Rising Stars: Meet Karan Menon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karan Menon.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Like anyone else growing up in the 2000s, I spent most of my childhood in New Jersey consumed by Internet comedy, from stand-up to late night to Key & Peele sketches (the absolute goats). In my freshman year at USC, I started doing stand-up and joined a sketch comedy group that performed regular live shows, and for the next two years, I became obsessed with comedy writing, joke structure, and honing in on what made something funny – it was kind of a science, which was great for me because that meant I didn’t have to rely as much on talent. Things were going pretty well until COVID hit in my sophomore year, and everyone got sent home. Live shows were pretty much over, and I was getting bored in quarantine, so I started making some goofy video sketches featuring myself as both characters on a FaceTime call. I thought they were pretty good.

Then in late May, George Floyd was killed by police, and protests erupted across the country. For a pretty long period, social media was being used almost exclusively as a tool for organizing and spreading information. I decided it was probably best to take a break from comedy – clearly no one was in the mood for my ridiculous sketches at a time like this. However, as I read more on police brutality in America and started becoming more of a political person myself, it became clear that there were some pretty ridiculous laws in place that were extremely relevant to the current situation, which I maybe could highlight through comedy. I made my first “woke TikTok” on the doctrine of qualified immunity, which basically protects police officers for getting punished for violating your rights as long as there isn’t a previous case where an officer got punished for doing the same thing (a Catch-22).

My video explained this with a quick analogy that basically involved me getting repeatedly slapped by myself. To my surprise it blew up, and it ended up being shared and retweeted by politicians, lawyers, and random people across the country. I realized there was a huge demand for this brand of comedy that broke down relevant social issues in an entertaining way for people who (like me) had short attention spans. So that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing since then. So far, it’s led to a partnership with the National Police Accountability Project, some shoutouts from people and creators I admire, and a few features on publications like CNN, NowThis, and the New York Times. I’m still very much in the growing phase, and I’m excited for what’s to come.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road. I’m obviously extremely grateful that these videos were able to gain so much traction early on, but because of how short-lived everything is on the Internet, I’m now on this constant grind of having to think up and put out a new video at least once a week. Apps like TikTok reward users who post more frequently, which isn’t the worst problem to have, but it is a new stress I’ve had to deal with, especially because I want any video I put out to be both meaningful and at a certain level of funny. Something I’ve had to deal with is learning to do things on my own schedule and trusting that the quality will make up for the quantity. I see people posting 1-2 times a day, which blows my mind, and then I look at their views and one video is gaining traction for every ten posts. I also have to remind myself that what I’m doing isn’t always about the views. I’m trying to send messages I think are important, and in some cases I’m working with literal lawyers to take a very technical doctrine and make it digestible, which can be hard.

Not everything is going to be as viral as everything else, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of the message. But I honestly think the biggest hurdle was getting recognized in the first place. I know so many comedians at USC and in LA who I think are far more talented than me and I’m 100% certain are going to be famous in the future, they just haven’t blown up yet. The only thing they can do is just constantly be putting stuff out until something hits. That’s pretty much what I did for the last two years, and then somehow things aligned this year and I was able to take my experience in sketch writing, the back-and-forth style of my quarantine videos, and the social activism of this summer and make something that resonated with people. I don’t think I’m making comedy of a different caliber now, I just have an audience to view it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a comedian and writer, and in the past few months I’ve come to be known for my “woke TikToks,” where I break down relevant social issues through comedy in 60 seconds or less for a Gen Z audience. Right now, the news and social media is this constant stream of people arguing for or against things, and I think it’s important to understand different points of view, but it’s very hard to stay engaged when you’re just being told what to think. I think what sets my videos apart from others is that I try to deliver the same facts and ideas with a good mix of entertainment and humor. No matter what side of an issue you’re on, everyone can laugh at a joke, and people are always more likely to listen to the other side of an argument when they’re laughing and engaged. I think the 60-second TikTok medium has also allowed me to deliver information in a much more condensed, digestible way. People my age don’t have the largest attention spans, and sometimes what we need to get interested in a topic is a quick introduction with just the most important facts. If this can be done with the right balance of information and entertainment, people will be engaged enough to go do their own research afterwards and form their opinions, and that’s what I think gives my comedy a little more of an edge.

My proudest moment through all of this was getting my TikTok on qualified immunity cited by a federal judge (Carlton Reeves in Mississippi). He was deciding on a police brutality case this summer in which he had to uphold qualified immunity even though he strongly disagreed with it. In his decision, he talked about how there has been public outcry to abolish this law from all over the country, and he cited my TikTok and tagged my handle in the footnotes. Someone told me I was the first TikToker to ever be cited by a federal judge, which I can’t know for sure but I’d like to think is true lol. It felt insane that a 35-second comedy sketch could get the attention of people who are actually in the power to influence national policy and that it could act as a piece of evidence to support the kind of changes the people of America want to see. I think it made me realize that there was more of a purpose to these videos than just entertaining people or boosting my own clout (although clout is nice, of course).

How do you define success?
There are a few milestones I’ve set for myself (views, followers, etc.) that I’d like to think would define success, but I know once I get there I’ll probably caught up on the next thing and I won’t think I’ve succeeded. I’ve hit a few of them so far, and I’m still constantly comparing myself to people way further along than me. I think as long as I’m evolving and getting better at what I do, that’s success. Or at least that’s a definition of success that can make me feel good about myself no matter where I’m at in my career, so I like that definition. I also think being able to make free time to just chill with friends and take your mind off your work is another form of success.

Contact Info:

• Website: karanmenon.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thekaranmenon
• Facebook: facebook.com/TheKaranMenon
• Twitter: twitter.com/TheKaranMenon
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCtyO2FJ4___Fm9vpjBtQJow
• Other: tiktok.com/@thekaranmenon

Image Credits
The closeup photo of me doing standup is by Adrian Aguilar (@adrianaguilar901 on IG, very great comedy photographer)