Saturday 1/22 9:00 pm
Distinguished Desis was created by Ali Farahnakian in 2020 as subset of the FREE POC series. Sunny Atwal was brought on as the producer to bring a cast of South Asian identifying performers together & perform in one space. It is not a show comprised of only South Asian humor; the show is still for everyone! It’s a space where South Asian performers can join talents and create unique art for a night.
Sunny Atwal has over a decade’s worth of public speaking experience and currently operates as a professional emcee for Showbiz Talent & Primetime Dance. He is a former State Champion in poetry and has written, acted, produced several shows for the Indy Fringe festival as well as his own 45 minute Solo Show, Taxi Cab Driver, at SOLOCOM 2019. Sunny has also hosted for the Indy Visitor’s Channel which played throughout Indianapolis hotels explaining tourist attractions. He’s been featured on Spotify’s The Get Up Morning show & the BrainsOn Podcast! Additionally, he produces an all South Asian casted Comedy show for The People’s Improv theater. Performing is his passion and he also loves Sour Skittles.
Ali Reza Farahnakian was born in Esfahan, Iran in the fall of ‘68. He came to America in the summer of ‘69. He is an immigrant. He is not eligible to seek the office of the presidency in America and is therefore a second class citizen in this country. Maybe that’s why he got into “comedy”. His teachers include Michael McCarthy, Charna Halpern, Del Close, Maryanne Thebus and Wynn Handman. He is an alumnus of ImprovOlympic, The Second City Chicago and SNL. He was a founding member of UCB and The PIT. He has acted at The Steppenwolf, BAM, and Playwrights Horizon. He has been in numerous TV shows, commercials, films and voiceovers. He has been doing this work for over three decades because he loves it and because it doesn’t seem like work. We started The PIT in 2002 in New York City.
You can check out his website at www.AliRezaFarahnakian.com.
Spread the Word !