Nimesh Patel

Nimesh Patel
Patel in March 2025
Born
Nimesh Patel

1986 (age 38–39)
Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationNew York University (B.S.)
OccupationStand-up comedian • television writer
Years active2009–present
Spouse
Amy Havel Patel
​
(m. 2020)​
Children1[1]

Nimesh Patel (born 1986) is an American comedian and television writer. In 2017, he became the first Indian American writer on Saturday Night Live.[2][3]

Early life

Patel was born in 1986 in Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey, into an immigrant Indian Gujarati Hindu family[4] and graduated from Parsippany Hills High School.[5] His parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1970s. His father first came to Newark, New Jersey, as a 17 year old and worked as a cashier at a Macy's. He eventually opened a liquor store in a troubled neighborhood with heavy African-American organized crime and gang culture in nearby Irvington, often being robbed and also shot at.[6][7]

Patel moved to New York City to attend New York University, initially as a pre-med student. He has lived in the city ever since. He graduated with a degree in finance in 2008.[8]

Career

After graduating, Patel began working during the day and performing standup at The Stress Factory by night.[7]

In 2015, he was doing standup in Greenpoint, Brooklyn when he was discovered by Chris Rock. Patel then joined Rock's writing team for the 88th Academy Awards ceremony.

In 2016, he was a finalist in Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud Network Pitch Panel at Just for Laughs ComedyPRO.[9]

Patel also wrote material for Hasan Minhaj's 2017 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner appearance.[10] In 2017, he began working as a full-time writer for Saturday Night Live, mainly writing jokes for Weekend Update. In 2018, Patel was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for his work on SNL.[2] He worked for SNL for one season.[11]

Patel has appeared on @midnight, Comedy Knockout and Late Night with Seth Meyers. He has also featured as a comedy and politics panelist at the Foreign Affairs Symposium at Johns Hopkins University.[12]

On November 30, 2018, roughly twenty-four minutes into a comedy set, Patel was interrupted and asked to leave by the organizers of cultureSHOCK: Reclaim, an event for Asian representation hosted by Columbia University's Asian American Alliance.[13][14][15] On October 7, 2020, Patel posted a video of his full Columbia set in response to an article he believed to be untruthful.[16]

Patel is a regular comic at the Comedy Cellar, a comedy club in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan.

Influences

Patel's main comedic influences are Dave Chappelle, Mitch Hedberg, Chris Rock, Larry David and Patrice O’Neal.[17]

Personal life

Patel is a Hindu, although not highly religious.

Patel criticized the Partition of India on one of his shows, as part of his "Come see me on tour!" and criticized a British Indian woman in the audience defending British Colonialism and tyranny in India, eventually calling out the stolen Indian Kohinoor diamond by the British royal family and calling the woman a self-loather.[18]

Patel previously resided in Hell's Kitchen, Midtown Manhattan, but now resides in Brooklyn. He married Amy Havel in 2020.[19] Their daughter was born in 2024.

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqINUBd7zD8
  2. ^ a b c Rathore, Reena (July 16, 2018). "Indian American Comedian/Writer Nimesh Patel Lands His First Emmy Nomination for 'SNL'". India West.
  3. ^ "One Season at SNL - Nimesh Patel". YouTube.
  4. ^ "Nimesh Patel’s comedy chops are impressing ‘'Saturday Night Live'’ — and his parents", The Washington Post, February 22, 2018. Accessed February 7, 2025. "'The stereotype of Indian parents wanting their kid to be a doctor or finance person was true, for me at least,' says Patel, who grew up in Parsippany, N.J."
  5. ^ "I've lived all the Patel memes.", Instagram.com. Accessed February 7, 2025.
  6. ^ How Not to Insult Indians | Nimesh Patel | Stand Up Comedy. Nimesh Patel. November 13, 2019. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ a b Provencio, Phil (April 30, 2017). "Up Next, Nimesh Patel. A Look Through the Lens in New York Comedy". The Interrobang.
  8. ^ Catlin, Roger (February 22, 2018). "Nimesh Patel's comedy chops are impressing 'Saturday Night Live' — and his parents". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ "Kevin Hart Options All 10 Pitch Ideas for the Laugh Out Loud Network". Just for Laughs ComedyPro. July 28, 2016.
  10. ^ Robinson, Joanna (November 26, 2017). "Why Saturday Night Live's Most Intriguing New Hire Is Behind the Camera". Vanity Fair.
  11. ^ One Season At SNL - Nimesh Patel. October 18, 2023 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Chelsea Manning, Samantha Power among speakers for 2018 Foreign Affairs Symposium". The Hub. February 12, 2018.
  13. ^ "Former 'SNL' writer booted off stage at Columbia University". The New York Post. December 5, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  14. ^ Nimesh Patel getting kicked off the stage at Columbia. Veritech. December 6, 2018. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "I'm an Asian American Student at Columbia University — and Nimesh Patel's Mic Needed to be Cut". Reappropriate. December 14, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  16. ^ KICKED OFF STAGE - FULL COLUMBIA SET | Nimesh Patel | Stand Up Comedy | DESCRIPTION FOR DETAILS. Nimesh Patel. October 7, 2020. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ Garcia, Courtney (October 29, 2012). "Nimesh Patel". BTR Today.
  18. ^ Heckled by British Indian - Come see me on tour! | Nimesh Patel | Stand Up Comedy. Nimesh Patel. August 30, 2021. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
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