Comedian says ‘no chance in hell' her career would take off in native India, praises America for her 'destiny'

Fox News

5 days ago

Comedian Zarna Garg is living proof that the American Dream still exists.
"This is a country that looks at a person like me and says, we want to hear what you have to say," she told Fox News Digital.
COMEDIAN REVEALS HOW DENYING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE AT 14 YEARS OLD COST HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FATHERFor the Indian-born comedian, America didn't just offer opportunity — it offered a voice. After fleeing an arranged marriage at 14 years old and immigrating to the U.S., Garg says she found something here she never had back home: the freedom to be heard, and to joke.
"My whole life, I did what in India is called talking back to your parents, where you're like, 'oh, you think you're a smart ass?' So, that was my life," Garg recalled.
"I remember my dad, when I was very little, before I had ever stepped foot in America, he used to be like, 'Who do you think you are, an American woman?' Because all bad ideas back then came from America."
"I remember getting off that stage and thinking, is it possible that this is my thing?"
Garg says she has come "full circle" — from being told to bury her own voice to confidently living out what she now calls her "destiny."
She began comedy in 2019 on a whim, saying that her daughter Zoya "forced" her to go to her first open-mic in New York City. Garg admits that she went only to appease her daughter and planned to "never step foot" in a comedy club again. COMEDIAN ZARNA GARG IS NOT SURPRISED AT THE LATE NIGHT HOSTS MELTDOWNS AFTER DONALD TRUMP'S ELECTION
"But when I got up on that stage and I just rambled for a few minutes about my mother-in-law, life and whatever… I felt a click from the universe," Garg reflected, noting that she pulls from personal experiences to "mine for comedy gold."
"I couldn't believe that people found my observations funny. I couldn't believe that anybody wanted to hear what I had to say about anything. My whole life people have been trying to shut me up. So, this was a real revelation that up on stage I could be saying all these random, really minute observations that I've made my whole life and that people would be excited to hear what I [had] to say."
That moment on stage was more than just a big moment, it was a breakthrough for Garg.
"I remember getting off that stage and thinking, is it possible that this is my thing?" she wondered.
Garg, who was born and raised in Mumbai, reflected on what life may have looked like if she never immigrated to the U.S.
COMEDIAN ZARNA GARG PRAISES USHA VANCE AS HUSBAND JD'S 'SECRET SUPERPOWER': 'YOU CAN'T DENY' THIS ABOUT HERWhen asked if her comedy career had been possible in India, Garg bluntly answered, "No chance in hell."
"None of what I'm doing would be possible back home. That's what makes America, America. I'm like a middle-aged mom of three with a weird outfit and an accent — and here I am being asked what I have to say," she said. "This is a country that looks at a person like me and says, 'We wanna hear what you have to say.'"
Garg is scheduled to do a live show of the "Zarna Garg Family Podcast" in Mumbai, India on Friday, marking it as her first show back in her native country. She admitted that she gets anxious about the idea of doing comedy in India, joking that Indians are "very serious people."
"I get very gun-shy about doing comedy, because people don't take things lightly. We're not a fun type of people, we're a very serious people," she said.
"What you will hear a lot of in India is the audience saying, 'I like hearing jokes, but that was too much.' Because anything becomes too much, any punchline is too much of a punchline. So, I get really anxious doing jokes."
Garg's new comedy special, "Practical People Win," is out on Hulu. She's also the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir "This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir," and is currently touring across the country.
For tickets and tour dates, visit ZarnaGarg.com.