Early life

Aziz Ansari was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to a Tamil Muslim family from Tamil Nadu, India. His mother, Fatima, works in a medical office, and his father, Shoukath, is a gastroenterologist. Ansari grew up in Bennettsville, South Carolina, where he attended Marlboro Academy as well as the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics. He has described himself as an atheist. He graduated from the New York University Stern School of Business with a major in marketing.

Career

Early career

Ansari frequently performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, as well as weekly shows such as Invite Them Up. In 2005, Rolling Stone included him in their annual "Hot List" as their choice for the "Hot Standup", and he won the Jury Award for "Best Standup" at HBO's 2006 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

Human Giant

Around the summer of 2005, Ansari began collaborating with fellow comedians Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer (both from the improv troupe Respecto Montalban), as well as director Jason Woliner to make short films. The first series created by the group was Shutterbugs, which followed Huebel and Ansari as cutthroat child talent agents. This was followed up by the Illusionators, which starred Ansari and Scheer as Criss Angel-style goth magicians. In mid-2006, MTV greenlit a sketch series from the group, which debuted April 5, 2007. The show completed two seasons and the group was offered a third season, but it opted to pursue other opportunities.

Parks and Recreation

In June 2008, Ansari was announced as the first cast hire for NBC's new comedy from producers of The Office. The show, Parks and Recreation, debuted in April 2009 with Ansari portraying government employee Tom Haverford. Ansari's performance has received notable praise from critics, including Entertainment Weekly naming him one of 2009's "Breakout TV Stars", TV Guide naming him a "Scene Stealer" and Yahoo! TV placing him in the No. 1 spot on its list of "TV MVPS".

Master of None

Ansari stars in the new Netflix original series Master of None, created and written by himself and Parks and Recreation writer Alan Yang. Aziz also directed several episodes of the series. The series premiered on November 6, 2015, to very positive reviews. Ansari's performance in the show earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy.

Ansari's parents were cast to play his parents in Master of None and appear in two episodes. The show has had guest appearances from Claire Danes and Noah Emmerich.

MTV Movie Awards

On June 6, 2010, Ansari hosted the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. The show opened with a spoof of the film Precious with Ansari appearing as Aziz "Precious" Ansari. Ansari also created the short film Stunt Kidz, which reunited him with his Human Giant castmates. A second short film was also made with actor Zach Galifianakis in which Ansari portrayed Taavon, Galifianakis' "swagger coach". He accepted Galifianakis' award for Best Comedic Performance in character as Taavon. Ansari also performed a musical tribute to the film Avatar in the style of singer R. Kelly.

Other notable television work

In addition to his work on Parks and Recreation, Ansari appeared on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords as a xenophobic fruit vendor who had difficulty telling the difference between Australians and New Zealanders. He had a recurring role in season eight of the ABC sitcom Scrubs as Ed, a new intern at the hospital. Ansari's character was written off the show so he could work on Parks and Recreation. Ansari also has a recurring role on the animated comedy Bob's Burgers as Darryl.

In August 2011, Ansari made a cameo appearance in the music video for "Otis" by Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album, Watch the Throne.

Film career

Ansari has made appearances in several films, including Get Him to the Greek, I Love You, Man, 30 Minutes or Less, and Observe and Report. In the summer of 2009, Ansari appeared in the Judd Apatow film Funny People with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. Apatow liked Ansari's character, "Randy", and commissioned him and Human Giant collaborator Jason Woliner to create online shorts centered around his character, to promote the film. These shorts proved successful and the character became the subject of one of the film ideas Ansari and Woliner are currently developing for Apatow Productions. Two other ideas in development are Let's Do This, a road movie about two motivational speakers, and an untitled film about two disgraced astronauts who must return to space to clear their names. Ansari is also attached to star in another film with Danny McBride based on an idea from Ansari and 30 Rock writer Matt Hubbard. In April 2010, it was announced that Ansari would star in the film 30 Minutes or Less. The film was directed by Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer and co-starred Jesse Eisenberg and McBride. The film was released on August 12, 2011.

Stand-up comedy

Even amongst various acting commitments, Ansari has continued performing and touring as a stand-up comedian. In 2006 and 2007, he toured with the Comedians of Comedy and Flight of the Conchords. In the fall of 2008 and early 2009, Ansari headlined his own comedy tour, the Glow in the Dark Tour. The material on this tour became the basis for a DVD/CD special for Comedy Central. The set, titled Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, aired January 17, 2010, with a CD/LP/DVD release on January 19.

Ansari's comedy style tends to focus on aspects of his personal life. "I like talking about things that are going on in my life, because that's always going to be different and original", he says. "No one else is gonna be talking about my personal experiences".

In July 2010, Ansari began a new tour, Dangerously Delicious, which was in theaters across the United States; stops included the Bonnaroo Music Festival and Carnegie Hall in New York City. The tour wrapped with a filming for a special, Dangerously Delicious at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., in June 2011. This special was released on his website in March 2012 for download or stream.

In March 2012, Ansari announced a new tour entitled "Buried Alive," with dates scheduled for spring and summer 2012. A third stand-up special, Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive, was filmed during the tour at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and premiered on Netflix on November 1, 2013.

Writing

Ansari's first book, Modern Romance: An Investigation, was released on June 16, 2015. The book is about the comedic pitfalls of dating in the modern world and was written with sociologist Eric Klinenberg.

Charity work

In 2012, Ansari played a talking goat in an animated video for Oxfam America to encourage donations.

Following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, Ansari performed a benefit for the victims at the Wilbur Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. All ticket proceeds benefited The One Fund & The Officer Richard Donohue Fund.

Personal life

In 2014, it was reported that Ansari was in a relationship with professional chef Courtney McBroom. He has self-identified as a feminist, saying his girlfriend has helped influence him.

Ansari is a "foodie"; he and his friends Eric Wareheim and Jason Woliner have formed what they called "The Food Club," which involves them dressing up in suits and captain hats and rewarding restaurants with "Food Club" plaques. The plaques have their faces engraved along with the words: “The Food Club has dined here and deemed it plaque-worthy.” He explained to Vanity Fair, "It’s a really serious-looking plaque and all of the restaurants we've given it to have put it front and center. It’s funny because people will walk into a restaurant and be like, 'What the fuck is the Food Club? Who are these guys etched in gold?'" They also produced a tongue-in-cheek video about the club for Jash, filming them debating whether or not restaurants were plaque-worthy.

Ansari was a close friend of comedian Harris Wittels, working with him frequently.

Aziz has a brother named Aniz, who co-wrote one of the episodes in Master of None.

Filmography

Stand-up

Year	Title	Release
2010	Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening	Comedy Central special and live album
2012	Dangerously Delicious	online download
2013	Buried Alive	Netflix exclusive
2015	Live at Madison Square Garden	Netflix exclusive

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	School for Scoundrels	Classmate
2008	The Rocker	Aziz
2009	Funny People	Randy Springs
	Observe and Report	Saddamn
	I Love You, Man	Eugene
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Matty Briggs
2011	30 Minutes or Less	Chet
	What's Your Number?	Jay	Voice
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Squint	Voice
	Cruel Summer		Short
2013	Epic	Mub	Voice
	This Is the End	Aziz Ansari
	Arcade Fire in Here Comes The Night Time	Li'l Bud	NBC Special
2014	Date and Switch	Marcus
	Food Club	Captain Ansari	Short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Uncle Morty's Dub Shack	MC Bricklayer	Episode: "Didja Listen to My Demo?"
2007	Flight of the Conchords	Sinjay	Episode "Drive By"
2007-08	Human Giant	Various roles	14 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer
2008	Worst Week	Morgue employee	Episode: "Pilot"
2009	Reno 911!	Insurance representative	3 episodes
	Scrubs	Ed Dhandapani	4 episodes
2009-15	Parks and Recreation	Tom Haverford	Main cast
2010	Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening	Himself	Comedy Central special
	The Life & Times of Tim	Gabe	Episode: "Nagging Blonde/Tim & the Elephant"
2012	Dangerously Delicious	Himself	Comedy Central special
	NTSF:SD:SUV::	The Toucher	Episode: "Prairie Dog Companion"
2012-2015	Bob's Burgers	Darryl	Voice 7 episodes
2013	The Venture Bros.	Martin	Voice Episode: "What Color Is Your Cleansuit?"
	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself	Episode: "Aziz Ansari Wears A Charcoal Blazer"
	The Comedy Central Roast of James Franco	Roaster (himself)	TV special
	The Getaway	Host	Episode: "Aziz Ansari in Hong Kong"
	Buried Alive	Himself	Netflix Special
	Wander Over Yonder	Westley	Voice Episode: "The Little Guy"
2013-14	Ben 10: Omniverse	Billy Billions	Voice 2 episodes
2013-15	The League	Dr. Hector Rocha	2 episodes
	Adventure Time	DMO	Voice 3 episodes
2015	Kroll Show	Sly Dufrense	Episode: "Body Bouncers"
	Major Lazer	Goosh	Voice Episode: "I'm Gonna Git You Suckoid"
2015-present	Master of None	Dev Shah	Lead role; also: co-creator/executive producer/writer/director
2016	Animals.	Charles	Voice Episode: "Dogs."

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song	Role
2011	Jay-Z and Kanye West	"Otis"	Himself

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Nominated work	Result
2009	Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble	I Love You, Man	Nominated
2010	Teen Choice Award for Choice Comedian		Nominated
2013	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation	Nominated
2014	American Comedy Award for Best Comedy Supporting Actor - TV	Parks and Recreation	Nominated
2014	American Comedy Award for Comedy Special of the Year	Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive	Nominated
2014	Young Hollywood Award for Cuz You're Funny		Nominated
2014	Variety Power of Comedy Award		Won
2016	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Master of None	Nominated
2016	Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Master of None	Nominated
2016	Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series	Master of None	Won

Charities

Aziz Ansari supports the following charitable causes: Gay Rights, Human Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]