About Those Monkey Brains ... My Secret Nights as an Indian Standup Comic in New York

By Benny Profane

As the author explains it: When I first came to America from India a few decades back, many Americans thought that India meant sacred cows, starving millions, snake charmers, monkeys, and elephants. Which upset me, because though one of my aunts was indeed a cow, the monkeys in my family had descended from the trees well over two hundred years earlier, and what’s more—unlike Obama—had the birth certificates to prove it, despite the claim of some Birthers that the birth certificates were fakes. Many Americans also believed that Indians spoke “Indian,” dressed in adult diapers--like Ma-HAT-ma GAN-dee (the “Ma” was said the way a goat might say it), and “ate curry” (“Two portions of curry please, with curry on the side!”).

About Those Monkey Brains is a book that laughs at the stereotypes about India, including the famous scene in the Hollywood movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," in which Indians are shown to be eating monkey brains. Around 50 pages of jokes, some with one or two jokes a page, some with many more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Crasta
• Release date: Dec 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310340741

Benny Profane

Benny Profane is the comic alter ego of the author of 12 other books including "The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel"

Book preview

About the Author

Richard Crasta (who uses the pseudonym Benny Profane for certain of his humorous books) is the author of twelve other books published in ten countries and seven languages. He was born and grew up in India, Catholic and devout, secretly plotting to become the first Indian Pope or Catholic saint; but the onset of puberty changed his mind, and he moved to America to become a writer ... and was introduced to standup comedy at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, where one black comic pointed at him and accused him of being a fucking Eye-rain-ian, because, at that time Eye-rain-ians (or Iranians) were the enemy of America. But when Robin Williams made a surprise appearance and gave a brilliant performance, Benny (then Richard) forgave the wildly mistaken ethnic stereotyping and decided to make fun of ethnic stereotyping in his own standup comedy routines, some day. His influences include Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Saturday Night Live, the Tonight Show monologues and guests, and others. His first novel, The Revised Kama Sutra, has chapters whose comic timing (as one critic described it) reveals the influence of standup comedy.

Table of Contents

About the Author

Preface

About Those Monkey Brains

Monologue 2: Me and My Cow

A Tale of Two Indian Weddings

Other Books by the Author

Preface

When I first came to America from India a few decades back, many Americans thought that India stood for sacred cows, starving millions, snake charmers, dotheaded women, monkeys, and elephants. Which upset me, because though one of my aunts was indeed a cow, the monkeys in my