I saw Ali either this Spring or last year at Moontower Comedyfest. He was part of a showcase and I was really impressed on how he stood out from the others. Firstly, he took a seat. Secondly, he was less topical, there was more focus on recent events in his life. So when I saw that Austin’s local club booked him to headline this Fall, I had to go and he really knocked it out of the park.
Ali comes from the storytelling camp of stand-up like Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, meaning there’s jokes during his narrative, it isn’t a series of punchlines and setups as other comedians I love do. Sure, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford and Brian Posehn tell anecdotes from their lives but they don’t dedicate 80 percent of the set to just one particular period. Plus Ali originates from Houston which is another factor in my support.
What were the jokes exactly. Primarily Ali’s life after his parents divorced and how he was tragically roped into the drug trade hustling crack as a teenager. It eventually ended in a six-year stint in the penitentiary by the time he was a young man. Despite how sad and scary his life was then, Ali punches up the experiences with humor about various addicts, learning the jargon, the truth about gun battles, carrying thousands of dollars in small bills via a pillow case and what a mistake it was to move in with his father years later. He closed with a couple shorter tales about why he was edited out of Last Comic Standing and his first accidental experience with psychedelic mushrooms; he’s a vegetarian and figured his friend was sharing a snack.
After the show, I went up to meet him. Wonderful guy and as you can see in the picture, a funny dude. I definitely had to tell Ali how his style was fantastic and how he reminded of those great story-based comedians like Pryor. He appreciated it very much because the late Richard Pryor was one of the greats the majority of comedians and fans admired.
Should Ali Saddiq come to your area, see him. You will laugh and cheer for the struggles of growing up are universal.