Nimesh Patel

Nimesh Patel (born Nimesh S. Patel, 1986) is an American comedian and television writer. In 2017, he became the first Indian-American writer on Saturday Night Live. He was born in Parsippany-Troy Hills in Morris County, New Jersey, into an immigrant Indian Gujarati Hindu family. He graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 2004 and moved to New York City to attend New York University, initially as a pre-med student, graduating with a degree in finance in 2008.

After graduating, Patel worked during the day and performed stand-up at The Stress Factory by night. In 2015, he was doing stand-up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, when he was discovered by Chris Rock, then joining Rock's writing team for the 88th Academy Awards ceremony. He also wrote material for Hasan Minhaj's 2017 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner appearance. In 2017, he began working as a full-time writer for Saturday Night Live, mainly writing jokes for Weekend Update, and in 2018 was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the show, where he worked for just one season.

Patel has appeared on @midnight, Comedy Knockout, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. In November 2018, mid-way into a comedy set at Columbia University, he was interrupted and asked to leave by the organizers. He was scheduled to participate in the 2025 Riyadh Comedy Festival but pulled out before the start after "having a change of heart," and later that year provided the voice of Galen in the video game Dispatch. His main comedic influences are Dave Chappelle, Mitch Hedberg, Chris Rock, Larry David, and Patrice O'Neal.