in “Off Color Comedy” series

The New York Times launched a new video profile series this week called Off Color, highlighting and showcasing comedians and comedic performers who use humor and their own racial/ethnic backgrounds to inform their social commentary onstage.

Featured in the series:

• Hari Kondabolu, stand-up comedian
• Kristina Wong, performance artist
• Issa Rae, online star of “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”
• Lalo Alcaraz, comedian and creator of the comic strip “La Cucaracha”

The links above go to print interviews with each of the performers. Below are video interviews with quotes and jokes…

Hari Kondabolu: “It’s lonely to deal with racism, and not have someone say, ‘I saw that, and it’s awful. I felt that for you, too.’ And it’s lonely being a stand-up comic. You know. You’re onstage. You’re by yourself, talking about personal experiences, and you’re trying to make people laugh. And if they don’t laugh, you feel even worse, because you brought it up. You’re the one who brought it up!”

Funny weird, not to much funny ha-ha, how they interview Kondabolu’s former boss, W. Kamau Bell in front of and inside the Comedy Cellar, although you’ll rarely ever see Bell or Kondabolu booked there. Anyhow. Moving on.

Kristina Wong:

Issa Rae:

Lalo Alcaraz: