Pooja Reddy Deserves the Parade Undies

Thanks to the coronavirus, comedians are now trapped at home like the rest of us, so we decided that while we’re all self-isolating, we’d do something a little different from our usual “Follow Friday” column. Instead of interviewing up-and-coming comedians we love on Twitter, we’re going live on Instagram every week to check in on some of our favorite people in comedy and get a firsthand look into how they’re handling the pandemic. So welcome to our new version of the column, now titled “Follow (From a Safe Distance) Friday.”

This week, I got all dolled up for a chat with Pooja Reddy (Kutti Gang, PBS, aptly and accurately filling out a spreadsheet somewhere) about how she’s holding up in the famously global coronavirus pandemic. She gushed about her new official role as chinnamma, got honest about virtual comedy shows, and recounted memories of going to open mics at the recently and devastatingly shuttered Creek and the Cave. She also broke down exactly what compelled her to pivot from pre-med to international relations to stand-up: “This is just basically one big ploy to get Parade to sponsor me …Glossier also, if you’re listening.”

You can find Pooja on Twitter at @areyoureddy and on Instagram at @pooreddy.