Zarna Garg treats comedy as a business, not an art form

24:41Zarna Garg treats comedy as a business, not an art form

As a comedian, Zarna Garg thinks of herself as more of an entrepreneur than an artist.

After spending 16 years as a stay-at-home mom, Garg felt the need to reinvent herself. She tried a few different ventures (such as a vegan chilli business and a matchmaking service), but none of them stuck. That all changed when her kids encouraged her to try stand-up comedy.

"People were like, 'Why are you doing a comedy business at all? There's no money in comedy,'" Garg says in an interview with Q's Tom Power. "And I realized there's no money in comedy the way American people do it. They set it up like an art form. We do it like a business — the Indians. I put my practical hat on. I was like, 'People want to laugh. I want to trash my mother-in-law. Let's go.'"

Now, Garg has released a new stand-up special, Practical People Win, which highlights her unlikely journey into comedy and her business-oriented approach to life.

"I came into comedy at 44," she says. "I came in with a life full of responsibilities and obligations. And I have no desire to be viewed as an artist."

While Garg describes herself as a practical person, she's also taken some big risks in her life. In her new memoir, This American Woman, she writes about leaving home at 14 following her mother's death to avoid an arranged marriage, which came as an ultimatum from her father.

Luckily, I learned how to monetize my trauma.- Zarna Garg

"You have to be serious and build your own life," she tells Power. "I am a very vocal, outspoken supporter of women, in particular, using the M word — money. Because somehow, women and money together have been considered vulgar or crass, as if we don't need money to live…. I learned very early in life that you have to be serious, you have to deliver value to people if you want to build something real. And luckily, I learned how to monetize my trauma."

When it's suggested that her comedy must be fulfilling to her on a spiritual level, Garg bristles.

"No brown person is trying to fulfill their soul, people, we're just trying to fulfill our stomachs," she quips. "Nourishing my soul wouldn't even occur to me."

But after years of feeling directionless and financially insecure, Garg is sincerely grateful to have found a successful path that works for her.

"I take a moment now to thank God that I found something," she says. "Also, the reality is that I am the main breadwinner in my family now. My husband lost his job three, four years ago. He is still trying to recover. So, even just from a financial point of view, I'm very grateful that I found something that can pay my bills. And for a woman who was a stay-at-home mom for as long as I was, I didn't think I would ever get here."

The full interview with Zarna Garg is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Zarna Garg produced by Sarah Melton.