Aadip Desai is a Los Angeles based new dad, sideburns enthusiast, comedy writer, producer/co-host of the On The Page screenwriting podcast, and drummer for The Spanglers, a comedy musical act.
He will be a recruit on the fourth season of the popular Food Network reality show, The Worst Cooks In America.
His writing has appeared on The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet, in City Arts Tacoma Magazine, Geekweek, Los Angeles Or Bust, and he blogged as President of the Northwest Screenwriters Guild. His produced work includes an award-winning romantic short, a Get Out The South Asian Vote PSA, and a math rock music video starring Leuko. As a stand-up comedian, Aadip has performed at The Improv, The Comedy Store, Flappers, Red Rock, and Elderberries. He also performed musical comedy at the Improv Lab, Upright Citizens Brigade, Steve Allen Theater, and SF Sketchfest.
Aadip has also interviewed/moderated panels featuring EMMY and OSCAR-winning filmmakers at The Northwest Screenwriters Guild, Austin Film Festival, and Pacific Northwest Writers Conference.
In the music business, Aadip music supervised several action sports films for Ally, a feature film called Unsung, and several commercials. He has interned for Randy Jackson at Sony Music, Capital Public Radio (NPR), and assisted Jim Wilke at Jazz After Hours (PRI). He managed the $5m global music account for Starbucks Coffee Company and programmed music at Muzak.
As a trumpet player, he has performed with Ramsey Lewis, T.S. Monk, Pancho Sanchez, Stanley Turrentine, Arturo Sandoval, Cleo Laine/John Dankworth, Jack Sheldon, Reggie Watts, Easy Big Fella, toured with The Diablotones supporting The Voodoo Glow Skulls (Epitaph Records), and recorded on Gardener’s New Dawning Time on Sub Pop Records.
As a drummer, Aadip has recorded, performed, and/or toured as a member of several bands, including The Far West, Juhu Beach, Martian Memo To God, and Pint O’Guinness.
Aadip’s training includes classes and workshops at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, Writers Homicide School, UCLA Ext. and UW Ext. He’s also taken courses from Robert McKee, Steve Kaplan, Ellen Sandler, Blake Snyder, Pilar Alessandra, Jen Grisanti, Michael Hauge, Marilyn Atlas, and Walter Dalton.
He holds a BA in Economics and a Minor in Music from The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
Aadip lives in Los Angeles with his universally adored wife, his sassy newborn daughter, and two reactive Malteses. He melts when animals who are natural enemies become friends, enjoys a good TV slap fight, and marvels at the plethora of items that can be stuffed into a pizza crust.
Today Ruby and I spent some time listening to music, well watching some tunes on YouTube. Here's what we covered: In The Hall Of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg She goes bananas for this song. Hopefully, I'll get some video going of her eating while listening to this. Paul Barton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7zcS8yr33Q Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
Creative folks, if you are contemplating giving up on your dream, please read this essay Ang Lee wrote post-Brokeback Mountain. It's just what I needed and felt very familiar (Asian pressure to be something respectable, young dad, money is tight). He was lucky enough to have a supportive partner, and even if you don't have one consider us all your emotional patrons. http://whatshihsaid.com/2013/02/26/ang-lee-a-never-ending-dream/
Mall Santa, Hollywood Style aka The Grove Santa Claus and Celebrity Behavior NOTE: This is a total fluff piece and in light of the events in Newtown, Connecticut, I hope this piece is a silly distraction from a heart wrenching few weeks. This is our first time celebrating Christmas in Los Angeles since moving here almost four years ago; we usually head to my mom’s in Sacramento. No snow, ...
It's 5:52am and I just decided to redo my website a few hours ago. I'm up again cause Ruby had a meltdown in her sleep, so why not post that I'm finally getting back to blogging. I've been using twitter and facebeook and tumblr and pinterest and all that jazz, but I wanted it all to have a home again in one place. Plus, I don't like the character limitations ...
This one is a quick one. Last night at our New Year's Eve Party, we were visited by the "Did You Get The New Year's Kiss You Wanted? Fairy" She was a friend of a friend of a friend or something, and I don't even know her name. The important thing is that she went around asking all the guests her very important question. Unfortunately, it being a party full ...
Warning: Apparently UCLA had their records hacked. So, now anyone who ever applied to, took classes, graduated from, or possibly even parked there has had their personal information stolen. I (and many others) received a wonderful X-Mas present in the form of a letter from UCLA regarding this PROBLEM. I wanted to pass that on to anyone else who has not been reached. This present came a day after Laura ...
Today, I did the unfathomable (say that three times fast). I went from being 99 yrs old to 100. I just want to thank members of the academy, and all those who made it possible for me to make it this far. You know who you are (Little Belly, Lorax, Nipples, Reno, OWH, Bayou, Dirty Lisa, Dr. Mel, etc.) I just saw "Little Miss Sunshine". Everyone go see that right now. I ...
So this week, already nursing a sprained ankle, I fell down the stairs coming out of my kitchen. Landing on concrete is fun, which is what I did last week on that short parody film. So, I feel like an old man, except I ripped my shoulder muscle instead of breaking my hip, which is the de factor injury for anyone over 50, right? I'm on the mend after a brutal ...
Today i hobbled around the house with a sprained ankle. Why you ask?Well, I played Goon ..2 in a short film as part of a Snakes on a Plane spoof competition. Sounds weird right. Well we filmed Bees on a Motorcycle, and I went from offering to just be a guy riding in a car to playing full on stunt guy ..2. I ended up chasing a woman, throwing her against ...
2006 started with enough drama to take down an elephant. I quit my job after almost 4 years, went to India, got engaged, came back to Seattle, immediately had a few interviews, and went snowboarding today. My band, Juhu Beach, will be playing live on KEXP this Saturday.