He is still on the rise...

Master of all

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.