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Biography From Wikipedia
Sandy Gandhi (real name: Sandy Aranha) is an Indian-Australian comedian and columnist based in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Byron Bay is Australia's eastern-most point, and accordingly Sandy proclaims herself to be "Australia's Most Easterly Indian".[1]
Stand up comedy
Sandy regularly performs stand-up shows around Northern New South Wales. She also featured in the 2008 Melbourne Comedy Festival. Her brand of ethnic comedy combines observational humour with Indian stereotypes, drawing also on the fact that there is a large Indian-Australian population in Northern New South Wales.[2] Ethnic humour is a popular form of comedy in Australia, which has a multicultural population.[3]
In early 2008 she returned to India and performed there, including an appearance at her childhood home of Bangalore. Since she currently lives near Bangalow, northern NSW, she refers to her Indian tour as "From Bangalow to Bangalore".[4]
Writings
Sandy also writes a humorous column titled "Enlighten Up" which appears in "The Pulse", the weekly entertainment supplement to the Lismore Northern Star newspaper.
Her first book, also called "Enlighten Up" [5] and containing a compilation of her columns was released (or as Sandy put it "was given birth to")[6] in August 2008. "Enlighten Up" is published by Melbourne Books, Australia.[7]
TV appearance
On February 4 2009 she appeared on the Australian Channel Seven Network's "Australia's Got Talent" program. [8]
She was selected to go through to the semi finals which was aired on March 11 2009. [9]
Biography
Sandy Aranha was born in New Delhi, India. She spent most of her time there in Bangalore before relocating with her family to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 12.
At 21 she went to London, and her work there as a tour operator took her travelling all over the world.
When not doing her stand up comedy or writing her column, Sandy is a carer, working with dementia sufferers and people with acute schizophrenia.
When interviewed she does not give away her birthdate, preferring to be known as "a woman of indeterminate age".[10]
Sources
1. Interview in The Far North Coaster
2. Indian Arrivals in Australia
3. An Essay on Ethnic Comedy
4. Sandy Gandhi shows us her Wits! Byron Shire Echo
5. Book Review of "Enlighten Up" in The Far North Coaster
6. "Mayhem in the reading Womb" www.youtube.com
7. http://www.melbournebooks.com.au/
8. View Sandy's "Australia's Got Talent" performance on YouTube
9. Sandy's "Australia's Got Talent" semi-final performance
10. Interview with Mandy Nolan, Byron Shire Echo
Sandy Gandhi Website: http://www.sandygandhi.com/
Biography from Sandy Ghandi's Website
Sandy Gandhi is the alter ego of Sandy Aranha. This mouthy, matriarchal voice of treason is not just a comic character; she is an intellectual IVF, a physical phenomenon that sprang from the madcap mind of her mentor, after a handful of stand-up performances and a role in a local play.
Sandy Gandhi was formed on the life path of Ms Aranha. Born in New Delhi, India, to authentic Indian parents (not just hippies wishing they were Indian), Sandy spent the first 5 years of her life moving around India with her family until they settled in Bangalore.
At 12, her family immigrated to Australia and at 21, she took off to London on the statutory ‘overseas’ experience, as a fully fledged travel agent.
She worked and traversed the globe, spending much of her time in Egypt and Africa, eventually hanging up her hat in Byron Bay, Australia’s most easterly point, making her, Australia’s most easterly Indian!
(Sandy currently lives between Byron Bay and Bangalow in Northern NSW.)
As a brown skinned woman in a white man’s world, Sandy has developed a particularly biting wit, which she uses to deconstruct the dominant paradigm. Able to perform a bullshit audit in seconds, Sandy’s ability to call a spade a shovel, is what sets her apart. This quality is embodied in the character of Sandy Gandhi – alongside a certain social perspective married with a compassionate world view.Ms Gandhi is a woman of indeterminate age. She is single, she is Indian, she’s very, very funny. She is usually amazed or bemused by world politics and human behaviour in general. Not many comics can successfully pull off character comedy – the character needs to be 100% authentic or it can seem contrived and stereotyped. Sandy Gandhi is of the calibre of the great character comics: Dame Edna Everidge, Bob Downe and Ali G. (Sandy often refers to herself as Sandy G).
Sandy was a NSW state finalist winner in the 2003 International Melbourne Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy competition, and is an annual guest performer at the prestigious Byron Bay Writers Festival. Here on the North coast, she is the Foreign Gossipondent Extraordinaire, and her humorous column, Enlighten Up, appears every Thursday in Pulse, the Arts and Entertainment section of the Northern Star newspaper. Her motto is, “if it hasn’t happened, I’ll make it up!”
She launched her first book at the 2008 Byron Bay Writers Festival. Called Enlighten Up – a literary titterary, it’s a collection of some her columns and other musings, and photos.
Sandy is much in demand for corporate performances and is a regular on the comedy circuit in Northern NSW and beyond.
Sandy Gandhi wasn’t developed as a concept, she just emerged – birthed on stage under the haze of a spotlight and the howling delight of an enraptured
audience. The energy of Sandy Gandhi has meant that Sandy Aranha, softly spoken, attractive and petite, is often dwarfed by the massive character of
the sari-clad satirist.
Sandy Gandhi is a refreshingly authentic character that breaks free of the usual stereotypes. The fact that she is an Indian playing an Indian is remarkable in itself (at last count, although an hysterically funny culture, Bombay has only one stand-up comedian!).
Sandy’s performance is grounded in the cultural perspective of the outsider. She is the Outsider, looking in, giving a fresh, light-hearted perspective to what we say and how we think.