“Making White People Uncomfortable Is My Heroin.”
As it's Black History Month, let’s celebrate this funny woman: Hoodo Hersi. Born in Canada to Somali parents, Hoodo has been honing her comedic voice for over a decade. In 2022, her career skyrocketed when she moved from Toronto to New York City. Just two days after arriving, she landed a major milestone—an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers [see clip below].
Her comedy is built on sharp, witty commentary about race, mental health, politics, and pop culture. From the start, she was never chasing fame—she simply wanted to get onstage and tell her truth in the funniest way possible, a passion sparked by watching Chappelle’s Show in high school. That mindset was clear at age 19 when she performed her first open mic at Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa (my favourite city). She didn’t know anyone in the crowd, and she didn’t care if she flopped. What mattered was getting up there and making people laugh. She has embodied this ethos for over a decade. As a Black Muslim woman who spent years juggling her comedy career with a day job as a suburban public school teacher, she’s cultivated a perspective that deeply connects with audiences.
"[Teaching] is a brutal job," she said. "And then the racism that you have to deal with when you're a Black teacher is insane. It's a job that definitely shaves years off of your life."
In North America, it’s rare to see a Black woman in a hijab deliver razor-sharp observations on white privilege and the quirks of Caucasian culture. This unique perspective helped Hersi carve out a distinctive space in the comedy world. She quickly became a fixture in NYC’s stand-up scene, earning praise from The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj and Roy Wood Jr. Offstage, she’s made her mark as a writer, contributing to two seasons of A24/Amazon’s untitled animated series from Ramy Youssef.
As a Black Muslim woman in a field traditionally dominated by white men, Hersi has faced her share of challenges. Yet, she’s risen to prominence by mining humor from her experiences with immigrant parents, her sharp takes on race, and the complexities of navigating cultural divides in today’s America. As she puts it, “We need to make racism more equal.”
"In white people terms, it's the way Taylor Swift breaks up with a guy: A guy does her dirty, she writes a song about it and then makes so much money off of it," Hoodo Hersi said. "Racists hurt my feelings, they do terrible things, and then I write a joke about them and then I make money off of them. That's the capitalist cycle of life."
via CBC/the stranger