“Some of my friends, some of my old associates don’t suit what I do now. I have no need for people who are indulged in the street behavior,” he said, referencing his youthful criminal indiscretions, including selling drugs. “I have no need for that. I’m a family man, and I’m not out there living that type of life. If you’re not going to change, then we have to cease our existence as being friends because we have two different things. As a married man, I have no need for my single friend. We’re on two, totally different pages.”
His Tucson show comes weeks after Siddiq made history in March when he became the first independent comedian to win the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Variety Series or Special for his 75-minute special “My Two Sons,” a deeply personal show that focused on his life, family and experiences as a father of nine.
The 2025 special aired on the Ali Siddiq YouTube Channel, where the 28-year veteran comedian has posted more than a dozen comedy specials, each attracting tens of millions of views.
His 2022 breakout special “The Domino Effect” garnered more than 17 million views and led to a trio of “Domino Effect” sequels: “Loss,” “First Day of School” and “Pins & Needles.”
The series was the first time that Siddiq talked at any length about spending time in prison. When he was 19, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling cocaine; he served six years before he was released in 1997.
Later that year, he made his standup comedy debut at Houston’s Just Joking Comedy Club. He went on to appear on HBO, Showtime, “Last Comic Standing” and “Def Comedy Jam.”
“I did stand up for 17 years before I ever even mentioned I was in prison,” he said. “I never wanted to be typecast as ‘all he talking about is prison’.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source tucson.com ’
