One-on-One
TikTok Sensation Discusses Her Newfound Fame
Clip: Season 2023 Episode 2603 | 9m 52sVideo has Closed Captions
TikTok Sensation Discusses Her Newfound Fame
Comedian Pinky Patel joins Steve Adubato and Co-Host and Executive Producer, Georgette Timoney, to discuss her newfound fame and going from a TikTok sensation to a stand-up comedian.
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One-on-One is a local public television program presented by NJ PBS
One-on-One
TikTok Sensation Discusses Her Newfound Fame
Clip: Season 2023 Episode 2603 | 9m 52sVideo has Closed Captions
Comedian Pinky Patel joins Steve Adubato and Co-Host and Executive Producer, Georgette Timoney, to discuss her newfound fame and going from a TikTok sensation to a stand-up comedian.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(upbeat music) - Do you know the last time anybody asked me?
All of these questions that this lady asked me?
And first of all, she was like, she cold emails me and she's like, "Pinky, I have a mommy podcast.
I would love to interview you."
I was like, "how did you know I'm a mom?
- Crowd laughter.
- How many videos did you have to go through to realize that my roommates are my family members?
How many videos?"
- We have her.
She's a TikTok sensation and she's got 5 million followers there.
64 million likes.
TikTok.
She's outta control.
Pinky Patel, comedian, TikTok sensation.
Georgette.
You get credit for this.
You found, not that she's hard to find.
Set this up.
Why do we have - I, along with millions and millions of people out there, love Pinky.
And I was so thrilled when she said "yes" cause I know she's touring, and we just, we just wanted to have you on and have you talk about, how you became Pinky Patel, comedian star.
- Well, I mean, hi.
Hello, my friends.
Pinky Patel here.
How did I get started?
I don't, I just got really fed up with my roommates and I decided to make videos and post them on social media.
And here we are, 2.5 years later and I just, I can't believe this is what my life is now.
I actually should be in probably some sort of corporate meeting at a corporate job that I no longer have.
What what?
(laughter) - So, wait a minute.
Set up, the tiara comes-- What is the significance?
- Well, so I made this one video explaining something to a man, and I, my followers started calling back - Back up.
- I have to preface.
I have to preface, I have to.
So I was explaining something which is very real for us women, for shenanigan times.
And, at the end, I put this little comb in my hair, smooth as silk.
And I was proud of myself cause I'm not smooth.
I'm very clumsy.
I have nicks all over my body, because I can't, I don't know how to walk.
And at the end I said, I said what I said, and then a week later, followers kept sending me real crowns.
They're like, girl, you need a bigger crown.
That's not big enough.
You told him how it is.
You Pinky-splained it and I love you.
- Hold on, you what?
- Pinky-splained it.
I Pinky-splain things.
So, I over explain things like how men mansplain.
I Pinky-splain.
- You're killing me.
Georgette, pick it up from there please.
- So, Pinky, where people hear that you have roommates they might not get that whole association.
Can you fill us in on that?
- And I love it.
I love it.
Which is why I started calling my family members my roommates because I'm that person that is super sarcastic, super dark humor.
And that was kind of my way of just letting the frustration out.
Well, yeah, I'm not gonna call you family members.
I'll call you my roommates.
Okay?
And so, here we are.
It's my husband, my two kids, my dog, my in-laws, everybody and anybody who wants to live in the Patel household.
You're my roommate.
- Pinky, I'm curious about this before Georgette comes back in.
I'm curious.
- Okay.
- So you, you're in Chicago, right?
- Yep, Chicago.
- And you like the Cubs, White Sox.
You can only pick one, right?
Do you care?
- Right.
I mean, I love everybody equally.
- Oh, what are you running for office?
(laughter) Are you running for the US Senate in Illinois, what is that?
- We're a Cubs family through and through.
We have been a Cubs family since my husband touched down here in America.
So, Cubs.
- Okay, you got it.
I'm a Yankee fan.
My condolences to you.
So, in all seriousness, was it your corny question?
Dream to be as popular an entertainer as you are?
- I've always, when I was younger, I've always wanted to be famous.
But it wasn't a reality from, you know, the time that I grew up, the being Indian there was just no space for us in Hollywood back then.
And so, I kind of put that on the back burner.
And then, this came about out of frustration.
And the goal was never to get all of these followers and then to start this secondary career.
It was just to have fun.
And so, I mean, I was telling Georgette earlier, It's, I'm very lucky and I understand that I'm super lucky that this happened, right?
Like, this doesn't happen to normal people everywhere.
And so, I thank whoever I need to from the universe to all 1 million deities I'm supposed to pray to.
I'm like, thank goodness this happened.
Because I don't know if I would never be able to fulfill my 10 year old dream of being famous otherwise.
- I love it.
Georgette.
- You know, I wonder too, Pinky, I mean you go from the corporate suburban PTA mom to now going out on tour.
Like, how do you make that shift?
How do you make that adjustment?
- It takes a full team.
I know going back to Steve's it sounds corny, but it does, it takes all of us.
- We, PS, we have a great team all over doing great work.
- You do.
- I'm sorry.
Pick it up, Pinky.
- No, it just, it takes a lot of people.
You guys know, in order to have a successful production.
It's not a one man show ever.
It's, I'm just the face of it, right?
I have a whole team behind me from a manager, to a talent agency, to a social media manager, to my husband, to my kids who are very understanding, to my in-laws, who, you know, they're traditional Indian in-laws they're traditional boomer parents, Indian parents.
And so they're, they could be like, what are you doing?
You shouldn't be going out and doing this.
Girls don't do this.
But they're just like, go have fun.
And I'm like, yes, I won the lotto.
- Do they get your-- - Oh, sorry.
- I'm sorry, Georgette.
I'm sorry.
I'm curious.
I'll have you come back.
Did, but I'm curious, do your in-laws get your humor?
- They don't understand the humor just cause of the language barrier.
But they did come to my first Chicago show here, after like, when I came back a year later.
And they, just the fact that they saw all of the people that were there for me my, actually, my 9 year old son at that time he opened for me.
And so they got to see their grandson on stage.
- And, - How great.
- My mother-in-law, right?
My mother-in-law comes up to me the next day.
She's like, how did you talk for 75 minutes without drinking any water?
I would be so tired.
I was like, mom, I got this.
This is what I do on a normal basis.
She's like, oh my God.
- How great.
- So, they love it.
They're very proud.
- They should be.
- That's great.
And I, and I was wondering too, Pinky, that first, do you remember the first show like, when you went from, it's very different, right?
Being on TikTok and then stepping out and seeing all these people out there.
What were those feelings?
What was that sensation when you did that?
- I was terrified.
I was terrified.
I, we used to be, so growing up, you know we used to do a lot of, or during Diwali parties, we would have choreographed dances and little groups of kids would do dances and my mom would force me just like, you know you have dance teams here, like, dance explosion and all that, and you have the dance recitals, right?
Our version was the Diwali parties.
And every time, no joke, I, like everybody else would be going left on stage and I'm going right.
And I was that person and I hated it.
I did it to make her proud.
I hated it.
I hate, like, I cannot my hips don't move like a Bollywood dancer's hips.
I don't have hips, I have leg tops.
It just doesn't work, right?
And so, you just can't, I just, I don't move like that unless I have extracurricular stuff in my body.
Let's just say that.
And so, - I'm leaving it alone.
But you got up there and you did it.
- I got up there and I did it and it was the best high in the world.
Like, if, like, you know how people are like, you should just do whatever you're scared of doing.
It's, it'll be okay.
Now I'm on board with that.
I'm on board with that mentality.
Before I was like, why would you do things that scare you?
Just sit at home, and roll up into a burrito blanket and watch Netflix.
It's fine.
Don't leave the house.
Now I'm like, go do it.
Go jump off the cliff.
Safely.
Go bungee jump.
Safely.
- Pinky, I gotta tell you.
First of all, Georgette, thank you for finding Pinky and bringing her to us.
And Pinky, thank you for bringing your humor, your personality, your incredibly positive attitude.
And PS, this is part of our series on One-on-One, simply called, Georgette we're calling it "What's So Funny?"
- What's so funny?
Yeah.
She's funny.
- That's funny right there.
Hey Pinky, we wish you all the best.
- Thank you.
Thank you guys for having me.
It was fun.
- Awesome.
- That's Georgette, that's Pinky.
And they're funny and I'm not.
I know what's funny.
(laughter) We'll be right back after this.
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