Arif Bilal Shahid (born August 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Felonious Munk, is an
Ethiopian-American
Ethiopian Americans are Americans of Ethiopian descent, as well as individuals of American and Ethiopian ancestry. The largest Ethiopian American community is in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with some estimates claiming a population of ...
comedian, writer, actor, playwright, and
social commentator
Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...
. He is best known as Hassan on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
show
For Life.
Career
After leaving a job as a finance director for a car dealership, Munk pursued stand up comedy. Shortly after, he began a web series, ''Stop It B''. The series eventually gained attention in the political world for Munk's socio-political commentary. Following several appearances on Fox Business News' ''
Imus in the Morning
''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio, before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octo ...
'' in 2011, Munk was hired by
WPIX
WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...
in New York to provide commentary for their 5pm news broadcast, anchored by
. He was also a regular in the comedy clubs in the city, headlining Gotham in 2012/13 and making appearances on podcasts like
Robert Kelly's ''You Know What Dude!'' podcast, among others.
In 2012, former
Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
chief innovation officer
A chief innovation officer (CINO) or chief technology innovation officer (CTIO) is a person in a company who is primarily responsible for managing the process of innovation and change management in an organization, as well as being in some cases th ...
Lee Abrams
Lee Abrams (born 1952) is an American media executive who has held a number of posts for large and influential companies, and is generally credited with developing the Album Oriented Rock format first heard at WQDR Raleigh and thereafter emplo ...
founded
TouchVision
TouchVision was an American Digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast and internet Video on demand television network that was owned by Think Televisual. The service provided rolling news coverage that was distributed to television, mobil ...
, a news media organization targeting millennials, and hired Munk to provide the type of biting, edgy, and funny commentary he'd previously provided for WPIX. From 2013–2016 Munk and TouchVision provided Chicago and TouchVision's syndicated audience with Emmy-worthy commentary. While in Chicago, Munk has been an integral part in creating and growing the groundbreaking Afrofuturism show in concert with the legendary sketch and improv theater
The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...
. That show evolved into a new show, "Black Side of the Moon", which debuted in Washington, D.C. In its 7-week run, it became the best-selling show in
Woolly Mammoth Theater history. During the run of the show, Munk debuted his impression of
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...
, with ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''s reviewer calling it "measured and spot-on". He has also appeared as part of the Chicago-based Simmer Brown collective of South Asian comedians.
Munk began appearing on ''
The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is an American late-night panel talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired on Comedy Central from January 19, 2015, to August 18, 2016. The show was a spin-off of ''The Daily Show'', which featured Wi ...
'' in its first season and made several appearances as the "Blegghead" (Black Egghead) over the shows two seasons. Munk starred for two seasons as Hassan Nawaz on the show ''
For Life'' on ABC, and made an appearance as "The Laughter" on the ''
South Side'' episode of the same name.
Activism
While still living in New York, Munk was in the midst of the Trayvon Martin protests. His experiences began to influence his commentary as he became more outspoken about social issues as opposed to his previous focus on governmental politics. In August 2014, he traveled from Chicago to Ferguson, MO after
Johnetta Elzie
Johnetta "Netta" Elzie (born April 16, 1989) is an American civil rights activist. She is one of the leaders in the activist group We The Protesters and co-edits the Ferguson protest newsletter ''This Is the Movement'' with fellow activist De ...
reached out to him via Twitter regarding
the shooting of Mike Brown. Ferguson had a profound effect on his comedy and his commentary and he began speaking at colleges about what he learned.
Personal life
On July 18, 2015 he married Lontier Hicks, a former accountant from
Oak Park, IL
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporate ...
. They live in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. He has one daughter from a previous marriage. On August 12, 2016, he and his wife welcomed their first son together.
References
External links