Ali Siddiq performs long-form narrative comedy. He will take the stage at the Aspen Laugh Festival at the Wheeler Opera House on Thursday at 8 p.m. The festival runs Wednesday through Sunday.
One thing most people can find bipartisan agreement with is that the world is not funny right now.
The United States is at war, people are deeply divided, trust and truth have given way to dishonesty and doubt. In addition to love, what the world needs now is a good laugh, or even better, five consecutive days of them.
The 2026 Aspen Laugh Festival is here to meet this moment of collective misery. The festival at the Wheeler Opera House kicks off on Wednesday and ends on Sunday. The lineup features a diverse roster of powerhouse comedians, including Daniel Tosh, Iliza Shlesinger, Ali Siddiq, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Josh Johnson, Pete Correale, Felipe Esparza and Gabby Bryan, who will host the festival’s late night lounge.
“The lineup might offer one or two names people are less familiar with and I hope that everyone will give someone new a try,” said Wheeler Opera House Executive Director Mike Harrington. “With our community first initiative, there’s an opportunity for $25 tickets to see Pete Correale, Felipe Esparza and Ali Siddiq. All three of these guys are established in their own way but still growing and building their expansive fan bases.”
A new feature for the festival this year is a late night comedy lounge at Bad Harriet on Main Street, next to the Hotel Jerome, from Wednesday through Saturday starting at 10:30 p.m. Two to four comedians will take the stage each night, with comedian Gabby Bryan hosting.
Siddiq, who performs at the Wheeler on Thursday, is known for his long-form storytelling, much like Emmy-winning comedian Alex Edelman, who has been to Aspen several times in the last few years. He has become one of the most-watched comedians in the genre, and employs a relaxed tone to his shows.
When the curtain goes up, Siddiq is sitting in a chair, converting the theater into a metaphorical living room. He tells his stories slowly and methodically with clever insights and humor that hits home with audiences. His serial comedy piece. “Domino Effect 1-4,” became an online sensation with over 45 million views.
The Aspen Daily News caught up with Siddiq last week in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he was performing before going to Birmingham, Alabama. After that, he planned to head home to Houston before traveling to Colorado this week.
For the last three years, Siddiq has played more than 100 shows a year. When asked how he handles the constant shuffle between planes, trains and automobiles, he replied, “It’s pretty easy when you love it.”
Gabby Bryan is a New York-based stand-up comedian, actress and Emmy-award winning producer. She will host the Aspen Laugh Festival’s late night comedy lounge at Bad Harriet, which will feature two to four comedians Wednesday through Saturday starting at 10:30 p.m. each night.
Finding comedy early
He discovered that he wanted to be a comedian when he was just 11 years old. It wasn’t Richard Pryor and Saturday Night Live that drew Siddiq in. He liked “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Hee-Haw.”
“I was drawn to the old-school comedy of Don Rickles,” he said.
At the outset of “Domino Effect,” Siddiq explains that in his teens on the streets of his hometown of Houston, he became a “street pharmaceutical sales rep which is very frowned upon.” That line of work landed him in prison for six years.
When he was released in 1997, he decided to pursue his dream of being a comedian. He remembers the day he made the leap and stepped in front of a crowd with only a microphone and a story. “I went to Just Joking Comedy Café in Houston,” he said. “I started December the 4th, 1997.”
At the outset, Siddiq performed a more traditional style of stand-up comedy which can be seen in old Def Jam comedy specials.
“I used to do traditional, energetic, running around the stage kind of stand-up,” Siddiq said. “I was good at that but it didn’t feel like the right lane for me to go down because everything I’ve learned in life came from telling a story.
“In 2009, I started sitting down telling stories and then in 2015, the show ‘This is Not Happening,’ was the pivotal point of me just saying, ‘I’m just going to tell stories all the way out.’”
Prolific as well as funny
Siddiq recently filmed four stand-up specials in Washington, D.C., and has three waiting in the can.
He recommends that if anyone wants a primer before going to see him perform, they should check out “Domino Effect,” “The Participant,” “Mondays” or “My Two Sons” to get a feel for his humor. The latter recently won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Series and Special.
Siddiq said he hopes audiences have plenty of laughs but that they find some deeper meaning in his comedy.
“There’s usually a learning or ‘ah-ha’ moment in my stories which depends on what I’m on that day, “ he said. “I may be talking about the dynamics of a relationship that’s dysfunctional or I may just be on my sons or my daughter, but whatever pivotal point that I’m trying to make at that time, I hope that it translates and that people walk away with some information that they can use, some sense of medicine that they can use to heal some parts of their life.”
When asked what Aspen audiences can expect to hear this weekend, Siddiq said, “I’m not really sure. I won’t know until I get there. I’m not really working on anything new right now, I just finished up a whole bunch of work. But what I can guarantee is that it will be funny.”
For more information about the festival, visit wheeleroperahouse.com.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aspendailynews.com ’
