Rasika Mathur is an American actress/comedian best known for her recurring role on the original version of Wild 'N Out.

Early life

Mathur was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Hindu immigrant parents from India, but grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Albright Middle School in Alief, Texas and Elsik High School.[1] She discovered her comedic side in seventh grade, after a teacher asked her to feed her dog while she was away: "That teacher soon said to me, 'Take my acting class' and I did, and it was amazing. I got to free up my inner weirdo. Once we got to draw masks, and everyone loved the lion I drew. Something was always in me, roaring quietly, ready to be unleashed. (Ha, that was a cool metaphor.) Soon, out poured all the funny voices, silly characters, and hilarious wit that had built up inside me."[1]

At the University of Texas at Austin, she studied creative advertising with a minor in Japanese and was active in the Student Association.[1]

Comedy career

After college, she moved to Chicago and worked as a copywriter at a large advertising firm, while at night she studied improvisation at The Second City Training Center: "I day-jobbed and had an improv affair with Second City by night. Still have the hickeys to prove it."[1] She also performed with Stir Friday Night!, a Chicago-based Asian American sketch comedy troupe.[2]

After moving to LA to film a pilot that did not get picked up, Mathur faced difficulty:

Now I was living out of the trunk of my car. Mooching. Being broke. I mean broke like, you want to go out to eat late night with friends and you’re holding back tears reading the menu, having to make sure the side of eggs is really $1.49 and not $2.49, ’cause otherwise you just won’t eat. The vine I was trying to swing to wasn’t quite in front of me yet, so sometimes I had to grab a hold of air. To make ends meet I had to cater waitering. Being a children’s party clown or Dora the Explorer with a football-shaped head. Serving whiny, bandaid-on-their-forehead customers at Starbucks at 5 a.m. Graveyard shifts at Dr. Phil’s studios. It was a nightmare. But I also realized that I needed to keep my eyes open to the comedy in all those situations, and back-pocket it to use on stage, like during shows at IO-West, or in improv classes at the Groundlings. That kept me going.[1]

She continues to perform stand-up around the country. She appeared on the show Wild'N Out on MTV2, where she kissed Lauren Flans, another former cast member.[3] Her influences are Christopher Guest, Chevy Chase, Three Amigos, Saturday Night Live (the David Spade years) In Living Color, Adam Sandler, The Count, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.[1]

"The Sari (W)rap"

Mathur's debut musical comedy album, "The Sari (W)rap", was released in November 2010 on Rukus Avenue Records.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."I Don't Practice Enough"4:01
2."The Threading Salon Chronicles"2:08
3."Threading Rap -- A Song For Hairy Girls"1:55
4."Back That Thing Up"4:31
5."Borders"1:20
6."Indita Mia (Let Me Lube You)"6:33
7."The Indian Irish Drinking Song"2:54
8."My Guitar Teacher Is White"4:51
9."Cricket"0:40
10."We Love You England"4:19
11."Cremation"4:53
12."Punctuation"0:39
13."Wedding Disaster"4:31
14."I Think I'm Gonna Kama Sutra"5:48
15."Their Satanic Majesties Last Guitar Lesson"1:38
16."The Sari (W)rap"2:27

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Next! Various TV movie
2003 Melvin Goes to Dinner Extra
Comedy Central Laughs for Life Telethon 2003 Adopted Girl TV movie
2004 Missing Sock The Guru Short
2005 Don't Fear the Reaper Hooker with a Heart of Gold Short
2006 Totally Real TV Susan Short
BBQ Bill Rasika Video short
2007 Deserted: The Webseries Sanjina
2008 Cloverfield Party Goer
An Inconvenient Penguin Dr. Sumi Video short
2009 Nilam Auntie: An International Treasure Nilam Auntie / Laxmi Harjoshi Short
2010 The Taqwacores Fatima
Blowout Sale Customer Short
2011 The King's Speech Parody LOL Herself Short
Crazy, Stupid, Love Emily's Assistant
Doctors Without Boundaries Dr. Hari Pasi Short
2012 Just for You Girl With Flowers Short
2013 Shotgun Wedding Violet
2014 Rubberhead Bride #3 TV movie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 3 Non-Blondes Herself Series Regular
2005 Stacked Sally Episode: "Beat the Candidate"
2005-20 Wild 'N Out Cast Member Season 1-5, 15
2006 Free Ride Deeta the Waitress Episode: "Up the Aunty"
2007 The L Word Student #1 Episode: "Livin' La Vida Loca"
My Name is Earl Female Indian Friend Episode: "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck"
Carpoolers Barista Episode: "Down for the Count"
Weeds Bank Teller Episode: "Protection"
2011 Childrens Hospital Nidhi Episode: "Frankfurters. Allman Brothers. Death. Frankfurters"
2015 The McCarthys Barista Episode: "Cutting the Cord" & "End Games"
2018 Will & Grace Trish Episode: "Sweatshop Annie & The Annoying Baby Shower"
2019 Abby's Customer #2 Episode: "Backup"
The Dead Sullivan Show Guest/Poet Episode: "Tim Tipton's "Rhyme Without Reason" 003"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Souri, Ranjit (Jun 15, 2006). Funny Brown Female. Archived 2006-08-13 at the Wayback Machine India Currents
  2. ↑ Yalamanchili, Pavani (June 2005). One Woman Show. Archived 2007-03-21 at the Wayback Machine Nirali Magazine
  3. ↑ Leslie, Joey (April 11, 2006). Q&A: Rasika Mathur, Comedian and Co-star of MTV's Wild 'N Out. WKU Herald
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