Audio here!
This week, Aladdin Ullah will perform excerpts of his one-man show, Indio, which follows his travels from his childhood home in the projects of Harlem to the childhood home of his parents in Bangladesh. This surprisingly hilarious show deals with the ache of displacement, the contrasts as well as the commonalities of oppressed people on different sides of the globe, and a unique perspective on religion as it takes shape in different cultures.
Then, we’ll discuss with him his own evolution to becoming an atheist, his process of artistic creation, what he is seeking to bring alive through his work, and his views on the global “clash of cultures” and outlooks.
Aladdin Ullah has been pioneering the past decade as one of the very first South Asians to perform stand-up comedy on national television on HBO, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, and PBS. Co-founder and host of the multi-ethnic stand-up show “Colorblind,” which Mel Watkins of The New York Times hailed as “hilarious, thought provoking and ground breaking.” Theater: Indio, directed by Loretta Greco (New Work Now!-NYSF/Public Theater), Mike Batistick’s Port Authority Throwdown (Culture Project), Rain from out of the Blue (NY Int’l Fringe Fest). Workshops: NY Stage & Film, Second Stage, Ma-Yi, Lark Theater, Working Theater, and Cape Cod Theater Project. Television: Law and Order, Uncle Morty’s Dub Shack (IATV – Telly award for best comedy series), Desis: South Asians in NY (PBS). Appeared in several commercials as an actor and voiceover artist. Film: The animated feature Sita Sings The Blues (Best Animated Feature – Berlin and Tribeca film festivals), American Desi. Recipient of the Paul Robeson development grant.