Aziz Ansari is Our Comedian

“Creepy dudes are everywhere, man.”

Thus begins just one of comedian Aziz Ansari’s new stand-up routines, featured on his new special “Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden.” It’s perhaps one of the most timely and relevant stand-up specials of this generation thus far—he touches on the issues of relationships, fear of missing out, being a second-generation immigrant, and even the meat industry, among other things.

And it’s surprisingly relatable. Of course it’s true that creepy men are on the Internet and are unfortunately willing to sexually harass women behind the virtual mask of anonymity. Aziz isn’t afraid to get explicit in his criticism: “If you’re a dude, never yell ‘Take it off’ unless a woman has placed a tarantula or scorpion on one of your shoulders.”

What about the fact that everyone under the age of 30 is terrible at making plans? Aziz has an explanation: “No one wants to commit to shit. ‘Cause they’re terrified that something better’s gonna come along. It is so rude—why do we do this?”

And why? Some of the more celebrated comedians of the present age—Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan—are either too old or simply fail to address the important issues of the current generation. This is a technology-enabled cohort who has learned to adapt from VHS tapes and CDs to iPhones and Facebook and Instagram, and yet our most famous comedians are still cracking jokes about airplane food, peanut allergies, and Hot Pockets.

It’s a bold foray into uncharted territory for Aziz, and it’s one that ultimately proves successful. “I’m the first generation in my family that was born in America,” he says to applause. Even outside of his widely loved character on the television show “Parks and Recreation,” Aziz is simply a relatable guy. “My dad’s a doctor, and he said when he first got here it was very hard, ’cause the head of the hospital was very racist and wouldn’t ever send him patients,” he shares. Given the current political climate, it’s not a surprising story.

It’s sometimes said that the best comedy finds unexpected insight in the most serious or tragic of circumstances—that the best comedy has the ability to illuminate new perspectives. For this generation, at least, Aziz is that comedian. He sees our technology-dependent hypocrisy and calls us out on it. “It used to not be like that,” he laments.

—Staff writer Alan R. Xie can be reached at alan.xie@thecrimson.com.