Ali Siddiq

Ali Siddiq (born October 17, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and former radio personality based in Houston, Texas. He debuted his comedy album in 2010, his half-hour television special in 2016 and his hour-long TV special in 2018. Siddiq was the winner of Comedy Central's inaugural ''Up Next'' competition in 2013 and was a finalist on NBC's competition TV show ''Bring the Funny'' in 2019. He was the co-host of R&B afternoon radio show ''Uncle Funky Larry Jones & Ali Siddiq'' on KMJQ (Majic 102.1) in Greater Houston from January 2021 to January 2024.

Early life

Siddiq was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up primarily on Hillcroft in the Third Ward. He attended Jane Long and then Paul Revere middle schools. After his parents' separation, Siddiq and his siblings were raised by their mother, living for a brief time in the projects. He and his siblings also went on to live with other family members. At age 10, Siddiq was almost run over by a car, which resulted in his mother and aunt getting into a fight with the driver after she refused to apologize. When he was 18 years old, Siddiq's half-sister Ashley died at the age of eight.

He began selling illicit drugs at age 14. Siddiq attended Texas Southern University (TSU), and was arrested just four days after he turned age 19 for cocaine trafficking. He was convicted of "delivery of a controlled substance" and served six years of a 15-year sentence, primarily at Darrington Unit, Torres Unit in Hondo, Bill Clements Unit in Amarillo and Ellis Unit in Huntsville. At age 25, he was released from Texas prison on October 21, 1997. He worked at Sharpstown Mall following his release, first at a department store and next at Sunglass Hut. It was during his incarceration, while telling jokes to fellow inmates to lighten the mood, that he discovered his ability to make people laugh. While in prison, he worked in the prison laundromat, and his workmates were his captive audience.

Career

1998–2009

Siddiq first performed stand-up at the ''Just Joking'' comedy club in Houston in December 1997,https://app.podscribe.ai/episode/91367303 where he entered an open mic during " Apollo Night" which tended to attract a college crowd. Siddiq recalls that he was booed his first time on stage because he was wearing a suit. He waited two weeks to perform again in denim jeans and a T-shirt this time. By February 1998, Siddiq was hired to be the co-host of the show. He resumed wearing suits after he met Rickey Smiley at the Arena Theatre who recommended he do so to impress audiences. Other local venues he performed for included ''The Secret Group'' comedy club, ''Red Cat'' jazz club, ''Cardi's 2000'' rock club, and ''The Horn'' where he would go on to become a host. The first comedian Siddiq went on tour with was Lavell Crawford.

He performed on BET's ''ComicView'' on a number of episodes between 2000 and 2003, and again on ''ComicView: One Mic Stand'' on May 13, 2009. When asked for advice, Bruce Bruce told him "do not quit your day job until your stand-up comedy is making more money for you consistently than your job", recounts Siddiq. After his first taping of the program in 1999, he decided to make stand-up comedy his career. According to interviews in 2014 and 2018, respectively, Siddiq stated he had recorded seven and nine albums, the first of which was titled ''Necessary Therapy'', but was not satisfied enough with any of them to release them. He also competed on '' Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes?'' on TV One.

Siddiq performed on the series finale of HBO's ''Def Comedy Jam'' on the 10th episode of the eighth season which aired on March 8, 2008. According to Siddiq, Rob Stapleton had previously told him to "Get out of the Chitlin' Circuit, and get in a mainstream room. Don't worry about how much they pay." After Siddiq received a call from the Houston Improv to host, a position which doesn't pay much, he accepted the offer and hosted six shows for DL Hughley who next asked him to join him on tour. When Hughley went on to be the host of ''Def Comedy Jam'' he was offered four spots by the network, one of which was filled by Siddiq.

2010–2014

In 2010, Siddiq independently released his debut comedy album ''Talking Loud Saying Something'', first as a digital album on May 22, before releasing it on CD in December. It began his gradual turn towards the storytelling style of comedy that he became famous for roughly five years later: "I changed on my first album, which I thought was a lot more in-depth than someone would have known if they had just listened to the album." Siddiq noted that "The way I sounded and the way I delivered, I was like 'this is going to be the blueprint of my transition.'"

Siddiq performed on ''The Comedy Time Show'' on its fifth episode which aired on February 12, 2012, on MavTV, and performed on Bounce TV's ''Off the Chain'' which aired on November 19. Siddiq hosted and performed as the opening act on ''Bill Bellamy's Ladies Night Out Tour'' television special which aired on February 22, 2013 on Showtime. He released his second comedy album ''Freedom of Speech'' on August 5, and released his third album ''Enjoy Your Life'' on August 15.

On November 18, 2013, Siddiq was voted the winner of Comedy Central's inaugural ''Up Next'' stand-up comedy competition. Over 300 comedians nationwide had performed at 'Preliminary' local showcases in September, with 40 comedians qualifying to the 'Semi-finals' held at four locations across the country in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale in October. Siddiq performed at Houston Improv before qualifying to perform at Chicago Improv. He was one of nine comedians that qualified to perform at the 'Finals' at New York Comedy Festival's ''Comics to Watch'' showcase on November 6. Siddiq performed as the opening act on the second and final annual ''Centric Comedy All-Stars'' which aired on March 15, 2014, on Centric.

2015–2019

In 2015, he performed on the Comedy Central television series ''This Is Not Happening'' on the second episode of the first season which aired on January 26. The video of him recounting his experience during a prison riot where he learned the meaning of the phrase "Mexican got on boots!" became viral on YouTube. Siddiq appeared on AXS TV's '' Gotham Comedy Live'' which aired on September 17.

In 2016, Siddiq performed a half-hour special on Comedy Central series '' The Half Hour'' on the seventh episode of the fifth season which aired on September 16, and competed on panel game show '' @midnight with Chris Hardwick'' which aired on December 8.

In 2017, he began production on his hour-long special '' It's Bigger Than These Bars'', which was filmed at the Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas. Released on Comedy Central on February 23, 2018, Siddiq can be seen performing in front of a group of inmates interspersed with scenes of him sitting down with smaller groups of incarcerated men and women in their cells, as well as with jail administrators.

In 2018, Siddiq appeared on '' Desus & Mero'' which aired on February 21 on Viceland, and on appeared ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'' which aired on February 22 on Comedy Central.

In 2019, he appeared on the Comedy Central series '' This Week at the Comedy Cellar'' which aired on August 2, and was a guest on TV One's late night talk show ''The DL Hughley Show'' which aired on September 5. He released his comedy album ''The Prison Manual'' on September 20. He was a finalist on NBC's comedy competition TV show ''Bring the Funny''. Siddiq appeared in the feature film ''The Workout Room'' which released on October 8.

2020–present

Siddiq headlined the 11th episode of the second season of '' Laff Mobb's Laff Tracks'' which aired on January 17, 2020, on TruTV. In January 2021, Siddiq joined as co-host on the ''Funky Larry Jones'' afternoon drive show on KMJQ (Majic 102.1) with the program being renamed ''Uncle Funky Larry Jones & Ali Siddiq'' and carrying the tagline "The Funky and the Funny".
The FM radio show concluded on January 26, 2024, after Jones was given notice a day in advance of its cancellation after being on the air since 2014.

In 2022, Siddiq performed an hour-long special on Epix series '' Unprotected Sets'' on the fourth episode of the third season which aired on February 25. He appeared on HBO series '' Pause with Sam Jay'' on the second episode of the third season which aired on June 3, and guest-starred on Showtime series ''Flatbush Misdemeanors'' on the second episode of the second season which aired on June 26.

Siddiq performed on the second episode of ''DL Hughley's Speakeasy'', a three-part stand-up comedy series, which released on Hitkor in early 2023. He appeared on Vice News and The Marshall Project's documentary series ''Inside Story'' on its seventh episode "The Rise of Life-Without-Parole Sentences" which released on March 16. Siddiq appeared in the feature film ''This Christmas Chance'' which released on December 10. In a July 2023 interview, he revealed he had recorded two comedy albums ''The Missing Piece'' and ''Dope Without Association'' for release.

In 2024, he released his special ''Domino Effect 3'' on Moment.co on March 10, before uploading it on YouTube on May 12. He released his special ''Domino Effect 4'' on Moment.co on April 18, before uploading it on YouTube on June 16. Both specials were shortlisted for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) on June 24 but failed to be nominated. On July 9, Siddiq announced he would be recording his next two TV specials ''My Two Sons'' and ''I'm Not Handy'' on October 5 and 6, respectively.

Influences

Siddiq had described watching Carol Burnett, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles, Benny Hill, Phyllis Diller, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor growing up.https://web.archive.org/web/20240120043150/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/culture/main/article/Houston-s-Ali-Siddiq-jokes-his-way-into-14420331.php He also watched ''Hee Haw'' as a child, and credits ''Def Comedy Jam'' as giving him "the drive to start" doing stand-up comedy.

Siddiq's stand-up comedy tends to be in the storytelling style, versus the more common setup/punch-line style. Siddiq's sets involve stories from his personal life, as well his observations on current events, sociopolitics and race.

Filmography and discography

Albums and TV specials

Acting cameos

Personal life

Ali Siddiq resides in Pearland in the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

Since 2009 Siddiq has hosted the annual Jive Turkeys Comedy Show to raise money for the Houston Food Bank. The show is performed each November close to Thanksgiving. In 2017 he organized and performed at a benefit for Houstonians affected by Hurricane Harvey. In 2018 Siddiq also performed at an annual benefit held by Saba Homes, an orphanage organization created to help orphans of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan. Siddiq has also volunteered for Harris County's Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program.

References

External links

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Living people
Comedians from Houston
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people
African-American male comedians
American male comedians
African-American Muslims
African-American stand-up comedians
American stand-up comedians
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Muslim male comedians
Writers from Houston
Year of birth missing (living people)