Vir Das was born in Dehradun, India, and spent his formative years in Nigeria, where he attended the Indian Language School in Lagos and later The Lawrence School, Sanawar and in Delhi. He then pursued higher education in the United States, earning a bachelor's degree in Economics and Theatre from Knox College, Illinois, with a concentration in performance.
At Knox College, Das discovered his passion for stand-up comedy and created his first special, Brown Men Can't Hump, which premiered at the Harbach Theatre. He received the Richter Scholarship for Theatre and the Colton Performance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting, and also served as a teaching assistant for Beginning Acting.
After graduating from Knox, Das further honed his craft by training at the Stanislavsky Program of the Moscow Arts Theatre and performing in eight plays. He also spent six months training as a method actor at Harvard.
Das returned to India in April 2003 and has since performed over 100 comedy shows across major cities. He has written, directed, and starred in six comedy specials, including Brown Men Can't Hump, Not for Members Only, Bored of The Things!, Who Let the Das Out?, Son of a Switch!, and VIRagra.
Das began his television career hosting two shows on the Indian channel 'Zoom', including the comedy late-night show 'Ek Rahin Vir'. He has also hosted 'Top Drive - Getaway' on Star World. Before transitioning to acting roles, he appeared on various comedic television programs, including 'The Curse of King Tut's Tomb', a Hallmark mini-series filmed in India.
Das has appeared in a range of films, including 'Namastey London', 'Delhi Belly', 'Badmaash Company', and 'Go Goa Gone', and has starred in his own comedy rock band, Alien Chutney, releasing his first music album, Mauritian Chutney, in 2012.
In 2017, Das became the first Indian comedian to release a comedy special on Netflix, 'Abroad Understanding', and followed it up with his second Netflix special, 'Losing It', in 2018. He made his debut in American television in 2019 with the series 'Whiskey Cavalier'.
