Some comedians started as the funniest person in school, or as a cut-up on the job. Ali Siddiq was the funniest guy in the Texas state penitentiary system.
While serving six years of a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking, he entertained his fellow inmates by reenacting entire sitcom episodes and commenting on life in prison.
“I knew comedy was what I was going to do when I came out,” he says. “I had no desire to do anything else.”
His fellow inmates knew that was his destiny as well.
“The craft of being a comic is taking a story people aren’t familiar with, adding your humor and flavor, and making the audience live in the story and laugh about it the same way you do,” he says.
7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23; 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24. $20-$50. Funny Bone Liberty, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com.
This article appears in Nov 13-26, 2019.
