Why I make comedy.

Everyone has different reasons. Here are mine.

I do this because…

• I want to make people laugh. If I can bring joy to people’s lives in some way with a joke, that’s all the reason I need. Doctors are driven by their passion to help people, this is my way of doing that. Sure, you could say I’m on the level of a physician. Fine, let’s just go with it: I SAVE LIVES. (Laughter is the best medicine, right?)
• I have hilarious parents who passed on their quirky personalities to me. This is my way of honoring their sense of humor and sharing it with the world.
• Maybe this’ll somehow eventually lead to me meeting The Rock?
• I want to show you that brown people can joke about things other than how our food is so spicy.
• It’s easier to talk about incredibly serious issues when you take the edge off with humor.
• Life is WAY more fun when you take things (and yourself) less seriously.
• I have a deep unfulfilled desire to be validated. (Have you clicked the ❤ button below yet? Please? PLEEEEASE? C’mon!)
• The Rock seems like a cool guy and maybe someone reading this knows him and would be kind enough to pass along my screenplay idea to him.
• I deal with occasional anxiety attacks and use comedy to power through. (In his book Play It Away, Charlie Hoehn recommends “saying your worries out loud in the voice of a funny character.” It actually works for me! That, and Lexapro!)
• I want to be a voice for brown kids who don’t want to be doctors or engineers and want to pursue something more creative. (Yes, fam, it IS possible. I’ll happily talk to your parents for you.)
• For my high school French class final project, we had the choice to make a video, or write a paper. Of course, I made the dumbest video. But everyone loved it. They laughed their asses off. Even the girl I was crushing on. I never did end up going to prom with her, but still… it made her laugh. The fact comedy has that effect on people is pretty cool.
• The news is terrible. Making comedy is an oasis from the gloom.
• Because Aziz Ansari and Kumail Nanjiani and Hasan Minhaj are amazing and I want to make stuff with them and form some kind of supergroup. Selfish I know. (And let’s throw Riz Ahmed in there, too.)
• Some days are super tough, and making something that brings a smile to someone else’s face makes those days a bit better.
• It lets me meet and work with other funny people who I love and admire and respect. Like… I don’t know… The Rock, maybe?

This is why I do comedy. Why do you do what YOU do? I’d love to hear about it, so leave a response. Thanks!

P.S. Did I mention I love being validated? Boost an insecure creative’s ego by smashing that ❤ button below.

P.P.S. If Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or any member of his team happen to be reading this, please message me at hassan.s.ali -at- gmail.com

P.P.P.S. Love you guys, thanks for reading!