Dan Nainan

Daniel Nainan[1] (also known as Dan Nainan) is an American stand-up comedian. He is known for performing ethnic jokes involving his South-Asian ethnicity.[2][3]

Daniel Nainan
Nainan in 2012
Born (1961-05-04) May 4, 1961
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDan Nainan

Background

Early life

Daniel Nainan was born in May 1961.[4] His father and mother are of Indian and Japanese descent, respectively.[5][6] He majored in business at the University of Maryland.[7]

Career

Nainan's stand-up performances usually take place at corporate events.[8] "There's so much money to be made with corporations, weddings, senior-citizen centers," he told the Washington Post in 2010.[7] He has also made media appearances where he presented himself as a millennial, expressing his opinions on societal issues, though he was later revealed to be older than he presented as.[4][8][9] In one instance, he performed a stand-up session for Barack Obama,[10] who later endorsed him.[4]

In june 2013, Nainan told the New York Times that he had bought over a thousand Twitter followers.[10] In September of the same year, Nainan was arrested and charged with simple assault after he was accused of punching Daily Beast journalist Josh Rogin in Washington D.C. The incident allegedly happened after Rogin published a social media post criticizing Nainan's ethnic jokes.[11]

In 2017, the Daily beast published an article contesting Nainan's statements that he was a millenial. According to the article, a legal document from a New York court stated that Nainan was born in May 1961. Prior to the Daily Beast's article, in 2012, Nainan had told the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal that he was 31 and 36 years old, respectively.[12][9]

Comedic style

Nainan's comedy is largely based on ethnic jokes. In a tour in Maryland, he started one of his sections with the joke: "You're asking yourself, 'what the hell race is this guy?' Well, my father is Indian and my mother is Japanese. Which means I get my sushi at 7-eleven." According to researcher Matthew Daube, this type of stand-up comedy has been linked since its inception in the 1950's to issues of race and ethnicity in the United States.[2]

Nainan stated that he likes to keep his comedy "clean" and avoid making vulgar jokes.[13][3]

See also

References
  1. O'Donnell, Carey (2017). "This 55-year-old Comedian has been pretending to be a millennial". Paper Magazine.
  2. Lawrence, Lee (2006-12-15). "South Asian Stand-Up Comedy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  3. Das, Dev (2009-10-25). "An Indian Japanese Funnyman". India Currents. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. "'Millennial' comedian actually 55". NZ Herald. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  5. "Dan Nainan, Half Indian, Half Japanese, Fully Funny". Little India: Overseas Indian, NRI, Asian Indian, Indian American. 2006-09-14. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  6. "Indian Comedians Making it Big in America". Wall Street Journal. 2013-01-02. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  7. "From Corporate to Comedy: Dan Nainan". Washington Post. 2010. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  8. Vozza, Stephanie (2015). "How To Get A Testimonial From The President". Fast Company.
  9. Reinstein, Julia (2017-01-17). "A Comedian Who Has Allegedly Lied About Being A "Millennial" For Years Will Perform At An Inaugural Ball". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  10. Considine, Austin (2012-08-22). "Buying Their Way to Twitter Fame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  11. Oldenburg, Ann. "Comedian punches D.C. journalist over tweets". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  12. Khal. "Millionaire Comedian Who Claimed to Be a 'Millennial' Is Actually Old AF". Complex. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  13. "My jokes are written by my family". The Times of India. 2012-07-20. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
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