Ali Hassan, a Muslim standup comic/actor/host, believes there are no sacred cows in the pursuit of laughter

Humour, we all know is, subjective.

But when you meet someone that believes there are no sacred cows when it comes to  comedy, it’s not hard to go (insert a deep bow here): “respect bro!”

Ali Hassan: standup comic, actor, host and a family guy, probably leads an uncomplicated life because he doesn’t obsess over offending people or conforming to stereotypes.

I think we make way too much fuss over religion when we should be chuckling over some of its idiosyncrasies.

The Etobicoke resident will be wrapping up his Muslim Interrupted show soon. The elements of the show are built on questions his six-year-old asked him when he got back from school, almost daily.

“My six-year-old’s questions ranged from, ‘Are we Muslims? Do we go to mosque?’ to more complex ones like why do I have Pepperoni in the fridge and how come he doesn’t get to eat that? The idea was to hid behind something cheeky,” Hassan explained. “You joke about what you know and that’s what I do.”

Born to a family of academics, the IT professional (he says he wasn’t a good one) turned, out to be the black sheep (enough with the animal analogy, already).

Pakistani-Canadian Ali was the lead comedy panellist on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. He was also the host CBC’s Laugh Out Loud. His acting credits include roles in CTV’s Cardinal and PBS’ Oddsquad. 

He says when he started doing shows with strong elements of religion; people came up to him afterwards and told him they learned something new.

“When I started doing this (Muslim Interrupted), I realized on pork alone, I have about 20 minutes of material,” Ali offers deadpan.

His one-man act has sold out across many venues.

But then there are always wet blankets.

“I was at the Edinburgh festival some years ago when I noticed a desi father (definitely Muslim) and his teenaged son watch me perform,” Ali recalled. “As I finished talking about my relationship to pork, they both got up and left and I thought, ‘I am challenging pre-conceived notions…if you can’t handle it, good, don’t be here.’”

Ali will be at The Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln. Saturday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. Check him out. Tickets can be purchased at www.rosetheatre.ca or by calling 905-874-2800.