Tanvi Kumar is a writer, comedian, and pop culture enthusiast. She was born in New Delhi, India but grew up in a small and predominantly White town in the middle of Wisconsin. If Tanvi didn’t have any sensitivities about being different from her peers, she certainly did after her mother made her wear traditional Indian clothes as her Halloween costume. (Her culture was her costume that year.)

Growing up, Tanvi did not have cable, so she had to entertain herself by eavesdropping on her parents’ phone call conversations and reading other people’s diaries. (She swears she isn’t like this anymore.) What some people nosy, she calls a penchant for good stories.

Tanvi has been writing in some way for as long as she can remember – whether it be keeping a diary, being a precocious student journalist, or making cartoons about her friend’s quest to get a girlfriend.

However, as the oldest daughter in an immigrant family, Tanvi felt compelled to follow a traditional career path. She has gone on a series of side quests before ultimately finding her way back to writing. Some notable detours include working at the Pentagon and on Wall Street. Somewhere along the way, Tanvi was lucky enough to take an improv class, and in addition to making her even more annoying than she was before, it also changed her life.

She has performed sketch and improv in theaters all across Chicago and was a part of The Second City’s inaugural Victor Wong Fellowship for Asian American comedians. In the original sketch revue “It’s A Bao Damn Time” Tanvi wrote sketches about Settlers of Catan, Taco Bell, and a song about being the Oldest Daughter In An Immigrant Family. Tanvi is also a member of Stir Friday Night, the oldest Asian comedy group in Chicago. And she is a part of The Best of Annoyance Sketch, a weekly sketch show at the Annoyance Theatre.

Before finding her way to Nickelodeon, Tanvi worked at Live Wire Radio as a Production Fellow, where she was lucky enough to come up with comedic bits and games for guests to play on air.

All of these experiences confirmed Tanvi’s ultimate dream, which is to make people laugh while telling a good story. She is excited to spend the year focusing on witty and vulnerable storytelling and writing about complicated people trying to find their place in the world.