Ali Hassan is a Canadian comedian and actor, known as the host of

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

's weekly comedy program '' Laugh Out Loud'' and as the moderator of CBC Radio's annual ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'' competition since 2017. Born in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, and raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

,"Prodigal son, now a father, returns for more laughs; Comedian Ali Hassan comes back to Montreal to record first DVD". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', November 14, 2013. Hassan studied business administration at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

before launching his comedy career. Initially he ran his own

catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

business with the goal of becoming a television

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

host, and began performing as a comedian to build his confidence."Comedian pulls double duty at TIFF". '' Etobicoke Guardian'', September 9, 2011. After two years performing as a comedian in Montreal, he was invited to perform as an opening act for

Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born 29 September 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' Forbes Celebrity 100, list o ...

at the inaugural Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. During this time, he also had supporting roles in the films '' Breakaway'', ''

French Immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French- immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects ...

'' and '' Goon''. After moving to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, in 2011, he began appearing regularly on ''

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight ''George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight'' (originally known as ''The Hour'') is a Canadian television talk show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos that aired on CBC Television from 2005 to 2014. As ''The Hour'', the show was so named, as it was a dai ...

'' and continued performing as a touring comic."The funny side of being Muslim: Hassan explores his secular baggage in one-man show at Just For Laughs". ''

'', July 14, 2016. In 2013, he recorded his first comedy DVD, ''From Zero to Hero'', in Montreal. In 2016, he performed his next one man show, ''Muslim, Interrupted'', at the Just for Laughs Festival and the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. In addition to his regular roles with CBC Radio, he is a frequent guest host of '' Q'' and '' The Next Chapter''. In 2024, he was nominated for two

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

: Best Guest Performance, Comedy in the show ''

Sort Of ''Sort Of'' is the debut studio album by the avant-rock band Slapp Happy. It was recorded in Wümme, Bremen, Germany in May and June 1972 with Faust (band), Faust as their backing band, and released on LP by Polydor Records in 1972. In 1980 Re ...

'', and Best Supporting Performer, Comedy in the show '' Run the Burbs''. In 2021, he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Host in a Web Program or Series at the

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 17–20 May 2021 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020. The presentations were held as a seri ...

, as cohost with

Peter Keleghan Peter Keleghan (born September 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor and writer, perhaps best known for portraying Ben Bellow in the comedy series '' 18 to Life'', Clark Claxton Sr. in the comedy series '' Billable Hours'' and Ranger Gord in '' The Red G ...

of the National Canadian Film Day livestream. He has appeared in '' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'', and had recurring roles in '' Hudson & Rex'', ''

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a person in the presidential line of succession who is kept distant from others in the line when they are gathered together, to reduce the chance that everyone in the line ...

'', ''

'', and the CBC Television sitcom '' Run the Burbs'',Alexandra Del Rosario
"‘Run The Burbs’: Rakhee Morzaria, Zoriah Wong, Roman Pesino & More Set As Main Cast Of CBC Family Comedy From Andrew Phung"
''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'', September 27, 2021. and the

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

web series '' You're My Hero''.

References

External links

* * Canadian male comedians Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of Pakistani descent Canadian Muslims CBC Radio hosts Actors from Fredericton Comedians from New Brunswick Male actors from New Brunswick Living people McMaster University alumni Comedians from Montreal Male actors from Montreal 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors 1972 births {{Canada-comedian-stub