Ali Hassan: How To Use Your Life Experience To Make Meaningful Art

What are the stories you want to share and why are these stories important?

These are questions that Comedian/Actor/Author Ali Hassan has had to answer when he created his memoir, Is There Bacon In heaven? In this week’s episode, he will take us on a journey of how following his curiosity and thirst to know more about his own identity has led him to some of the most full-filling artistic experiences. How honouring and sharing his life’s experiences has been key to creating. Most recently, his successful show “Muslim Interrupted” which eventually lead to the birth of his memoir.

Don’t allow life’s setbacks to stop you from pursuing your passion; use it to make meaningful art!

In this episode:

Learning to promote yourself and your work in a way that feels authentic and in alignment with who you are.
How to navigate transitions in your career both artistically and financially.
The importance of staying open to the evolution of your art and allowing growth and change into different forms.
The power of curiosity in relation to creativity and how being curious in your life can help guide and help you discover more about what you have to share as an artist.

by Chelsea Johnson | Cue to Cue

A little about Ali:

Ali Hassan is a Stand-up Comic, Actor and CBC Personality.

Ali is the host of the CBC Radio hit stand-up comedy show Laugh Out Loud – which also airs across North America on SiriusXM. Ali is also heard on CBC Radio, NPR and PRX as a frequent guest-host of the arts and culture show ‘q’, and As It Happens. For the past six consecutive years, Ali has hosted Canada Reads – the annual battle of the books on CBC Radio, Television and on-line, celebrating the best of Canadian literature.

Ali has appeared on the big screen in award-winning films – Breakaway, French Immersion, and the hockey hit Goon. In 2020, Ali appeared in the films MySpy, Mafia Inc, and Tammy’s Always Dying (which had its world premiere at TIFF 2019).

Some of his recent television roles include Designated Survivor (ABC, Netflix), Cardinal (CTV), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+), Odd Squad (PBS Kids, CBBC), Man Seeking Woman (FXX), Sort Of (CBC, HBO Max) and in 2021 on the brand-new seasons of Workin’ Moms (CBC) and Murdoch Mysteries (CBC). Since January of 2022, Ali has been a recurring guest star on the new sitcom Run The Burbs.

In Fall 2019, Ali toured across Canada as one of the stars of Just For Laughs Comedy Night In Canada tour, hosted By Rick Mercer. And in 2022, Ali’s sets from Just for Laughs and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival will air on television.

He is the co-host of 2 podcasts – Doctor vs. Comedian, and This Podcast Is Delicious. His new book ‘Is There Bacon in Heaven?’ comes out in 2022 with Simon & Schuster.

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