Crown On, Mic Hot: Pinky Patel Gets Laughs On And Off TikTok

“Hello my priends!”

Viral sensation Pinky Patel has turned her TikTok fame into a successful nationwide comedy career in just a few short years. Known for her crown, ChapStick, and quick-witted humor, often with an Indian accent, Patel’s relatable takes on everyday life have resonated with millions online, and she brings that same energy to the stage for her live shows.

Patel, who's currently on her third tour, had some time to chat with The Blast about how it all began and evolved for her. 

From TikTok queen to standup comedy star, Patel is serving up sass, laughs, and lots of crown-worthy moments. With her signature blend of unfiltered humor and relatable stories, she’s proving that social media fame isn’t where it ends with her.

Patel didn't set out to be TikTok famous or to become a well-known comedian, but as fate would have it, that's exactly what happened.

"In 2019, I started to post a random thought of the day on the book of face. And before that, I was the mom behind the camera. I never posted myself because I just didn't like what I look like," Patel told The Blast exclusively.

The idea to post a random thought each day came to be because she would go over to her "work wife's" cubicle throughout the workday, say something random, and then walk away. She would then hear her laughing over the cubicle wall.

And then the March 2020 when lockdown came and everyone was at home; she could no longer make her "work wife" laugh in person. This is when she began recording more of these moments and putting them on social media in the hopes of getting everyone to laugh. And it worked.

It didn't take long for Patel to explore TikTok. But she wasn't hooked at first.

"I downloaded TikTok and I was a consumer of TikTok and just scrolling. And I was like, what the hell is this? I can't lip sync. I can't dance. So I uninstalled it from my phone. I logged off, uninstalled everything. I'm the IT Indian so I know how to do all that stuff," she said with a laugh. "Fast forward a couple of months, still in 2020, maybe August or September, my girlfriends' group chat started sharing TikToks and I was like, wait a minute. I was clicking on these and they were all laughing."

She thought the TikTok videos her friends shared were all funny, so despite originally thinking it was just for lip syncing and dancing, she decided to start posting on the app.

"I still remember to this day when I got to 100 followers on TikTok. I was so excited, like oh my God, this is ridiculous," she shared. "My in real life circle is very small and on purpose because I just can't handle that so to see all of these people watching me being silly."

When she started sharing content, she posted videos mimicking her Indian mom, and it took off!

Patel said that she chose to mimic her mom on social media for a specific reason.

"I was mimicking my mom heavily on social media, not because I didn't have confidence in myself, like I knew what I was saying was funny, but the voice in my head is my mom," she explained. "I had Usha in my head all the time. Instead of 'what would Jesus do?' it was 'what would Usha do?' What kind of reaction would she have if she felt free enough to be able to use whatever vocabulary she wanted to?"

Patel said if her mom was the age she was when she started social media in 2020, she would have said all the things Patel is saying. The only difference would be the accent. After doing lots of videos mimicking her mom, she moved on to also doing some gut reaction stitches, which also became an instant hit with her followers.

BTW...she has more than 5.4 million followers on TikTok and another 1.3 million on Instagram currently.

Patel said she remembers her first viral video and actually reposted it recently. The video is responding to a man asking, "Why do females go to the restroom after doing the nasty?"

"It's still a very important message because I feel the boys are getting dumber and the girls are getting smarter," Patel told The Blast. "Maybe I'll recreate it using my current look because I've lost weight and all that kind of good stuff, but the message is the same and funny enough and the comments are still the same. Women are still going through this bullsh-t and the fact that men don't know it is like are you not playing attention when you're having sexy time with your significant other? What are you even doing?"

The comment section proves that this is a hot topic and that Patel's humor puts a fun spin on it.

"Thank you for your service. Okay bye," one viewer wrote. Another added, "The penguin walk. I’ll forever laugh now going to bathroom after." One other viewer shared, "Where have you been my whole life!!!! This is amazing!"

Patel is currently on her third nationwide tour. She didn't set out to be a standup comedian, but when the opportunity presented itself after she went viral on social media, she couldn't say no.

"I got an email from the general manager of the Chicago Improv Comedy Club here in Chicago, in Schaumburg, and she's like, 'Hey, I follow you I love watching your stitches. You do exactly what standup comedians do - they seem something in real life, they have a commentary, and it seems like everybody loves your commentary. I want to talk to you about doing standup comedy,'" she explained. "And I was like, what are you talking about? Are you serious? I couldn't even do an oral presentation in high school."

She said speaking in public causes her to "sh-t her pants." She said she gets "nervous diarrhea" because she stresses herself out thinking what if people don't enjoy the show.

"When I do my shows, I know that people are using two things that they have at their disposal, one of which they cannot get back," she added. "They're using their money, their hard-earned money, to buy tickets to come to my show. And on top of that, there's a two-drink minimum, so they're buying drinks on top of that. So again, money. And the other thing that they have in abundance but can never get back - their time. They're giving me, at minimum, an hour of their time. That's a lot of pressure."

She said she doesn't want to get on stage and have the audience regret the time and money they spent to go to the show, which gives her "nervous diarrhea." But now on her third tour and planning a fourth, it seems people are absolutely loving her shows. She shared that she often sees familiar faces from past shows, and some audience members have even become friends and started attending her shows together.

For more information on Pinky Patel and her comedy tour, visit her website.

And in the words of Pinky Patel, "okay bye."