Nimesh Patel is an American comedian and television writer. In 2017, he became the first Indian American writer on Saturday Night Live.
After graduating, Patel began working during the day and performing standup at The Stress Factory by night.
In 2015, he was doing standup in Greenpoint, Brooklyn when he was discovered by Chris Rock. Patel then joined Rock’s writing team for the 88th Academy Awards ceremony.
In 2016, he was a finalist in Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Network Pitch Panel at Just for Laughs ComedyPRO.
Patel also wrote material for Hasan Minhaj’s 2017 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner appearance. In 2017, he began working as a full-time writer for Saturday Night Live, mainly writing jokes for Weekend Update. In 2018, Patel was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for his work on SNL. He worked for SNL for just one season.
Patel has appeared on @midnight, Comedy Knockout and Late Night with Seth Meyers. He has also featured as a comedy and politics panelist at the Foreign Affairs Symposium at Johns Hopkins University.
On November 30, 2018, roughly twenty-four minutes into a comedy set, Patel was interrupted and asked to leave by the organizers of cultureSHOCK: Reclaim, an event for Asian representation hosted by Columbia University’s Asian American Alliance.
Patel was scheduled to participate in the 2025 Riyadh Comedy Festival, which received negative attention from organizations such as Human Rights Watch; Patel pulled before the start of the festival after “having a change of heart”. Later that year, he provided the voice of Galen in the video game Dispatch.
About Top Secret Comedy Club:
Top Secret Comedy Club New York is a premier destination for live stand-up comedy in the heart of Manhattan, bringing the raw energy and underground spirit of New York City’s comedy scene to the East Village. Known as a true comedy cellar for discovering both rising talent and world famous acts, Top Secret Comedy Club NYC delivers world-class live stand-up comedy every night of the week.
With an intimate room, electric crowds, and a reputation for surprise celebrity drop-ins, the club has quickly become one of the top-rated comedy clubs in New York City. Audiences can expect sharp, unfiltered stand-up from comedians who perform on the biggest stages in NYC and beyond.
Whether you’re an East Village local or visiting Manhattan, Top Secret Comedy Club is the go-to spot for the best stand-up comedy in NYC, where tomorrow’s stars and today’s legends share the same stage.
