Comedian Rajiv Satyal To Premiere Standup Comedy Special at the Angelika Film Center & Café

Rajiv Satyal has shared stages with some of the biggest names in standup comedy (Dave Chappelle, Sebastian Maniscalco, Russell Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jo Koy) and headlined his own live shows worldwide for nearly two decades. Now the first-generation Indian American comedian is hoping to make his television debut with All Over the Place, a standup comedy special that he recently recorded in Los Angeles and in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Satyal will screen the 90-minute special publicly for the first time on Thursday, May 9, as part of a live event at the Angelika Film Center & Café in New York City from 7:00-10:00 p.m. The screening will be preceded by a social hour and followed by a Q&A with Satyal, moderated by a TBA special guest.

"This is a big milestone for me," Satyal said. "I have self-released standup comedy specials on YouTube in the past, but this is the first one I have produced with the goal of releasing it through a major cable network or streaming service. I call it 'All Over the Place' because that's been the story of my life: going from working as an engineer in Ohio to an entertainer in California, extended bits on everything from music to finding a parking spot in LA and, of course, my single life, married life, and now fatherhood. I'm also the only standup comedian to perform on all seven continents, so I literally have been 'all over the place.'"

Born and raised in the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield, Ohio, the self-proclaimed "Funny Indian" once worked as a marketing executive for Procter & Gamble, during which time Advertising Age Magazine proclaimed him "P&G's funniest marketer ever." After performing successfully at several open-mic nights at a local comedy club, Satyal made the risky decision to quit his corporate job in 2006 and move to Los Angeles to pursue comedy full-time. In 2007, he headlined Indian Invasion Comedy, a hugely successful, multi-comedian special which was released on DVD. That production and his subsequent YouTube specials have received tens of millions of views.

Satyal is the co-founder of Make Chai, Not War, a multi-ethnic comedy show featuring comedians of different religious backgrounds, which had the dubious distinction of being the topic of discussion during a Congressional hearing, after the U.S. State Department sent the show on a cultural-diplomacy tour of India in 2012. It is one of the few stories he shares in All Over the Place that touches on politics.

"For me, politics isn't fun anymore because I think what's happening is so serious," he said. "Plus, so much political humor is short-lived. What's funny today is old news tomorrow. I want my special to seem fresh 20 years from now."

Rajiv Satyal will present "All Over the Place" at the Angelika Film Center & Café, 18 W Houston St, New York, NY 10012 on Thursday, May 9, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 through April, and then $30 in May and at the door. The site charges a small per-ticket fee. Tickets can be purchased at FunnyIndian.com.