Aziz Ansari, an actor and comedian most known for his starring role in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” (2009-present), recently spoke with the Daily in a press conference call to promote his standup comedy special, “Buried Alive,” which premiered this morning on Netflix. In “Buried Alive,” which was filmed at the Merriam Theatre in Philadelphia this past April, Ansari jokes about his fears of adulthood and parenthood as he turns 30 years old.
The Tufts Daily: What is it about standup that still does it for you, that keeps you doing it?
Aziz Ansari: I just think standup is a very unique art form. It’s so singular ... I enjoy acting, and I like doing “Parks” and stuff. But again, it’s like a platform where I can really discuss whatever I want to discuss my viewpoints on things.
TD: Was there a pivotal moment in your life — a meaningful, important moment in life —when you realized that you could be funny for a living?
AA: No, not really. I just got started doing standup with the intent of just trying to get good at standup, and then eventually all these other things started happening and I was able to make a living doing it. But when I started doing standup, I really just enjoyed it and wanted to get better at it in a way that you would want to get better at playing guitar or something like that ... I never really thought of that as an end goal.
TD: This particular special, [“Buried Alive”], is personal, especially the first part where you talk about family and love. Did you really want to explore that side of you, and did you consider treating it this time almost as a kind of therapy?
AA: Well, it just kind of came about organically. I [talk about] whatever is going on in my life, whatever is in my head, and this time it was kind of heavier things dealing with life and babies and marriage and stuff. And that’s just kind of what happened.
TD: Early on in the special, you make a joke about child molesters, and a lot of people have gotten [criticized for] saying things that were decidedly not politically correct on stage. How do you decide how far you can push the envelope, and do you think people are more sensitive or less sensitive now to [material] that’s considered taboo?
AA: I think you have to take that all case by case and ... any joke I do, I kind of do a case by case to see if it makes sense. Bad jokes ... if you took things out of context ... they make me seem like a horrible person, but ultimately that [specific] joke is about how I’d be scared to have a kid because I would be so scared for the safety of my kids. And that’s a scary thought to me, how parents let their kids run around in the mall by themselves and things like that. Ultimately, it’s an anti-child molester joke.
TD: In “Buried Alive,” you talked a lot about what it’s like to grow older. Now that you’ve been 30 for over half a year, do you find yourself slowly changing some of your viewpoints on adulthood and parenthood that you expressed in “Buried Alive?”
AA: Yeah, I mean ... when I wrote this stuff, it was two years ago now, you know? By the time you write it, then [perform it], then film it and edit it, and it gets in the hands of the Netflix people and they do all their stuff, it ends up being a long time. And yes, definitely my views have changed a little bit here and there, but I generally still have that fear ... I think I’m more comfortable with the idea of like, “Oh, it’s totally fine if I want to wait and do the stuff later in life.” There’s no reason to have a ticking clock, and I don’t have any like, “Oh, at this age, I want to get married. At this age, I want to have kids” or any of that stuff.
TD: And then what do you miss most about being in your 20s?
AA: Nothing. It’s the same. I mean ... the only thing I miss is being able to say you’re in your 20s. Other than that, you live your life the same way if you want.
This interview has been edited and abridged from its original version.
