168. Zarna Garg Returns: One Follower at a Time, a Million Times

Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out

Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out podcast

Mygirlfriendsboyfriend, Interviews, Comedy Interviews, Sleepwalkwithme, Iraglass, Comedy, Thankgodforjokes, Thenewone, Mikebirbiglia, Dontthinktwice, Birbiglia

4.8 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Zarna Garg first appeared on the Working It Out podcast in 2022 and since then her popularity has continued to rise. Zarna explains to Mike how she has built her comedy career like a business, and why performing for an audience of one or two is no different for her than performing for an audience of thousands. Mike and Zarna discuss free speech in Zarna’s native India, and what it’s like for her to raise her kids in America. Plus: why no one in Zarna’s family has been allowed to read her memoir This American Woman.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm going to read as your husband, because that's okay if that's not inappropriate.
0:04.0	This is a dialogue between you and your husband when you first met.
0:09.0	Yeah. So I'll be your husband. What about sex?
0:11.0	After a brief aneurysm, I said, listen, Mr. Kamasutra, that comes later.
0:16.0	Later?
0:17.0	I'm not getting married for sex. Whomever I marry, it will likely be months, if not years, before I ever have sex with them.
0:24.2	Years.
0:25.0	Years.
0:27.0	And then you can say the final line.
0:28.7	Reader, we slept together that night.
0:31.1	That is a great piece of writing.
0:40.4	That is the voice of the great Zarnagarg!
0:46.6	I am so thrilled that Zarnagarg is back since she appeared on this podcast in 2022.
0:49.2	She has exploded.
0:51.0	She is huge.
0:56.1	She is an incredible stand-up comedian with a fascinating life story. She has a new book,
1:01.1	which is a memoir called This American Woman, which is amazing. That little bit you just heard is an abridged version of something from her book, a dialogue between her and her husband. As you
1:06.2	can tell, she is just an extremely honest performer. We find it today on the show that no one in her family,
1:12.1	who she wrote about extensively in this book,
1:14.6	was allowed to read the book before it was published, which is wild.
1:18.7	We talk about that.
1:20.1	She just has a fascinating life story.
	...

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