comedy

Pakistani stand-up comedy pioneer Saad Haroon tests cultural sensitivities between his native country and India in his material. "When it comes to satire, I think as a culture, we kind of struggle with it," he says. Facebook hide caption

Comedian Aziz Ansari says while online dating has its problems, "1 out of 3 people that get married now, they meet their spouse through online dating. So you could look at it like, oh, well, there's an insane amount of love that would not even be there had it not been for these things." Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images hide caption

Robin Thede is head writer for Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. She's previously been a reporter for E! News, a writer for BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood and head writer for The Queen Latifah Show. Jaxonphotogroup/Courtesy of Robin Thede hide caption

Director, writer and producer Judd Apatow has both a new memoir and a new movie right now. Trainwreck, which he directed, is in theaters starting July 17 and Sick in the Head was published in June. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

Saudi actor Nasser al-Qasabi, at left, appears in a scene from his TV show Selfie, which satirizes ISIS. He's received death threats in reaction to the series, which airs on a Saudi-owned channel. Via MBC hide caption

Comedian Jesse Appell performs at a club in Beijing. Appell won a scholarship in 2012 to study comedy in China and has been performing on the country's small but growing stand-up comedy circuit. Anthony Kuhn/NPR hide caption

Think of human relationships as entanglements. How do they bind you; how do they reveal who you really are? Daniel Horowitz for NPR hide caption

Desiree Akhavan plays Shirin in Appropriate Behavior. Akhavan says she chose the name Shirin because it means sweet in Farsi. "Even though she's insane, she has a sweetness," says Akhavan. Desiree Akhavan hide caption

Comedian Andrea Martin performs at New York's 54 Below in 2012. She published her memoir Lady Parts in September. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images hide caption

Cameron Esposito has appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, IFC's Maron and E!'s Chelsea Lately. Mandee Johnson/Right On! PR hide caption