Rajiv Satyal

Satyal proposed to Harsha Mistry, a Texas pharmacist, onstage at The Funny Bone in Newport, Kentucky, as he was opening for the former Saturday Night Live star Kevin Nealon. Satyal and Mistry were married in Austin, Texas, in July 2015. Several of Satyal's friends from the comedy world were in attendance, including the actor Ed Weeks from The Mindy Project and the superstar comedian Russell Peters, who did a set, and even took over the turntables to DJ. Satyal joked during his wedding speech, "I finally got him to open for me."

Along with fellow comedian Azhar Usman, he co-founded "Make Chai, Not War" in 2012, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Department. The tour visited seven cities in India. The tour was covered by NPR on their program All Things Considered, as well as being recognized on Capitol Hill. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) grilled U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about it. "I can understand that maybe you're not aware that your department spent $100,000 on three comedians who went to India on a promotional tour called ‘Make Chai, Not War’."”

In 2005, Satyal entered the Funniest Person in Cincinnati contest, this time in the semi-pro/professional division, and won. Satyal has worked with Dave Chappelle, Kevin James, Tim Allen, Kevin Nealon and Russell Peters. By April 2008, Satyal had opened for Peters over 15 times. Satyal and Nealon met in 2005 at the Cincinnati Funny Bone and saw Batman Begins together and had dinner. Since Satyal moved to Los Angeles, Nealon has asked Satyal to open for him often.

Satyal started doing standup comedy in 2002 at Go Bananas Comedy Club in Montgomery, Ohio. He was a UC College of Engineering student when he started. His brother, Rakesh Satyal, saw an article about the Funniest Person in Cincinnati contest and encouraged him to enter. Rajiv had some material written for a book he was thinking about, but instead, used it at his tryout. He made it to the semifinals his first time around in 1998. The next year, he won. For the next three years, Satyal teetered on whether he wanted to do comedy. He would do a few shows one weekend, then shy away from it the next. He became serious about comedy in 2002.

He has been blogging on his website since 2002. Satyal has over 50 million views on YouTube. He has stated that his career goal is to host the Oscars.

Satyal worked at Procter & Gamble from 2000 to 2006. He started in purchasing at P&G but switched to marketing in 2004. Satyal began but did not finish an MBA at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He gained admission to New York University Stern School of Business after fewer than three years of full-time work but did not attend. Satyal co-led branded entertainment strategy for all brands in North America for Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser. While at P&G, Satyal created content for Home Made Simple, a site visited by 15 million people per month. He was named P&G’s Funniest Employee in 2005. Satyal performed stand-up routines at corporate events. Satyal left P&G and moved to Los Angeles in 2006 at the age of 30. He was brand manager of FIJI Water for 12 weeks. He is the third comedian to come out of the Cincinnati offices of Procter & Gamble.

Rajiv Satyal was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He graduated from Fairfield High School in 1994. Satyal earned a Bachelor of Science degree in materials engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2000. During college, he interned on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, for Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH). Satyal did two co-op terms at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Satyal's mother migrated to the US in 1970 and his father in 1971. They are naturalized citizens. He has two brothers who are fraternal twins - Vikas and Rakesh. Rakesh Satyal is the author of Blue Boy. Satyal is friends with the SNL and Weeds star Kevin Nealon. Satyal's favorite book is The Catcher in the Rye. He is Hindu and Punjabi.