Who Is Adib Alkhalidey? New Details On The Comic From 'Comedians Of The World' On Netflix
He's a writer and actor.
youtube With the success of Comedians of the World, we’ve been hearing about all the different comics featured in the series. With sets about homophobia, sexism, sexuality, and growing up in a certain country — with everything in between — we’ve gotten a deeper look into the unique perspectives of these comics, who hail from 13 regions around the globe. This series, in particular, features stand-up from non-English-speaking areas, but offers subtitles.
You don’t have to speak another language to enjoy comedy! And with the stand-up routine of French-Canadian Adib Alkhalidey, we get insight into his personal struggles. In this set, he offers observational comedy that touches on universal topics like relationships, childhood, and vegetarianism.
He's even said, “I had spent a few months in France and Africa. I had the chance to write new material and try it out in front of new crowds. When I came back, that’s what I had. I had worked outside of Canada, so when I heard that the Netflix event was an international one, I figured that was the perfect opportunity. I’d been in Senegal and the Ivory Coast and France, so I was actually in a mindset where I wanted to make people from all around the francophone world laugh.”
But who is Adib Alkhalidey? For those individuals who reside in the United States and want to learn more about comics outside of their realm, he’s one comedian to check out. And you can get to know more about him with these five details about his personal life.
1. He's Middle Eastern.
Though he grew up in Quebec, his father is from Iraq and his mother is from Morocco. The family traveled to Quebec when Alkhalidey was a baby, hoping he would become a doctor. He’s also incredibly close with them, though his father passed away last year. In an interview, he recalled how he made his father cry:
“Once, I swear, I’m with my father, I’m grocery shopping. I enter the supermarket, there is a lady who sees me enter. And, I swear, she comes and she takes me in her arms, and she says to me: ‘Thank you I saw your show yesterday and I really liked that’ And my father, I turn around, and he’s crying. Because it’s the first time he understands that it’s a job, in fact, with which I can tell people things, and we unite. It’s through moments like this, I think, that I managed to see him happy.”
2. He attended the National School of Humor.
Alkhalidey graduated in 2010 from the National School of Humor, a “private nonprofit educational institution... offering professional training to creators who wish to specialize in the field of humor as comedians, performers or authors.”
3. His career in comedy is pretty impressive.
After graduating, he began working on projects for the stage, and started writing. He had his first one-man show in 2013 called Je t’aime, and came out with another, Ingenious, in 2015 after success with the first show.
He’s also written for other comedians, including Eddy King and Maxim Martin. But aside from writing for others, he’s also written for the web series Pause Kahwa, which features other comics like Mehdi Bousaidan, Anas Hassouna and Roman Frayssinet. His intention with the show was to add in a little bit of his childhood mixed with cultural diversity:
“You have to stop making people feel guilty, because you’re not going to talk about something that’s not part of your imagination. You cannot ask an author who has not grown up in my neighborhood to write about my neighborhood; it’s not going to come naturally to him... I think that if there are people who want to write and come from this kind of neighborhood, they have to write. They have to write, because there is room for them, and right now, I think I’m one of the only ones,” he said.
4. He’s appeared on television and in movies.
He had his directorial debut with the film Mon ami Walid, and also co-wrote it with Julien Lacroix and starred in it. This year, he’ll appear in Xavier Dolan’s film, Matthias & Maxime. In addition, he’s appeared on the television shows Les beaux malaises, Dans ma tête, Like-moi!, Julien Lacroix, Bye-Bye, Va jouer dehors, and Les détestables.
5. He’s humble despite his success.
In a piece by Cult MTL, a publication that focuses on Montreal culture, asked him how it felt when he found out his special would air on Netflix. He said:
“I’m really happy, because I was always secretly dreaming of having some material end up on Netflix. When I got the call from my agent, I was first of all really surprised and then a little bit frightened. I had just released my last special last December and I’d put all of my material in it – even the material that wasn’t part of the tour. I really thought I only had a few bits of new material — nothing really ready.
Stand-ups want to have 100 percent sure-thing material in their pockets that they can use anywhere they go, and I wasn’t there when I got the call. I knew that I had enough time in front of me to work something out. I was already working on a new special, so I think it was perfect timing for me to write original content for a unique event.”
Samantha Maffucci is an associate editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.