"We have one flak jacket that all of the correspondents share."

Aasif Mandvi & the 'Daily' Grind of the Green Zone (Well, Okay, the Green Screen)

As the sometime Middle East correspondent for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Aasif Mandvi, 41 -- who moonlights as a dramatic actor -- regularly risks his life while pretending to report from the Arab world and other green-screened locales for the fake news show. Earlier this month we caught up with the Mumbai-born reporter in the field.

-- Sridhar Pappu

What's the most dangerous situation you've been in while you've pretended to be in Iraq?

The most dangerous situation I've been in is being in Jon Stewart's spit zone. When you get into that spit zone, it's pretty scary. Sometimes we'll stop taping because I'm just drenched.

Did they buy you an actual flak jacket?

We have one flak jacket that all of the correspondents share and so we just mail it to each other, like wherever we are, whatever war zone we're in.

Considering you're all basically in the same studio, do you use interoffice mail then?

Yeah, interoffice mail, or we just get one of the interns to carry it across the hallway.

In terms of your work as a war correspondent, how do you think you stack up in terms of the other guys out there?

You mean like the Christiane Amanpours of the world? I think the only difference between them and me is they don't have the added pressure of standing in front of a green screen. So I feel like I do more work than they do.

Do people call you the token "brown guy" around the office?

They should, but they don't. They call me [other names] that I sometimes object to.

Has it caused many fistfights?

Yeah, a lot. It's great, [Jon Stewart and I] get into it. He's only like 3 1/2 feet tall, but he's got a really high kick. He can kick like all the way above my head.

Since you're Indian, I was wondering if your folks are still complaining about you not going to medical school.

They kind of got over it after a while. They kind of gave up. Now they get to tell all their friends to watch "The Daily Show," so it kind of worked out for them.

How does being a basic cable pseudo-star translate with the ladies?

With the ladies it's crazy. I can't get rid of them. My mother's very happy because she thinks I'm finally going to settle down.

Is she trying to "pimp you out" to eligible Indian girls?

Indian girls? Totally. That is her mission in life is just pimping me out, you know. She's got her kind of pimp lingo down: "Wassup? Wassup? You know. I've got my homeboy on 'The Daily Show.' He's so hot, don't you know? Lookin' for a wife, lookin' for a life." I can't rap, I'm a terrible rapper. I don't know why I started rapping just now.

Do you and Kal Penn (who starred in "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle") hang out?

All the time. We eat White Castle burgers together, we just drive around in his sports car just being superstars. We'll just drive around New York in his convertible and hit the malls in South Jersey and try and pick up girls.

How's that working out for you?

It works out a lot better for him.