PRIYA AYYAR
ABOUT
Priya Ayyar is an award winning actor, writer, narrator and voicover artist. She has a a BFA and MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she graduated summa cum laude as a University Scholar. Her background is in comedy and improv having done several network TV pilots for FOX, CBS, ABC, and NBC, as well as American adaptations of shows abroad. Her first series regular TV role was for the first ever Indian-American sitcom The Papdits written by award winning writer Ant Hines, Sacha Baron Cohen’s head writer and collaborator, and co-creator of Da Ali G Show, Borat movies, and Bruno. She has appeared on Arrested Development and worked with the show’s award winning creator and writer Mitch Hurwitz on two other shows: The Thick of It (directed by Christopher Guest) and Running Wilde.
Priya also traveled around the world with the Children of War Theater Project for many years working with refugees in war torn areas alongside Yolanda King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. Performances included an International Peace Conference in the Hague, Netherlands, the Moscow Theatre Olympics, and opening Off-Broadway at Asia Society in NYC. An accomplished stage actress, she has toured with shows in America and Europe.
Priya is also an award winning audiobook narrator having won an Audie and several AudioFile Magazine Earphones Awards for her recordings of debut fiction novels, YA novellas, and nonfiction best sellers. Priya was given the great honor and had the pleasure of recording the voice and book for the first ever Indian American Girl Doll named Kavi Sharma, the doll of the year for American Girl Dolls.
She is a multidisciplinary creative having worked in the theater and performing arts, TV/Film and Video, and in the art world of museums and galleries while assisting a fine artist from the Pop Art Era.
She has also studied Hatha Yoga since 1994 having the great good fortune of learning and training under an Indian Living Master of Yoga H.H. Swami Bua Maharaj in NYC. Along with that study came a deep dive into Hinduism, Yoga Philosophy, Ayurveda, and holistic health.
BOOKS
TV
The Thick of It
Arrested Development
Running Wilde
Nurse Jackie
The Papdits—Houseboat Shopping
The Papdits—Martha Stewart & Aunt Jemima
The Papdits—Pushing Tupperware
AWARDS
AUDIE AWARDS
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton - Finalist
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
The Best American Short Stories 2021
AUDIOFILE EARPHONES AWARDS
Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali
A Burning by Megha Majumdar
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsba
WGA AWARDS
Nomination for Writing In New Media (Web Series)
NOTABLE AWARDS
Miss Teen of Washington
Miss University of Washington (Miss Greek)
Miss India USA
University Scholar at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
Lead Series Regular in First Ever Indian-American Sitcom The Papdits
Selected as the voice for Kavi Sharma, the First Ever Indian-American doll for American Girl Doll of the Year
PRESS
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Smithsonian
Knowing a Young Brown Person Might Listen and Feel Less Alone: The Narrative Life of Priya Ayyar
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Library Journal
Four Asian American Narrators Take the Mic
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Booklist
Now Hear This: Priya Ayyar
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NBC News
Why it matters that Asian representation is growing in audiobooks
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Hinduism Today
I Learned Yoga from a Living Master
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Penguin Random House
Meet the voice of Kavi from IT'S SHOWTIME, KAVI!, Priya Ayyar
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Book Riot
9 Of The Best Audiobooks Narrated By Priya Ayyar
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AudioFile Magazine
Stories of New Americans for Young Listeners
WRITING
Writing credits include two multi-character solo shows in NYC:
Karmic Fusion performed at HERE Arts Center in SoHo
Miss Great Bliss Falls developed and workshopped at Fordham Lincoln Center
She has also written and created a web series called I Love Charisma about a C-list Bollywood Star who has come to make it in America with her shiftless brother along for the ride. It was nominated for a WGA Award in Writing For New Media.
She also wrote and performed Losing Remote Control, a special presentation for Comedy Central performed at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood. She has written a half-hour animated comedy called Little Bucky and the Artistics and is writing a comedy based on her parents living in the Midwest.
CONTACT
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