My dad told me, 'If you're going to go out there and play baseball, or you're going to play basketball or football, work hard at it no matter what. I want you to have fun with your buddies, but you have to put in the time because this is your craft.' He didn't just want me to be good. He pushed me to that next level.
As technology evolves, it manipulates our culture, and there's a huge opportunity to push ourselves further. I think it actually makes ourselves maybe more human, or at least human in a different way, that we can connect together in amazingly different ways and powerful new ways.
One, I push my deadlines closer than anybody else, or let's say it this way: I'm really late.
I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it.
I did swimming, gymnastics, dance, and the acting was just a small part. I didn't have pushy parents; it wasn't forced upon me. They just said, 'See if you like it. If you do, great; if you don't, don't worry about it.' I was really fortunate to have that guidance and supportive parents.
Singing for stage, if you don't hear yourself, that's when you push, and that's when you can hurt your voice sometimes. So if I can hear myself in my ear, it really helps me to find that balance of how loud I needed to be singing.
My mom always knew I was going to be an actor because I was a ham from the very beginning, so she would push me toward it, which is really unconventional for Indian families to do.
When you're a standup comic, you get up and you try stuff, and you're always kind of seeing how far you can push things.
What's great about 'The Daily Show' is I can use satire and push the envelope. I couldn't do that anywhere else. Even if I was a journalist.
I believe I am strong mentally. My breaking points might be bigger than most players. I think it's because of the way I grew up with my two older brothers. They pushed my limits quite often - once every day, I think! I think that played a big role in my breaking point being bigger than most players. Not all players.
