Do not invite Aziz Ansari to an Italian restaurant casually. Having spent several months living in Italy last year, working in restaurants, Ansari, the comedian, co-creator and star of the Netflix series Master of None, is “hypercritical,” he said, about what makes the perfect raviolo. Ansari’s pasta-making stint — at restaurants including the tiny Mario Batali-favourite Hosteria Giusti in Modena — tied into Master of None, whose first season ended with his character, Dev, jetting off to Italy on a pasta-making journey of his own.
Which came first, the story line or Ansari’s obsession? “I secretly knew that if I wrote a story where my character lives in a small town and learns how to make pasta, I could to go to a small town in Italy and justify it as research,” he said. Season 2 starts out in Modena, where Dev is hand-rolling tortellini and having adventures à la The Bicycle Thief.
Ansari, 34, has been a master of many pursuits — he is the co-author of a best-selling book, Modern Romance, about love in the internet age; sold out Madison Square Garden for his stand-up tour; and has emerged as a thoughtful voice for South Asian artistes and Muslim families. He delivered a moment-defining monologue, hosting Saturday Night Live the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Ansari’s immigrant family has been a secret weapon: his parents play scene-stealing versions of themselves on the show, and his younger brother, Aniz, is a writer. The series is personal, so don’t expect Season 3 anytime soon. “I’ve got to live my life and have some stuff happen,” Ansari said by phone from Los Angeles. Some excerpts from the conversation:
Your Italian on the show is pretty good — did you pick it up easily?
I did three weeks of lessons. I realised that I waste so much time on the internet that if I didn’t, I could speak every language fluently.
Was this trip to Italy life-changing?
It was. I always had been scared of the idea of going someplace by myself, and not knowing anyone. I realised, how many more years of my life am I going to have where I don’t have anything that keeps me tied down? I just want to explore living in these places. It really helps me creatively. You always hear that people come up with ideas in the shower — when I live in these places, it’s like living my whole life in the shower.
How did you prepare for the ‘SNL’ monologue?
I didn’t go anywhere for Christmas — I just went to the Comedy Cellar (the New York club) every day. I would do eight, nine shows a night. The mood (after the election) just kept changing. The monologue kept changing, even between rehearsal and the show. It was a lot of pressure to have on set; that’s why I worked so hard on it. I think I pulled it off.
How do you feel now, as an artiste in the Trump era?
I have Trump fatigue. It becomes repetitive: He said this crazy thing, and he didn’t apologise! You realise, I don’t know if this is news anymore. It’s more like reading soap opera rumours.
One thing you tackle is religion and being a lapsed Muslim.
I thought about doing an episode where it’s humour that’s all based on this religion. Larry David or Woody Allen would do Jewish humour; I’ve never seen that with Islam. And there’s things that made me laugh with my family, where it’s someone pretending to be more pious than they really are — it felt like something we hadn’t seen before.
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