July 21-24 www.paulvarghese.com

At this point, few things in the stand-up world seem more generic, uninspired and just downright awful than the so-called comic who launches into a bit about the Indian proprietors of the 7-Eleven, complete with vocal re-enactment, sometimes veering off into scenarios of other things the Indian proprietor would say or do. Ugh. You know it’ll be just a moment before he wonders aloud just which part of the chicken McNuggets come from. Or worse. But what if the comedian were Indian—and really smart and original and funny? Well, then we’d have Paul Varghese, whose act includes a number of observations about being Indian that are not only first-hand, of course, but also keen and wry, while deftly managing to provide outsider-looking-in and insider-looking-out commentary, sometimes rendering Indian characters with spot-on voice work. He’s a rising young counterpart to Margaret Cho—they’re insightful, hilarious commentators on Indian or Korean culture, life and families…and Varghese portraying his Dad (“What’s my price?”) may one day become as much a memorable, signature bit as Cho doing her Mom. And, crucially, both Varghese and Cho are interested in exploring an array of topics and issues outside this realm—as with all the best comics, who approach stand-up as an art form, they’re interested in ideas. Varghese’s TV credits include NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Telemundo’s “Loco Comedy Jam” and Comedy Central’s “Live At Gotham.”

With Mitch Hansen