Whose Line is It Anyway?

But comedy was not something that Ali had planned in life. “I was a journalist and worked with Reuters and Newsweek among others. But I could talk to various kind of people, easily,” says Ali, whose first performance happened by accident. A stand-up comic, who was to perform at an Islamic conference organised by one of Ali’s friends in 2006, decided to drop out at the eleventh hour.

“My friend asked me to take a chance. And that’s how it began,” says Ali. “There was this old grumpy South-Asian man in the audience. But the only thing I remember from that performance is how he was laughing so hard that his face was red and he had tears rolling down his eyes,” says Ali, who adds that the man, for him, symbolises our community of people that we all are a part of.

“We as humans are going through depression, anxiety and frustration. I wanted to start something that celebrated what we were as human beings and that we did not need to be apologetic about that,” he says.

But negotiating the red lines by virtue of being a Muslim comedian is not easy, specially given the current political scenario in the post-Trump America. Ali has had his share of double takes and disbelief when he performs now.

“There is heckling. But most of it is because of lack of awareness than just racism. I was once interviewing Jim McDermott. the former Congressman from Seattle, and in the end he said that I should share the telegram in case of a terrorist attack. I mean seriously — telegram. Why does he think I cannot use email?” recalls Ali.

He isn’t worried about the bans put in place by the Trump administration in the past couple of months.

“I was on a flight back from Canada when the ban was implemented. And as I stepped into the airport I had kids hi-fiving me. The massive rallies that took place against the ban were very heartening. I saw a Pakistani lady out in the street with her young kids in tow. I asked her why was she there. She said she wanted her children to understand what love is. We are not alone in this and that’s what counts,” says Ali, who also runs Homegrown Hommies, a YouTube channel that attempts to showcase the humane side of the American-Muslim community.

“I was at an anti-Muslim rally in New York and there were these two huge men holding placards that said ‘Muslims are not welcome’. But I would have been more freaked had they not been eating shawarmas from the food cart on the side of the road. These are the stereotypes that I wish to break,” says Ali, who is now working on a documentary called Two Gods, about a group of Muslim morticians.