Ali Siddiq goes back to jail for his first Comedy Central stand-up special

Ali Siddiq served six years of a 15 year sentence for drug trafficking in the Texas state penitentiary system. He also started performing comedy. Now for his first one-hour special, Ali Siddiq: It’s Bigger Than These Bars, he’s back behind bars at Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas. Ali Siddiq: It’s Bigger Than These Bars premieres on Friday, Feb. 23 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.

The special includes both stand-up from Siddiq, stories of his own incarceration, and interviews with the Bell County inmates. Here’s a clip!

More about Siddiq, from Comedy Central PR:

Ali Siddiq is a stand-up comedian, public speaker, and writer out of Houston, Texas. He began honing his unique style of stand-up behind the walls of prison, mastering the ability to captivate any audience with his compelling stories and hilarious insights. Today, Ali works with at-risk youth and has headlined comedy clubs in the U.S. and abroad, consistently demonstrating his ability to engage diverse crowds and bring them to their feet. Ali has appeared on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, and was named Comedy Central’s “#1 Comic to Watch” in 2013. Ali’s following grew after he enthralled audiences with his “Mexicans Got on Boots” tale, a comical recounting of a prison riot that Ali shared in his first of two appearances on Comedy Central’s storytelling series This Is Not Happening. In 2016, Ali’s half-hour special premiered on Comedy Central, and in 2017 he began production on the one-hour special that would become Ali Siddiq: It’s Bigger Than These Bars.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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