Nik Dodani

Born Nikhil Dodani in Dallas, Texas, he was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona by Indian parents who emigrated to the United States prior to his birth. He graduated from the BASIS charter school in Scottsdale in 2011 and studied politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles. While there, he delved into activism at the national and local levels, interning for Elizabeth Warren's 2012 Senate campaign and providing graphic design for the advocacy firms RALLY and Art Not War. Dodani also began dabbling in stand-up comedy, and eventually worked his way up to appearances at such landmark clubs as the Comedy Store and Laugh Factory on the strength of his routines, which drew humor from his own experiences growing up as a gay South Asian in the United States.

These experiences led to screen acting roles on "The Comeback" (HBO, 2005- ) and "Kevin from Work" (ABC Family, 2015). In 2018, he joined the cast of the Netflix series "Atypical," playing the sardonic best friend of autistic teenager Keir Gilchrist, and appeared in a supporting role in the network's LGBTQ-friendly comedy "Alex Strangelove," produced by Ben Stiller, and joined the cast of CBS's revival of "Murphy Brown" as a social media director for the series' news show setting.