Introducing LA-based US comedian Ismael Loutfi, who debuts at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe with ‘Heavenly Baba’, an exploration of what it means to express oneself honestly and authentically, and how not to lose yourself in said expression.
‘Heavenly Baba’ follows Ismael, a deeply religious Muslim, growing up in a small redneck town. Guided by his father’s zeal, Ismael attempts to convert his classmates at a young age. After failing, he decides to attend an Islamic School, but becomes disappointed after learning that its curriculum isn't as religiously motivated as he'd hoped. Seeing this, his father decides to paint Islamic messages all over his car, so the school administrators can see just how openly, and aggressive a Muslim you can be. Over the following two decades, the car turned into a moving billboard for Islam…
As his father developed his style on the car, Ismael eventually grew past being a religious zealot in the shadow of his father. He fell in love with a classmate at the age of 17 - but instead of dating like a regular kid, Ismael conspired with his dad to marry her so that their relationship wouldn't be haram or forbidden. The marriage only lasted about 6 months, the divorce launched Ismael into a career as a stand-up...
Ismael Loutfi is a comedian, writer, and actor. He is currently writing on the upcoming animated show ‘Mating Season’, from the same team behind ‘Big Mouth’. Prior to that, he was a writer on ‘After Midnight’, Ramy Youssef's animated #1 ‘Happy Family USA’ and Netflix's ‘Patriot Act’ with Hasan Minhaj for which he won a Peabody Award. Ismael’s Comedy Central Half Hour special, Sound It Out, is streaming on YouTube. His stand up was previously featured on This Week at the Cellar, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Ringers. He has performed on the FOX Night of Comedy showcase and has been named a New Face of Comedy by the Just for Laughs comedy festival.
Ismael Loutfi’s debut stand up hour ‘Heavenly Baba’ will be at the Assembly George Square Studio 5 @ 6pm for the entire fringe. For tickets go to www.edfringe.com
What is the last thing you do before you go onstage?
I’ve had different rituals over the years. When I was less than three years into comedy, I’d whisper to myself “you’re going to bomb” over and over again, because I was under the illusion that if I went up with absolutely no expectations, I’d greatly exceed them. I was much more competitive back then, and needed to reel myself in by accepting the prospect of a bomb before it even happened. After a few years, this method lost its appeal — living in a nightly state of pre-fabricated gloom is not healthy, even when you prove yourself wrong the majority of the time. Between years 4 and 10, I developed a little mantra: “Find yourself, don’t back down, mean what you say, enunciate,” as a reminder to stay present, bold, honest, and to speak in a human language. Now I’m 15 years in, twice divorced, and 45 pounds heavier than when I started. Before I go on stage now, I like to walk into the audience right before my name is called, to pick up on the energy of the crowd, and to gauge whether they’re the kind of people I’d ever hang out with.
What irritates you?
People who use AI in any capacity. If you’re asking ChatGPT mundane questions on a daily basis then you should be sent to a new execution method I’ve devised called the “Firing Rod.” The Firing Rod works much like a Firing Squad, except instead of the executioners using guns to carry out the judgement, they use a pile of metal rods which they throw at the accused. Imagine: 18-25 metal rods flying at your face, bruising your clavicles, piercing your sternum; you’re curled into a ball now, hands shakily covering your skull — BAM, another direct hit, right in the spleen. You’re fading now, the need to protect your body is being overtaken by a sensation of warmth; a resignation to the inevitability of violence. Did your brutal death teach you a lesson? Did it make ChatGPT less appealing? No? That’s fine. It wasn’t about you anyway, it was about me, and my new execution method: “The Firing Rod.”
What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
Lived in America all my life.
What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
First marriage, second marriage, every relationship in between, and that time I direct messaged Margaret Qualley “Hey it was great working with you!” after “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” came out. I did not work on the movie in any capacity.
What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
The fact that Late Night doesn’t matter anymore. When I started, getting a late night spot was this far off dream. It would float in the night sky above your head after a particularly good set, like the spirit of Mufasa or Obi-Wan, beckoning you, assuring you that if you had a few more great sets, wrote a few more good jokes, one day you’d meet one of the Jimmys and your career would be blessed — the struggle would be over. In 2017 I performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live; I did an open mic the very next night.
What do your parents think of your job?
My father is currently dead, but when he was alive he appreciated that I was a performer; though he didn’t quite know what stand up was. I’m pretty sure he believed stand up and karaoke to be the same thing.
My mother is mostly supportive, but she does occasionally bring up my two divorces and wonders aloud if my career choice has impeded my ability to give her grandchildren (it has).
What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?
Meeting fans after shows and realizing the people who like you are complete losers. I assume. This has never happened to me.
I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?
I think I’m very good at writing and performing stand up comedy. But the longer I do this the more I realize how little that matters. I’m terrible at marketing, editing videos, posting reels, tiktoks, YouTube shorts, collaborating with influencers, taking pictures, booking podcasts, etc., etc. So while I think I’m very good, I also know that that’s not enough, and it fills my soul with a deep dark blackness.
How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?
Since I’m writing on tv shows at the moment, I actually make an ungodly amount of money (thank you Writers Guild). I suppose I’d like to earn the amount I make now, but just from touring. By the grace of Allah I shall.
How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?
I suppose the algorithm is luck-based, since none of us can truly know what it wants or craves. In the States, careers in stand up are made by the caprices of a machine created by devil worshippers in Northern California. It’s great!
Generally, I don’t think luck matters as much as positioning and demeanour. Some comedians have this cool, unbothered affect that makes everyone around them feel cool and important. If you can perform that coolness in the right places and right times, you’ll be successful. Unfortunately, my demeanour makes people feel unpleasant and worried. I need to stop talking about my two divorces.
I’ve had breaks, but they’ve always centred on people seeing me perform and then immediately handing me a sliver of success without first getting to know me. The fools.
Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into third category?
I’m definitely more of a self-harmer, which is odd since I’ve never taken any drugs or drank alcohol (Muslim). The horror of existence is enough for me to feel tortured. Don’t need any help from outside forces.
Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?
There’s this Marxist intellectual named Adolph Reed that I’ve loved the past few years. I know the words “intellectual” and “Adolph” are concerning, but he’s an elderly black man from Louisiana. He’s one of the most cynical and straightforward people I’ve ever heard or read in my life. He has this ability to bring literally any issue/debate/observation back to the fundamentals of class politics without it seeming like a stretch. He’s got a book on Jim Crow that’s very enjoyable. And a book from 1996 where he literally calls out (then state-senator) Barack Obama as “a smooth Harvard lawyer with impeccable do-good credentials and vacuous-to-repressive neoliberal politics…I suspect that his ilk is the wave of the future in U.S. black politics”. Insanely prescient.
Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).
I don’t have drawers. Instead, I have three small moving boxes under my bed: one for boxers, one for socks, one for workout clothes. The boxes are fairly tidy actually. When I was between my first and second marriage, I used to tape Amazon boxes on my wall with duct tape to create a sort of cardboard shelf (“box-wall” as I called it), and that was messy. But effective.
Ismael Loutfi’s debut stand up hour ‘Heavenly Baba’ will be at the Assembly George Square Studio 5 @ 6pm for the entire fringe. For tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Ismael Loutfi photo by Mandee Johnson
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