ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A Yemeni-American comedian from the Twin Cities is on the cusp of a major career breakthrough.
Ali Sultan, 29, who emigrated from Yemen to Minnesota when he was 14, appeared on the Comedy Central show “Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City,” Minnesota Public Radio News reported .
Hart filmed an episode of the show in the Twin Cities in August. Dozens of comics auditioned to be a part of the half hour show. Sultan was one of four local comics to appear on the episode, which aired Friday.
Sultan’s comedy features stories about police stops, racial profiling and religion that come from his real life experiences.
“If I talk about an FBI agent visiting my home when I was young, people think, ’he fabricated that story.’ No, that happened,” Sultan said. “When I talked about being pulled over 10 times my first year of driving, people think that’s ludicrous, but that happened.”
Sultan was previously named the funniest person in the Twin Cities by the Acme Comedy Company. He was hired to be an emcee at the comedy company earlier this year.
Pursuing comedy has been difficult because the industry is dominated by white comedians, Sultan said.
“That was something in the back of my head - ’Am I going to make it?’ I’ve never seen anybody from my part of the world make it,” he said.
But Sultan said his mother’s strength in seeking asylum in the U.S. inspired him to follow his dream.
“Not a lot of Muslim women can just leave Yemen. Millions of people won’t even have that thought,” Sultan said. “But my mom was like, ’I can do it,’ and she did it. My mom is monstrous when it comes to accomplishing goals. So I have that influence.”
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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mprnews.org
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