A Stand Up Guy

For stand-up comedian Aziz Ansari, the age of 30 is on the horizon. And he's started to notice that friends and acquaintances – actually, pretty much everyone – of a similar vintage is starting to tie the knot and begin producing the next generation. “But to me it all just seems so far away, that idea of getting married and settling down,” says Ansari. “I turned twenty-nine a few months ago, and that's the way it seems to be.”

And it's this phenomenon that Ansari is exploring in his new stand-up show Buried Alive, which he's bringing to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this month in his first Australian performances. As the title might indicate, Ansari isn't that keen on taking the plunge into domesticity just yet – in a recent Los Angeles Times profile, he referred to himself as an “indecisive commitment-phobe” – but he's still fascinated by those who have, especially the ones who seem ill-equipped to do so.

“Friends of mine who are really dumb are having kids, and I'm like 'Whaaaat?'” he laughs. “You know? 'There's no way this is going to work!' I don't know if it's the same way in Australia but where I'm living in New York and LA you just start seeing it happen constantly with people of this age.”

Ansari is not just intrigued by people taking the plunge but by the connections that seemingly give them the courage to do so. “That's what else I talk about in Buried Alive – how hard it can be to find people you connect with that much. Finding that deep, deep connection is tough because a lot of people from my generation… they're kind of bozos. You talk to women, ask them what they're looking for in a man, and they'll say 'Oh, you know, a nice guy who's got a job and who makes me laugh sometimes.' I'm like 'There must be plenty of those around.' There isn't! There's, like, three! It's so hard finding someone you really like and can connect with.”

Still, Ansari shrugs off the notion that his busy work schedule – when he's not playing would-be mogul and ladies' man Tom Haverford on the popular US sitcom, Parks & Recreation, he's appearing in movies like Funny People and Observe & Report or performing stand-up – might keep him from finding that special someone. “It doesn't change it that much,” he says. “It's still a job.” (Admittedly it's a job where he can appear in a music video alongside buddies like Jay-Z and Kanye West.)

It's one he takes very seriously, though. He's done plenty of formal and informal research into marriage, parenthood and divorce for Buried Alive, and he's spent time in comedy clubs around LA, “to make sure it's all tight before I come down to see you guys.

“I feel like stand-up is a really interesting art form,” Ansari. admits “It's like a one-man play – you do a one-hour set that is very tightly scripted and constructed and honed. But people don't always treat it like that. They go 'Oh, that guy is up onstage talking about funny stuff,' like it just popped into the comedian's head at that moment. Yeah, stand-up is often really misunderstood.”