
You'd be forgiven for not knowing about the Guru unless you're the sort of comedy nerd who finds himself in serious debates about who's the secret genius behind Mr. Show, Bob or David. But comedy sites like the Apiary, CityRag, and Comedy Central's CC Insider have been buzzing about Myers's appearance since it was announced and tickets for the show were snapped up within minutes of going on sale.
Radar caught Myer's performance at Magnet last April along with 50 or 60 others packed into the tiny theater. The flower-strewn stage features a banner that reads Om Ay Vant U Hu (when chanted aloud, the phrase becomes a plea for the vitamin-enriched chocolate beverage), and an Indian band with a tabla player. An announcer—referred to as Pitka's "Cracker assistant Graham"—introduces the Guru as "a god among men ... I've heard about snake oil salesman, [but] this ain't deception, people!"
Myers then appears in a white robe with a fake white beard and putty nose, greeting the audience by clasping his hands and chanting, "Mariska Hargitay." Speaking with an "Indian" accent that calls to mind Fisher Stevens's turn as "Ben Jabituya" in Short Circuit, the Guru makes jokes about the Beatles, the Rat Pack, and the Wu-tang Clan in a patter that mixes Yiddish and gibberish (his teacher was named "Gur Tugginmy-Pudher"; another is named "Chedda Frumunda"). After an hour of jokes, he takes questions from the audience and shares his "4 Laws of Happiness": Self-Knowledge, Health, Prosperity, Peace.
One group who may not be so peaceful about the Guru's humor is the South Asian Journalists Association. Back in 1999, the 700-member group complained that Myers had mocked Hindus in a David LaChappelle photo shoot for Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue. After a spate of bad press (including the feature article in the New York Post's Page Six), LaChappelle apologized to the SAJA and Vanity Fair was forced to print an editor's letter that sort of, but not quite, apologized for the image. (Luckily, Pitka is not Hindu: The audience is told "His Holiness is affiliated with no faith.")
Myers has been performing as Pitka since at least 2005, but so far it's been seen by too few people to raise concerns. That may all change soon: According to a New York Times article from December 31, 2006, Myers has two Guru scripts in development at Paramount. Myers's agent at CAA, David O'Connor told the paper, "He's a love guru ... He's somebody who's become an expert on relationships. That's what leads me to think that if it works, it can be a franchise."
Get ready for that annoying guy in your office who spent the late '90s saying, "Do I make you horny, baby?" to start greeting you with a hearty, "Mariska Hargitay."