Aman Ali (comedian)

Last updated

Aman Ali
Birth nameAman Ali
Born (1985-03-27) March 27, 1985 (age 39)
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, U.S.
MediumStand-up, newspaper, television
Education Lincoln High School
Alma mater Kent State University
Years active2006–present
Genres Observational comedy
Subject(s) Indian culture, Muslim American culture, Islamic humour
SpouseHannah Behi (2021-) [1]
Website amanali.net

Aman Ali (born March 27, 1985) is an American comedian, storyteller, journalist, and writer of Indian descent. [2]

Contents

Early life

Ali was born on March 27, 1985, and grew up in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, United States [3] within an immigrant Indian Muslim family. [4] He attended Gahanna Lincoln High School. In 2006, he graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. [5]

His parents are from India. His father first came to the United States in the 1960s, [6] his mother came to the United States in the 1970s. [7] He has four brothers. [8] [9]

Ali's father went to college in India, majoring in civil engineering intending to design bridges and roads. He came to America to find better opportunities. He moved to Chicago to pursue a degree in civil engineering. He would take classes during the day and work night shifts at the factory. After being offered a manager position and an opportunity to own doughnut stores, with being newly married and a child on the way, his father left school. [10]

Journalism career

Ali started his career as a multimedia producer and reporter in Washington, D.C., for The Hill in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and then worked for Gannett news in New York before writing for Reuters. [5]

He has travelled across the United States covering presidential races, [4] Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in New Orleans, and hula festivals in Hawaii.

Ali appeared on media outlets such as CNN, [11] [12] [13] HBO, ABC News, and NPR. [14]

Ali has written articles for newspapers and magazines in the greater New York City area. [8] Ali has also made several appearances on CNN, NPR and many other news outlets.

Ali is a talented writer and his published work can be seen throughout this page. [15]

Ali was a Digital Products Specialist for the National Basketball Association.

Stand-up career

In 2007, Ali moved to New York City. He has traveled all over the world and regularly performs shows at comedy clubs, colleges, and theaters all around the United States. He has opened for Dave Chappelle and other acclaimed comedians working in the industry today. [8]

In 2012, he performed in England, [16] Denmark, Belgium and Germany. [10]

Storytelling

Ali is also a storyteller who talks about his upbringing as a 20-something Indian Muslim born and raised in America. His storytelling draws heavily from his upbringing and travels. [14] His jokes cross age, cultural and religious barriers with the intention of bringing people together with his humor. [4]

In 2009, Ali and his friend, Bassam Tariq, a photographer and filmmaker, co-created 30 Mosques in 30 Days, a blog chronicling them visiting a different mosque every day of the 30 days. [14] [17] recording his travels of two Ramadans during which he and his friend visited one mosque a day, [18] [19] telling stories about Muslims in America. [14] In 2010, they changed it to mosques in 30 different states in 30 days. [17] They have been covered by CNN, BBC, PBS and Al Jazeera. [18] In 2011, they visited the other 20 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. [17] and they have travelled over 25,000 miles. [20] In 2012, they also released a series of short films on various facets of Muslim life [21] and spread the message on social media. [22]

Awards

Ali has received several awards for his reporting including one from the Associated Press in 2010 for his breaking news coverage in New York. [23]

Personal life

Aman Ali is an Indian-American who currently lives in New York, New York, United States. [14]

In November 2012, Ali and his mother performed Hajj (the largest Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia). [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in the United States</span>

Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States (1.34%), behind Christianity (67%) and Judaism (2.07%). The Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies in its 2020 US Religion census estimated that 1.34% of the population of the United States are Muslim. In 2017, twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhaichung Bhutia</span> Indian footballer (born 1976)

Bhaichung Bhutia, also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often nicknamed the Sikkimese Sniper because of his shooting skills in football. Three-time Indian Player of the Year I. M. Vijayan described Bhutia as "God's gift to Indian football".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fareed Zakaria</span> Indian-American journalist and author

Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haji Ali Dargah</span> Dargah in India

The Haji Ali Dargah is a mosque and dargah or the monument of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the southern Mumbai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in India</span>

Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the third-largest number of Muslims in the world. The majority of India's Muslims are Sunni, with Shia making up around 15% of the Muslim population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asra Nomani</span> American journalist (born 1965)

Asra Quratulain Nomani is an Indian American journalist and author. Born in India to Muslim parents, she earned a BA from West Virginia University in liberal arts in 1986 and an MA from the American University in international communications in 1990. She subsequently worked as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal with her colleague Daniel Pearl in Pakistan post-9/11. Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists while following an investigative lead. Nomani later became the co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student investigative-reporting project which has looked into Pearl's murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Velshi</span> Canadian journalist (born c. 1968)

Ali Velshi is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News, and an anchor for MSNBC. He is also a substitute anchor for The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC on Friday night. Velshi is based in New York City. Known for his work on CNN, he was CNN's Chief Business Correspondent, anchor of CNN's Your Money and a co-host of CNN International's weekday business show World Business Today. In 2013, he joined Al Jazeera America, a channel that launched in August of that year. He hosted Ali Velshi on Target until Al Jazeera America ceased operations on April 12, 2016. He has worked for MSNBC since October 2016.

The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 al-Askari mosque bombing</span> Attack on a Shia mosque in Iraq

The 2006 al-Askari Shrine bombing occurred on 22 February 2006 at approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, and targeted the al-Askari Shrine in the city of Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, has not been claimed by any group; the then President of the United States, George W. Bush, claimed that the bombing was an al-Qaeda plot. Although the mosque was severely damaged from the blast, there were no casualties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anwar al-Awlaki</span> American-Yemeni imam and suspected Islamist extremist (1971–2011)

Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki was an American-Yemeni lecturer and jihadist who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a drone strike from the U.S. government. U.S. government officials have stated that al-Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda.

The Mecca Masjid blast occurred on 18 May 2007 inside the Mecca Masjid, a mosque located in the old city area of Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Telangana located very close to Charminar. The blast was caused by a cellphone-triggered pipe bomb placed near the site designated for ablution. Two further live IEDs were found and defused by the police. Sixteen people were reported dead in the immediate aftermath, of whom five were killed by the police firing after the incident while trying to quell the mob angered by what they considered police failure to protect the Muslims during their worship.

Azhar Muhammad Usman is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer of Indian descent. He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and has been referred to as the "Ayatollah of Comedy" and "Bin Laughin". He is best known as one third of comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny. In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced that Usman had joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, agreeing to play Najaf on the cast of the studio's Ms. Marvel original streaming series for Disney+.

Ali Ardekani, best known by his stage name Baba Ali, is an Iranian-born American comedian, games developer, businessman, and actor.

Shaker Elsayed is an Egyptian American imam who was posted at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia from 2005 to 2017, when he resigned because of backlash stemming from his comments about female genital mutilation. He was born in Cairo, Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park51</span> Proposed Islamic community center in Manhattan, New York

Park51 was a development originally envisioned as a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The developers hoped to promote an interfaith dialogue within the greater community. Due to its proposed location, two blocks from the World Trade Center site of the September 11 attacks, the proposed building was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque".

Bassam Tariq is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter born in Karachi, Pakistan. He co-directed and produced the Sundance-funded documentary These Birds Walk (2013) with Omar Mullick, and he was named in Filmmaker's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in South Asia</span> Overview of Islam in the subcontinent

Islam is the second-largest religion in South Asia, with more than 650 million Muslims living there, forming about one-third of the region's population. Islam first spread along the coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, almost as soon as it started in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Arab traders brought it to South Asia. South Asia has the largest population of Muslims in the world, with about one-third of all Muslims living here. Islam is the dominant religion in half of the South Asian countries. It is the second largest religion in India and third largest in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

References

  1. "Registry For Aman Ali & Hannah Behi Just Married!". The Good Beginning. September 1, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  2. "LIVE Interview with Storyteller and Comedian Aman Ali". melibeeglobal. 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  3. Heagney, Meredith. "Muslim comic's essay strikes a nerve with many". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Aman Ali". bhutia. 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "About Aman Ali". kdmc. 2007. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  6. "Interview with US comedian Aman Ali". usembassybrussels. April 24, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  7. "AMAZING Indian Comedian – Aman Ali". bhutia. January 16, 2010. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Cox, Robert (September 21, 2009). "No Joke: Journal News' Aman Ali is a Real Comedian". New Rochelle's Talk of the Sound. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  9. "Aman Ali: A young American-Muslim voice". Pittsburg: Pittsburg State University. September 24, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "The Stories of Our Fathers". The New York Times . New York. November 9, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  11. Ali, Aman (September 7, 2011). "My Take: Muslims should stop apologizing for 9/11". CNN. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  12. Ali, Aman (October 1, 2011). "My Take: Muslims should lay off the victim card". CNN. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  13. Ali, Aman (November 15, 2011). "My Take: 'All-American Muslim' doesn't speak for this Muslim". CNN. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Aman Ali". HuffPost . Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  15. "Profile". CNN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  16. "Aman Ali Returns to the Hubb!". Soul City Arts. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 "Aman Ali". Morning Sun. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  18. 1 2 "Stand-up Islam". Halal Monk. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  19. "US comedian tells tales from the Mosque". The Local. April 12, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  20. "Aman Ali Interview". Bridges TV. February 15, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  21. "THE SIFR: A Global Jam Session". Beyond The Box. September 11, 2012. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  22. "Experiencing Ramadan Around the World". Beyond The Box. August 16, 2012. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  23. "ontributors". All American Muslim Men. Retrieved January 1, 2014. Aman Ali
  24. "Comedian-Writer Aman Ali Reflects on His Hajj Journey". Altmuslim. November 5, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.