The sun’s shining, it’s 80 degrees outside, and your fingers are itching for a mint julep. What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than on your porch or at the lakefront with Radiostan for company? If you haven’t podcast or streamed any shows lately, check out the latest episodes and music at www.radiostan.com.

For Episode #26: Finding Your Bliss, I spoke with writer and actress Meera Simhan and director Shishir Kurup about their play Miss India America, a coming-of-age comedy about growing up in Southern California and finding your voice. Miss India America comes to Chicago July 14-17 at Theater Wit.

For Episode #25: Deep Space Utopia, I interviewed Pushkar Sharma and Sathya Sridharan, two of the three members of the thoroughly entertaining Brownstar Collective about their unique mix of theater, comedy, and verse. If you’re going to be in NYC on August 14, get tickets to their Unification show at Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

For Episode #24: A Messy Democracy, I talked to the new alderman of Chicago’s 47th Ward, Ameya Pawar, about youth, change, and running against a powerful political machine.

For Episode #23: Soul Food, I spoke with journalist, mom, and cookbook author Anupy Singla about home cooking, smelling like curry, and enticing kids to eat their veggies.  You can find her new book, The Indian Slow Cooker, at your local bookstore or online.

As always, email me at tina@radiostan.com if you have questions, comments, or story ideas.

Desis starting off the summer right…

Human Rights Watch Film Festival @ Facets
Thursday, June 3 – June 10

Highlights include The Oath (6/3 @ Museum of Contemporary Art), Burma VJ (6/4, 6/10), and Afghan Star (6/5, 6/6). Check the website for full screening info.

Afghan Star

DhakFu @ Millennium Park
Saturday, June 5, 12 & 19 @ 8:00am

SAPACer Fuad Ahmad, AKA DhakFu, provides live music for Moksha Yoga’s summer classes (led by his partner, Becky Raines) on the Great Lawn of the Pritzker Pavilion.

Ramu Ramdev @ Art Institute ADDED 6/7
Sunday, June 6 – Saturday, June 12

Ramdev, a master miniature artist from Jaipur, will be in residence at the museum for a week and host demonstrations and classes for visitors.

Ami Saraiya @ Martyrs
Wednesday, June 9 @ 8:00pm

Singer-songwriter Ami Saraiya was named one of CD Baby’s Top 10 Indie Artists to Watch in 2010. On this night, she performs on a bill with a Tom Waits tribute band (performing Frank’s Wild Years in its entirety!!) and Rob Wilson.

Funkadesi @ Andersonville Midsommarfest ADDED 6/4
Saturday, June 12 @ 7:00pm

SAPAC favorites Funkadesi headline the first night of Midsommarfest at Balmoral and Clark. My favorite testimonial on their website comes from President Obama: “Funkadesi really knows how to get a crowd going. I can’t say enough how energizing this band is. There’s a lot of funk in that desi!” You can also catch the band on 6/19 at Takin’ It to the Streets, 6/20 at Taste of Randolph, and 6/22 at Loyola University’s World Refugee Day celebration.

Hindustani Classical Music @ Meadows Club
Sunday, June 13 @ 6:00pm

Pandit Jasraj, Pandita Tripti Mukherjee, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, and Pandit Suman Ghosh perform at the Rolling Meadows banquet hall.

Hemanta Mishra @ The Book Stall
Monday, June 14 @ 7:00pm

“Mishra, distinguished biologist and conservationist and author of the award-winning The Soul of the Rhino, talks about Bones of the Tiger, a fascinating story of one man’s quest to save the man-eating tigers of Nepal.”

Anoop Jain @ Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Tuesday, June 15 @ 12:00pm

Jain joins Hull-House Museum’s weekly Re-Thinking Soup program to discuss The Community Kitchen Project, which will help provide free, nutritious, and traditional meals to Tibetan refugees.

Aziz Ansari @ Vic Theatre
Wednesday, June 16 & Thursday, June 17 @ 7 & 9:30pm

As if we needed to remind you that Ansari brings his Dangerously Delicious Tour to the second Just for Laughs comedy festival in Chicago. Have you heard he’s also hosting the MTV Movie Awards on June 6? I hear that gig can be good for your career.

Ashok Lal @ Hinsdale Community Center
Thursday, June 17 @ 6:30pm

Accompanied by Pandit Rakesh Sharma on tabla, Lal presents some of his own compositions along with some popular ghazals.

Megha Gupta @ No Coast ADDED 6/25
Friday, June 18 – Friday, July 9

Visions from the Burned Forest: New Works on Paper by Megha Gupta opened at No Coast Exhibitions and Editions on June 18, but the show is on view until July 9.

A.R. Rahman @ Sears Centre
Friday, June 18 @ 8:00pm

Rahman brings his Jai Ho: The Journey Home World Tour to Hoffman Estates’  Sears Centre.

Sonny Bhatt @ Jokes and Notes
Friday, June 18 @ 8:30pm

But wait! Ansari isn’t the only desi participating in Just for Laughs! Local comedian Bhatt performs as part of a showcase of breakout performers.

Gundecha Brothers @ Sri Balaji Temple
Saturday, June 18 @ 6:00pm

Umakant, Ramakant and Akhilesh Gundecha are prominent performers and teachers of the ancient classical vocal music of India called Dhrupad.

Stir Friday Night! @ Studio BE
Saturday, June 19 @ 7:00pm

Chicago’s favorite Asian American sketch comedy troupe shows off its skills in Just for Laughs’ Sketch-travaganza night. Less fortunate: the theme for its time slot is “Diversity”; other gems include “Ladies” and “?!?” Not exactly the creative titles one might expect from the organizers of a comedy festival. Still, it promises to be a fun night.

Russell Peters @ Rosemont Theatre
Saturday, June 19 @ 8:00pm

The last desi entry in the Just for Laughs festival, and a pretty good one to boot.

DJs Jimmy Love & Jimmy Singh @ Funky Buddha Lounge ADDED 6/23
Friday, June 25 @ 9:00pm

The popular DJs spin for a Bhangratheque night at FBL.

Voices of Resistance 9 Deadline for Entry!
Wednesday, June 30

Are you a South Asian artist looking for a platform to showcase your work? Then check out the Call for Artists for Voices of Resistance, SAPAC’s 9th annual political/performing arts showcase, to be held September 12 at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Get the details here.

Shilpa Bavikatte @ St. Andrews Inn
Sunday nights @ 7:00pm

SAPACer and chanteuse Bavikatte performs as part of her new Sunday night residency at the Edgewater pub-slash-comfort-food-haven.

A few events to hit in the next few weeks…

Brownstar @ Loyola University
Friday, April 9, 2010

“Formed in 2007, Brownstar is a two-man spoken-word duo bursting forth from the pens and dreams of emcee-poet-performers Pushkar North Star Sharma and Sathya South Star Sridharan. Grown in the Heartland of America but Flavored with the Masala of the Motherland, Brownstar shouts what often goes unheard, giving BROWN a voice and song—presenting a fresh perspective and exploring the contradictions, complexities, and epiphanies of South-Asian identities.”

Raspberry Magic film @ Gene Siskel Film Center
Thursday, April 15, 2010

Directed by Leena Pendharkar, Raspberry Magic “is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old girl who believes she must win the science fair in order to bring her father back after he runs out on the family.” It will be the closing night film of the 15th annual Asian American Showcase.

Kalyani Devaki Menon @ DePaul University
Friday, April 16, 2010

Menon, a professor of religious studies at Syracuse University, discusses her book Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India as part of DePaul’s Women’s and Gender Studies program’s brown bag lunch series. Also appearing are Kathleen McInerney, St. Xavier University; John Duffy, National Louis University; and Morgan Halstead. Ph.D Candidate, to present “Visibility Matters: LGBTQ issues in Illinois Higher Education.” 12-1:30pm at Levan Room 301. Contact the dept. for more info.

Sarwat Rumi @ Columbia College Chicago
Saturday, April 17, 2010

SAPAC favorite Sarwat Rumi performs her moving poetry at Gender Fusions 6: Our Temple of Transgressions, Columbia’s annual “queer spectacle.” Sure to be a blast.

Vidur Kapur, Shazia Mirza, Dan Nainan @ IIT
Sunday, April 18, 2010

Three up-and-coming desi comedians take the stage at the Illinois Institute of Technology for a benefit for the Indo-American Heritage Museum.

Jasbir Puar @ Northwestern University ADDED 4/20
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Puar, a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Geography at Rutgers, will discuss her book Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times (2007) at Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

Amartya Sen @ Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate and professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University, addresses the topic “International Law and Justice: Folly or Fair Play?”

Amartya Sen @ Northwestern University
Thursday, April 22, 2010

Prof. Sen speaks for free at Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

Susan Koshy @ DePaul University ADDED 4/21
Friday, April 23, 2010

Koshy, a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will discuss “Asian American Studies in the Wake of Globalization.” “She will address changes in the field of Asian American Studies since its emergence in the 1970s, examine newer paradigms for organizing Asian American Studies in recent years, and consider the specific challenges for setting up Ethnic Studies programs in the Midwest.”

Anoushka Shankar @ Prairie Center for the Arts
Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sitar player and composer (and daughter of Ravi, sister of Norah) Anoushka Shankar performs at Schaumburg’s arts center.

Mira Nair @ Columbia College Chicago
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Filmmaker Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding, Amelia) gives a free public talk at Columbia College. Reservations recommended–this event was previously listed as sold out, but it looks like tickets are available again online.

Minal Hajratwala @ Women & Children First ADDED 4/22
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

In her 2010 Lambda Literary Award finalist debut, Leaving India: My Family’s Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents, San Francisco-based queer writer and activist Minal Hajratwala mixes history, memoir and reportage, tracing her family’s history from the beginning of the twentieth century and across five continents. Delving into the relationships between the personal choices and historical forces (colonialism, apartheid, Gandhi’s Salt March, American immigration policy) that shaped her family’s experiences, she brings to light the epic story of the Indian diaspora. Minal is another SAPAC favorite and has spoken at 2 of the 3 Kriti Festivals held here in Chicago.

………..

And one that’s far off, but for which you’ll want to buy your tickets now:

Aziz Ansari and Russell Peters @ Just for Laughs Festival
June 17 & 19, 2010

The second Just for Laughs Chicago festival features two of the biggest desi comics around, Aziz Ansari (Thursday, June 17, 7pm and 9:30pm, at the Vic) and Russell Peters (Saturday, June 19, 8pm, at the Rosemont Theatre). Aziz’s last Chicago show at DePaul was all-new material and generally hi-larious, plus he’ll be hot off his gig hosting the MTV Movie Awards and will hopefully have some juicy celebrity dish to share.

Last weekend was, like, the best ever. Thanks to quick-thinking SAPAC friends, a few of us got tickets to see the one and only Aziz Ansari. He performed in Chicago on Saturday, February 27, for a DePaul University show. It was a surreal experience to be surrounded by college students and watch him live with a full house. If you missed his recent Comedy Central special, “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening,” you can rent or buy it. They may re-air it too.

Although I was wearing my bling, hoping the fake crystals would catch his eye, I don’t think he noticed me in the center section, last row of the Mezzanine level. I was too lazy and hungry to stalk him afterward, or before at the airport/hotel/street, so our destined meeting was postponed.  This may not seem like a big deal for kids these days, but when I was in college, we didn’t have no South Asian comedians performing to sold out crowds. Aziz is my hero.

Dan Levy opened for Aziz. I enjoyed Dan’s trash talking about Canada and his tale of receiving hate mail from vampire fans due to a moment of mistaken identity (he shares the same name with a Canadian MTV VJ). There are reviews out there from other college comedy shows with Aziz and Dan, done in a Top 10 list style.  But I thought of doing my review in a Top 10 style BEFORE I even found those other ones. So, here’s my original review idea: since Aziz likes Top 10 lists, I’ll do one for his show.

Top 10 jokes/parts I loved from Aziz’s comedy show at DePaul (not the best list):

10.  R. Kelly. He felt compelled to talk about R. Kelly since he was in Chicago. We appreciated it. RAAAAAAAANDY loves R. Kelly.

9.  Rudeness. He doesn’t like rude people. Especially on airplanes with puppies who are mean to old people. They deserve to have their puppies killed. I totally agree.

8. He wore a suit. This is not a joke, but is good for taking up space at number 8. I like that he wore a suit. It was hot, and professional.

7.  Texting and pizza. Something about him ordering a pizza, girl not responding in time to his text invite for a pizza party, and how she missed out on a totally awesome pizza party. Keyword for me in this joke was pizza. I love pizza parties.

6.  Darwish. One of my two favorite cousins of somebody else (in this case, Aziz Ansari). I follow him on Twitter.* Darwish is known for his musical insights, specifically in hip hop, which led to his “battle” with Kanye.

5.  Harris. The other one of my two favorite cousins of somebody else. I also follow him on Twitter.* Harris is known for his insights into being awesome (because, like me, he loves Jack Bauer), and his expertise on Cinnabons. Loved Aziz’s impression of Harris eating Cinnabons.

4. RAAAAAANDY made an appearance, along with his crazy dance moves. I love those dance moves. Out. Of. Control. Check out the new single from his upcoming mixtape, “AAAAAAAANGRY.”

3. Racist/Rude Eastern European customs agent in Toronto. Aziz did a spot-on accent and shared how he explained to her what “shooting movie” really meant.

2.  Racist Star Wars fan. Is this an oxymoron or too good to be true? Great joke–don’t want to ruin it for you here. You will have to go to an Aziz show to hear it!

1.  Looking up random things on the Internet. Talked about how he spends a lot of time searching online for random information that takes precedence over doing work. Sound familiar? One of his favorite things to read are Top 10 lists. Doesn’t matter the topic. Like a 21-page Top 10 list about the most popular racial slurs for practically every ethnic group. One of his favorites was “apple.” No, Aziz is not a racist! Of course, Aziz made it clear before joking about slurs that he’s not racist, and this is part of a joke. I couldn’t find a 21-page list, but here’s one. Enjoy.

*As of March 3, 2010, Harris has about 2,000 more followers than Darwish. Harris’s first tweet was “eating macaroni.”  Heavy stuff. They are in a battle of wills for total domination on Twitter. Follow Harris or Darwish or both.

DePaul University’s student Activities Board is bringing comic Aziz Ansari to its downtown Merle Reskin Theatre this Saturday, Feb. 27. Tickets are only $5, but they’re sold out. Time to start bribing that distant cousin who’s a freshman at DePaul.

A few SAPAC members will be there–leave us a comment if you will be, too!

As if we needed to post it, catch Ansari in action on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” (probably NSFW):