Before his career in comedy took off, Ali Hassan's first love was food.
"For many years it was the only thing I was passionate about," he said.
The Canadian comedy award nominee and host of CBC’s Laugh Out Loud said he first went into stand-up to prove he had the necessary stage presence for his original goal of having a show on the Food Network. His current comedy tour, Does This Taste Funny, playing this Saturday at the Anvil Theatre, draws on his former career as a chef, his lifelong relationship to food and his current experience feeding his four children daily. ("They're deeply unappreciative, just generally," he joked.)
Hassan's passion for cooking came alive as a teenager when he critiqued his mother's sandwiches, and she told him to make his own. While he said the sandwiches were, in stand-up terms, his very own "open mic,” he soon expanded to making full meals. "You didn't find too many 15-, 16-year-olds making their own pasta sauce and black olive, herb and cheese omelettes," he said.
When Hassan was working as a chef and caterer while doing stand-up on the side, his father was skeptical that either food or comedy would provide much job security.
"He was like, 'you don't understand how a side-hustle works. Why is your 60-year-old father explaining this?'"
He finds food a subject ripe for comedy both because it's so universal and deeply individual.
"People say, 'Yes, I'm very open-minded...very tolerant,'" he said."(Then) you see your friend put ketchup on their scrambled eggs and you're like, 'OK, that relationship is over.'"
Now that it's spring, Hassan is enjoying lighter fair like Vietnamese spring rolls or a grilled chicken. He’s started cooking lighter “almost to coax summer to hurry up and get here,” he said.
Ali Hassan: Does This Taste Funny
When: Wednesday, April 19, 7:30
Where: Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia Street Look up Anvilcentre.com for directions by car, by bike or by transit.
Cost: $40 plus service charges
