Rasika Mathur
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| Rasika Mathur | |
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| Born | September 4, 1976 Houston, Texas,  United States |
Rasika Mathur (born September 4, 1976) is an American actress/comedian best known for her recurring role on Wild 'N Out.
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[edit] Early life
Mathur, an Indian American, grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Albright Middle School in Alief, Texas and Elsik High School.[1] She discovered her comedic side in seventh grade, after a teacher asked her to feed her dog while she was away: "That teacher soon said to me, 'Take my acting class' and I did, and it was amazing. I got to free up my inner weirdo. Once we got to draw masks, and everyone loved the lion I drew. Something was always in me, roaring quietly, ready to be unleashed. (Ha, that was a cool metaphor.) Soon, out poured all the funny voices, silly characters, and hilarious wit that had built up inside me."[1]
At the University of Texas at Austin she studied creative advertising with a minor in Japanese and was active in the Indian Student Association.[1]
[edit] Comedy career
After college she moved to Chicago and worked as a copywriter at a large advertising firm, while at night she studied improvisation at The Second City Training Center: "I day-jobbed and had an improv affair with Second City by night. Still have the hickeys to prove it."[1] She also performed with Stir Friday Night!, a Chicago-based Asian American sketch comedy troupe.[2]
After moving to LA to film a pilot that didn't get picked up, Mathur faced difficulty:
Now I was living out of the trunk of my car. Mooching. Being broke. I mean broke like, you want to go out to eat late night with friends and you’re holding back tears reading the menu, having to make sure the side of eggs is really $1.49 and not $2.49, ’cause otherwise you just won’t eat. The vine I was trying to swing to wasn’t quite in front of me yet, so sometimes I had to grab a hold of air. To make ends meet I had to cater waitering. Being a children’s party clown or Dora the Explorer with a football-shaped head. Serving whiny, bandaid-on-their-forehead customers at Starbucks at 5 a.m. Graveyard shifts at Dr. Phil’s studios. It was a nightmare. But I also realized that I needed to keep my eyes open to the comedy in all those situations, and back-pocket it to use on stage, like during shows at IO-West, or in improv classes at the Groundlings. That kept me going.[1]
She continues to perform stand-up around the country.[3] Her influences are Christopher Guest, Chevy Chase, The Three Amigos, Saturday Night Live (the David Spade years) and In Living Color. She also cites Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Souri, Ranjit (Jun 15, 2006). Funny Brown Female. India Currents
- ^ Yalamanchili, Pavani (June 2005). One Woman Show. Nirali Magazine
- ^ Leslie, Joey (April 11, 2006). Q&A: Rasika Mathur, Comedian and Co-star of MTV's Wild 'N Out. WKU Herald
