Toronto-born Hoodo Hersi knew the moment she made an elevator full of adults break out in laughter that she wanted to learn more about this thing called comedy. Born to a mother from Djibouti and a father from Somalia, Hoodo has pursued her dream of making it big in stand-up to New York City, where she lives now, making a living in one of the world’s toughest comedy markets. She tells how she landed a coveted spot on Late Night with Seth Myers on her second night in town, writing for television with Rami Youssef and opening for Hassan Minaj. She also discusses how she continues to hone her craft, putting race, religion and privilege at centre stage.
Music +
Sandy El Bitar CLIP:
People laughing together, really become more connected. Sharing our own story helps us see ourselves in the stories of others.
TINA PITTAWAY
Laughter is one of those shared pleasures that does wonders for the heart and soul.
It can break the ice in a tense situation.
And remind people of a shared history, or a brighter future to come.
This season on Countless Journeys, humour steps into the spotlight as we explore ideas of identity, and how humour can be used to strengthen community ties.
We’ll hear from comedian Angelo Tsarouchas, whose Greek heritage plays a huge role in the comedy he performs around the world.
ANGELO CLIP:
And I walked off to a standing ovation. In Calgary, Greek community of 500 people. And the guy, the guys just looked at me going, What, what, what the hell was that?
TINA PITTAWAY
Jordanian-born Nour Hadidi came to Canada to study commerce, but has found success as a stand-up comedian, and television writer.
NOUR HADIDI:
It feels like acceptance, you know, when you're, an immigrant, and you’ve come to country from so far away and sometimes you feel alone.
That laughter can feel like a hug. It can feel like an embrace. And so, it really did wonders for my spirit.
TINA PITTAWAY
And we’ll drop in on a group of newcomers to Nova Scotia who all met through community theater…
Those guests, and more, coming up this season.
And we start things off with Hoodo Hersi, up next.
MUSIC UP AND OUT
TINA PITTAWAY
Welcome to Countless Journeys from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. I’m Tina Pittaway.
Hoodo Hersi knew from a very young age that she wanted to make people laugh.
She grew up in Toronto as the daughter of immigrants from Somalia and Djibouti.
And they instilled in her the drive to go for whatever she wanted to pursue in life.
Little did they know that she’d choose one of the toughest professions on the planet to make a living at.
She lives in New York City these days, and this year marks twelve years since she started out in the brutally competitive world of stand-up comedy.
She has appeared on Late Night with Seth Myers, opening shows for him and other comic heavyweights like Hasan Minaj and Ramy Youssef.
I spoke with Hoodo recently from her home in New York, and I began by asking her when she first realized that comedy would be a big part of her life.
TAKE INTERVIEW
HOODO HERSI
It was watching the Chappelle show with my older brother and a light bulb went off and I realized, oh, you can actually make people laugh and say something, right? Because he, on the show, really beautifully executed social commentary with actual comedy. Uh, and yeah, that was definitely the first time when I realized, oh, this is a -- this is going to be my career.
TINA PITTAWAY
How old would you have been?
HOODO HERSI
I think I might've been in grade eight? Yeah. Like late middle school, early high school. Yeah.
TINA PITTAWAY
And did you know that you could get a laugh out of people at that point?
HOODO HERSI
I remember, yeah, when I was a kid, I remember I made my mom and like a bunch of strangers in an elevator laugh.
It was like there was another kid that had entered the elevator and they were acting up, I think, and they had said something really ridiculous.
And I just remember looking at the adults and like, You know, very slyly saying “Kids these days,” you know, like I just said it and like, kind of like a Disney channel, like kind of sitcom, and they loved it and they laughed and I was like, Oh, this is fun. Making people laugh is fun.
My mother, whatever funny I have, I definitely got from my mom. She, I mean, she hates that I do comedy, but she is the funny one in the family. So, I definitely, she's like for sure the initial, uh, inspiration 'cause she's always made people laugh. Flawlessly. Effortlessly.
TINA PITTAWAY
And in terms of what your, your plan was to set it in motion to get from point A to point B.
What did you…Did you have a sense of what that was or was that kind of a discovery?
HOODO HERSI
Yeah, I just knew I had to try it. So I, um…remember I did my first set at a Yuck Yuck's open mic night in Ottawa. I had family, the summer after I graduated high school, I went to go visit my family in Ottawa. And I said, my goal was to do the open mic there.
And my, the plan was if I bomb, then at least it's in Ottawa. I don't live in Ottawa. You know what I mean? And I got enough laughs to keep going. And I remember my cousin, she came with me. And. Keep in mind the jokes I was saying then, horrendous. Like I would never even, you know, say them now, but I did get enough laughs to keep going.
And I was like, oh, I have to keep doing this.
TINA PITTAWAY
Now, you were also a teacher for a time, uh, what got you into teaching? Was it this idea that you, you did need something to kind of keep you, uh, you know, in food and shelter as you were building your comedy career?
HOODO HERSI
Yeah. I always knew I needed to have a job to save up for a visa and then move to America.
My goal was always to move to America because I just never saw myself represented at all in Canada. So, I just thought to myself, “Oh, well, there was just a Little Mosque on the Prairie and then they canceled that,” and I just said to myself, “Well, you have to go to America. You have to really shoot for the moon,” You know what I mean?
You have to really go for it and I knew that would cost a lot of money and my parents wouldn't pay for that. So, I was like, okay, what is a job I can do in the meantime that I actually would enjoy? And that was teaching. You know, I like being around kids. I think kids are very funny without even trying, very naturally funny.
And I did that job for almost six years and that helped me pay for my visa and just so many other things. And I got some pretty great stories out of it and met some amazing people.
STANDUP CLIP
Another weird thing about being a teacher is the gifts that people give you, right?
Uh, it was always some combination of notebook, coffee mug, anything shaped like an apple. Um, and I kept getting these gifts and I was like, wow, these kids think I'm a loser. You understand? Like I was like, Oh my God. So, I sat the kids on the carpet and I said, listen, guys, Ms. Hersi doesn't celebrate Christmas, but she does celebrate gifts. And so we need to not… it's just gift cards from here on out.
I remember one year a kid gave me this beautiful necklace, but it had a cross. Right. And I didn't know how to say “Wrong team.” Like, I didn't know, I didn't know how to say, “Hey, we're the sequel, we're the spinoff, you understand? Like, same characters reimagined, you know?”
Like, I didn't know, I didn't know how to say that to him. Um, I like this joke because it always kind of divides the audience, right? Because it lets me know, like, who reads and who doesn't, you know, right? Like, some of you looked lost, um, so here's the rundown, okay? Right?
Judaism came first, we all know this. Strong debut. Okay, no going around it.
Okay, then Sophomore debut, you know, we had the sophomore release the Bible Okay, a lot of people stopped paying attention after the Bible.
But there's actually one more. That's us. We round out the trilogy Okay, no one was really paying attention to us. But yes, there is There is a follow up to the Bible.
TINA PITTAWAY
What did your family think about your, uh, your ambition to become a part of the whole scene?
HOODO HERSI
Oh, I mean, they didn't find out until much later.
There would be like, whatever, whisperings, and I would do JFL, and someone would send like, the video to my mom, and she would get mad that I didn't tell her. You know, I, I think the big moment though, was I think it was last year. Yeah, it was last year. Uh, York University, you know, I'm an alumni. They had, like, this alumni awards event, and they asked me to do stand up, and I invited basically my whole family.
My mom couldn't come because she had a knee problem, knee issue, but she picked out my whole outfit and everything. All of this is to say, my dad came. My dad saw me do stand up for the first time, and he said to me, and I'm writing a new joke about this, but it is true, my dad said. You know, Hoodo, I have no doubt in my mind that you were going to make it in comedy, it's only a matter of time.
You are so smart, so successful. You're going to be a multi-millionaire, which is such an immigrant dad thing to do, which is to like quantify your, your success into like a tax bracket. Which I think is so funny. And then he said, you're even smarter than Trevor Noah. And my dad loves Trevor Noah and loves the Daily Show and was sad that Trevor left.
Um, but yeah, my dad said, you know, I, it's - it's only a matter of time. And he said, I hope I'm alive to, you know, see you become successful.
TINA PITTAWAY
That's awesome.
HOODO HERSI
Yeah. So sweet. Like, and then my mom, you know, um, yeah, she - she doesn't like it, but because my dad saw me do standup and just saw, saw it in a setting that was acceptable, not acceptable, a setting that he really respects.
My dad loves post-secondary education. It was just huge for him to see his daughter do that. So I, yeah, I really, I appreciate my dad so much for that. And my mom too, but like for different reasons.
TINA PITTAWAY
What are their backgrounds? Tell me a little bit about your immigration story as far as your parent’s journey.
HOODO HERSI
Uh, well, I was born and raised here in Toronto, Canada. My parents, my mom was born in, uh, I think at the time it was called French Somaliland, but you know, colonialism? You know, it was all one country. And then the French said, well, we want our piece. That's going to be Djibouti. Um, and then my dad is from Somalia, specifically the North, which was colonized by the Brits, uh, unfortunately.
And, um, and then my dad moved to the United States because he had gotten a scholarship. Fulbright, he was a Fulbright scholar. And it's so wild, his immigration story. The first place that he went to when he left Somalia was Texas. I think it was literally a flight to New York. I remember he landed in New York and then went to Texas, Austin, Texas. Which I thought, wow, what a, what a, what a, what an immigration story there.
And then my mother moved with some of her sisters to Montreal and my dad and mom eventually met in Montreal. So, it's because of Canada that I exist. You know, one of my brothers was born there and then they eventually moved to Toronto and had me.
TINA PITTAWAY
Okay. And how many siblings?
HOODO HERSI
Two older brothers, me, and then a younger.
TINA PITTAWAY
Yeah. And did your brothers influence your humor? Uh, did it – was it, uh, you know, growing up the only girl in a house full of guys, was that, uh, you know, something that you had to kind of be extra sharp in terms of comebacks.
HOODO HERSI
Um, I don't know if we were sharp because we were just really mean to each other.
I think my parents are more of an influence on my comedy than my siblings. Your siblings, my brother, I remember the first time I ever did stand up and I told him he was like, he was genuinely confused. He was like, wait, but you have to be funny to be a comedian. And he wasn't even trying to be rude.
TINA PITTAWAY
Right?
HOODO HERSI
Uh, I guess humility is what siblings offer. And even recently, a few years ago, my brother said to me, he's like, I didn't even think you were going to make it this far. It's so rude, but then funny at the same time. And I told him, I was like, that is a crazy thing to say. And he was like, no, but I'm just honestly telling you the, I'm telling you the truth. This is what I think.
But also here's the thing, the odds of making it in this business are really like, when you crunch those numbers, there's a huge element of luck in terms of who makes it and then who actually has a sustainable career, like, who actually is able to do this long term, you know?
TINA PITTAWAY
Do you have like writing gigs? You know with - with getting writing for TV and things like that.
HOODO HERSI
Um, I just think that you're most, the thing that will help anyone the most in, in this business, and I think it's applicable for any business, well, most of them, because I don't think it's necessarily applicable in teaching because there's so many, like, bureaucratic elements, but in showbiz, it's really about who you know, so my first writing job in America that paid me well, was working on Rami Youssef's Amazon show, which will be out in a couple months on Amazon.
Um, that helped me get into the Writer's Guild of America, you know, and then just even me doing Seth Meyers, that was - obviously me being talented, but my manager knowing who the booker was and then sending my tape. Do you know what I mean? So, a lot of it is just, do you know the right person? And is, are you ready for the, are you ready to meet the moment?
TINA PITTAWAY
How would you describe your style to, to listeners who, who haven't heard, who haven't seen you in action?
HOODO HERSI
Well, I would say, first of all, I'm funny. Don't wanna brag, I'm funny. Um, but I also think, uh, my style has evolved. So this new hour that I'm working on is very personal. I do talk about race, religion, but it's very personal, and I am saying a lot of things that I would have never said five years ago, or even at the beginning of my career.
So, before it was very much commentary, divorced, you know, from my personal life. And now it's definitely a lot more storytelling, more personal. I am still talking about race and religion, but it's definitely more connected to my life.
TINA PITTAWAY
Can you talk a little bit about, um, about the challenges of, of breaking into, uh, that scene?
HOODO HERSI
Oh my god, New York is a whole other thing. It's really like, um, comedy on steroids. Cause there's already a lot of comedians in Toronto and then you move to New York. And it's thousands, plural, I'm almost certain. It's just, there are so many people from all over the world coming here to try to make it.
Um, I will say what helped me was I moved July 17th. I came to New York 2022, July 18th was my birthday and July 19th, I did Seth Meyers and then, and it aired that night. And so me having done Seth Meyers two days into me being in New York. Huge. I didn't even pick that date. The booker just told my manager, Hey, does she want to do July 19th?
And we're like, yeah. And that helped so much because once you have a TV credit, then it's way easier for people to want to book you. And that was so wild. Like, I remember Seth wrote, like, I had probably the most charmed entry into New York. Very privileged, I will say that. I know, like, most people are starving, and there's all these crazy stories about, you know, eating ramen, you know, like, instant noodles or something.
Like, I had a very charmed, uh, entry into New York. I remember after I did Seth, after I taped Seth Meyers, Seth, um, literally emailed me personally and said, would you like to open for me? And I think he was doing his own live show. And I went and did that a few days later. And then after that I had, I was, I flew to Montreal.
I was doing Just for Laughs. I was doing their 40th anniversary gala. So that first month in New York was insane. You know, it was so beautiful. Uh, but I will say, Tina, I have been humbled. I live in a five-floor walkup. Okay, there is no laundry in unit. You got to lug that shit around So, you know life has found its way of humbling me, but it's been I've been very very lucky.
There have just been so many great people on my side that have really supported me Rami, Hassan, um, yeah, so I am very, very lucky.
It's, uh, I think the only time where I really felt the struggle was, um, during the writer's strike. Everything last year just stopped, you know.
TINA PITTAWAY
And also, the kind of comedy that you do is, is, as you say, it's personal, there's, it's informed by politics and religion. And it's risky, uh, in terms of just the, the audience. Uh, there are a lot of white people in the audience who can take offense. Do you worry about that?
HOODO HERSI
No, I don't because the white people that get it, get it. Where did I go? I went to, uh, the Twin Cities. You know what I mean? I went to Chicago. And the audiences there, I mean, there were many black and brown people, Muslim people, but a good chunk of the audiences were white.
And they, especially in the Twin Cities, it was mostly white. And they laughed. Do you know what I mean? They got it. So, um, yeah, I think when I make fun of white people on stage, I'm making fun of a system. I'm making fun of, like, white priv. It's not a personal thing. It's me speaking to the society that I live in.
And I think the white people that are educated enough will understand that distinction.
TINA PITTAWAY
You also wear a hijab. Uh, is your family religious?
HOODO HERSI
Uh, I think it's always so interesting when people assume that wearing a hijab makes you religious. I mean, I've seen people that don't wear a hijab that pray five times a day religiously and don't miss a single prayer.
Whereas for me, I’ve been like wishy-washy with it. There are times where I pray five times a day and I don't miss a single prayer and I balance it really well with comedy. And then there are times where, yeah, I fall off and I'm not praying at all. That's like my own internal struggle. But I just think it's so interesting when people, anyways, it's just a comment where people just assume that because I wear a hijab, I'm like the most observant person.
TINA PITTAWAY
No, I do like to ask for sure. Because it's not always the case, as you say.
HOODO HERSI
Yeah, like I, you know, there's because a lot of religion for people, it's an internal thing. I think what's really helped me in the last couple years is really appreciating my own faith. Like right now, I'm in the middle of reading the Quran, but it's, um, and that's our holy book, but it's been translated into like normal, regular English.
So, I'm reading it and I'm actually understanding it and I'm, I have a deeper appreciation for it. Um, but yeah, I just, and that's been super, super helpful. It's just, um, yeah, I guess I've become a little bit more religious for sure.
STANDUP CLIP
I, uh, I have a lot of identities that, uh, society hates and attacks, but I love, you know what I mean? I feel like they enrich my life. They make my life better.
Okay. So, let's run through that list real quick. Okay. Um, so I'm black, Muslim, a woman, an Android user, and I know. The last one is the least protected.
People, they want us out of the group chat. They want us gone. They hate the color green. They want us gone, you know. And whenever I out myself as an Android user, I can always feel a bit of an energy shift in the crowd, right? You guys are like, oh, we didn't know that poor was coming. Dance, you peasant.
TINA PITTAWAY
I heard you speak about visiting Somalia for the first time a few years back.
The visit was a few years back. Um, could that have influenced in some part, um, you know, uh, kind of a rediscovery of your faith?
HOODO HERSI
No, that was more of my culture and my race. So my full name is Hoodo Mohamed Moussa Hirsi. So that everything after my first name is my dad's name. That's like how Somali culture works is you just take on your father's name.
And the nickname that I had when I was in Somalia was, I remember just hearing this auntie say, like, you know, in Somalia, she was like, it's, it's, Hoodo Mohammed! And that's like kind of like the nickname, you know, they cut off everything else. And they go, Hoodo Mohammed, she came from Canada.
She's here.
And it was just so refreshing to have heard my middle name Mohammed through different eyes. Like, it wasn't like, Oh, Mohammed 9/11, blah, blah, blah, you know, we're scared of Muslims. It was like this beautiful, and I, and I, I also remember telling my mom, you should have brought me here way sooner.
You know, I remember just like coming to Somalia and being like, wow, this is like where I'm from. These are my roots. Everyone looks like me here. Everyone can say my name properly. Uh, it's so beautiful, granted after two weeks, I was like, it's time to go back, you know, yeah, it's time to go back because I'm also Canadian, you know, and there's certain things that I miss from Canada for sure.
But it was just so beautiful to have been in a country that was all black and it's just everyone - that is so powerful, you know what I mean. If we want to talk about representation, so much of like the colorism, me not liking my, my dark skin, my dark eyes, like all of that. So I want to say 60 percent of those insecurities melted away because I got to be in a place where everyone looked like me.
Yeah, it's so powerful. And I just so annoyed with my mom that I didn't go sooner. I was 27 when I went like I needed that when I was 17. When I was 16.
TINA PITTAWAY
Did your mom travel with you there?
HOODO HERSI
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Oh my god, my Somali is not great. My Somali I would say I understand 80%. In terms of my speaking, I would say it's 50%.
So you can't pull up to a country. Uh, and only know half of the, and only to be able to speak half of the language, you know what I mean? That is not going to work for you. So yeah, my mom definitely was there, uh, and it was such a magical experience for sure.
TINA PITTAWAY
And did that visit help you better understand your parents?
HOODO HERSI
Oh, huge. I got to see my mom as a sibling, like seeing my mom interact with her sisters. I was like, Oh wow. That’s, it’s not often that people get to get to really see their parents. Like, I saw them have a heated discussion about something. It was two sisters and my mom. And that was fascinating. Just seeing, like, my mom interact with her sisters.
I was a fly on the wall. I was in the corner, and I didn't say anything. And they forgot I was in the room. So they were just being so brutally honest with each other. And I was like, oh yeah, my mom is a sister. My mom, my mom is very much a sibling.
TINA PITTAWAY
And would, would she have traveled, uh, would travel be very much a part of, uh, of their life in Canada or was it kind of a rarity?
HOODO HERSI
We weren't poor and we weren't rich or middle class. We were comfortably broke. I like to always joke, uh, so when they would travel, it was one parent at a time. So my mother would go, my dad would stay behind. Then they would swap years later. My dad would go, my mother stayed behind.
Yeah, so it was always like that. There was no real family vacation unless we drove to like Buffalo or something, you know.
TINA PITTAWAY
And did any of those relatives there have they would they have seen you on YouTube? Would they have a sense of what you were doing with your life?
HOODO HERSI
Uh, you know, I'm glad that they don't really pay attention.
Okay. I just I don't want to hear what they have to say. You know, I'm not interested in any more opinions. You know, I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. But I think it's - I speak in English and they, you know, a lot of them don't. Like my mom's side of the family. A lot of them are in Djibouti. They speak Somali, French.
Some of them speak Arabic, uh, but it's mostly Somali and French. And then some of them say they know how to speak English, but like, it's not like us, you know, it's not like fluent, you know? And, um, Yeah, I guess they just won't understand what I'm saying, which is great. They shouldn't.
TINA PITTAWAY
Now, there's often a lot of pressure on, on first generation children, uh, once they become adults, uh, to, to seek a secure livelihood. Was that part of your, uh, kind of experience growing up?
HOODO HERSI
Yeah. Like if I wanted to move to America. I knew my parents weren't going to pay for my visa. I knew they weren't going to pay for my rent or any of that. That would have to come from me. Um, but the so when I left teaching after having done The Writer's Room on Rami's show, um yeah, I had the money from that.
And so I felt, I felt good, but, um, yeah, now I've entered this insane, you know, unstable business where it's, um, Seton Smith, who's a very funny comedian said, said it best. He's like, this is chunk money. So. This business is chunk money. You make a big chunk of money one minute and then you go maybe like months or weeks without making any money and you just have to like ride that out.
So yeah, in the beginning for sure I definitely felt pressure to have a stable job, which is why I went into teaching, but I knew eventually I would have to leave that behind if I really wanted to make it in comedy. And then also it's my parents that gave me the confidence without even knowing it to be a comedian because growing up this is the gift that I got.
Um, both of my parents, I remember would always tell me when I was a kid, Hoodo, you're so smart. You're going to be very successful one day. And they would say that to me over and over and over again as a child. And I really internalized that.
And I never doubted - like that's why I was able to have the confidence to even enter this insane business is because I, you know, that's that feeling of like, Hoodo, you're smart. You're going to be very successful one day is what I hold on to. It's, it's this compass that they've given me.
TINA PITTAWAY
And you also speak in one of your, uh, uh, on one of your standup performances, you spoke about your mom and her reaction to, to, uh, racism. Can you, can you encapsulate that story?
HOODO HERSI
My favorite kind of, um, racism is fun, casual racism.
And I tell a story about how my mother was driving me to school. I was a kid, we were late. My mother cuts this white dude off in traffic. He gets mad at her, uh, pulls up to our window and goes, why don't you go ride a camel? And my mom was not even offended, like, because, you know, to me, I'm like, camels are majestic creatures.
You are literally threatening us with a good time. You know what I mean? Like, that is not an insult. And I remember one, and I think he might've also said, like, go back to your country. And my mom was like, yeah, when airline ticket prices go down, I will. You know, like nothing was phasing her. My mother's so funny.
Yeah. And, and that's, yeah, it's like, she doesn't, you know what I mean? It does not faze her at all. Um, but even like, I remember I was thinking about this yesterday, actually, I was, I was walking home and I remember one time, this homeless guy, this white homeless guy, my mom had money and she was, she saw him and she was going to give him money.
And before she could even get close to him, he saw her and called her a terrorist. And then my mom didn't give him the money. And then later on that night, my mom was like, “I should have given him the money. He needed it.”
Honey, I would - you cannot be racist and be homeless. That's not gonna work for me if you want.
But I admire like her heart in that. You know what I mean? It was her being like, I can look past that and him being foolish. and just give him the money. You know what I mean? And yeah, but she didn't do it in the moment, which I thought was so funny and petty.
TINA PITTAWAY
Is there anyone who makes you want to do really good work?
HOODO HERSI
Oh, who inspires me, who makes me, who pushes me?Um, yeah, I just think of so many of my own peers. So, in terms of social media, online stuff, which is the reality of our business, that's how the landscape has changed, as you need to now be uploading things online. I think of my buddy Che Durena, he is, uh, his comedy is not necessarily, um. It's crude, it's very, it's bro-ey, it has some zen elements to it.
So, his crowd is not necessarily mine, but he works really hard and he told me exactly what he does to build his social media following, which then helps him sell tickets on the road for his comedy show, for his comedy shows. Like he's told me that all of what he does on social media is just in service to being a stand-up comedian on the road.
So he's very inspiring and he doesn't gatekeep anything. I also find Rami very inspiring in terms of how vulnerable and how personal he is on stage. Also, Rami has like a million and one projects that he's doing. You know, he has his Hulu show. He has a show on Amazon. He is also working on Mo Amer show on Netflix, which is in its you know, coming out with its second season.
Then he's doing another show on Apple TV with Judd Apatow and his friend Steve Way. And he was in Poor Things, which won an Oscar recently. You know, he's doing a bunch of projects in Egypt. You know what I mean?
So this is a ma- and then he also came out with an HBO special, you know, so standup special. So this guy is like constantly working and I find his work ethic inspiring.
And then I also think Hasan is great, you know, just his resilience and how he's been able to bounce back from scandal. And he's also so incredibly funny and how he balances just being a dad and his comedy.
You know, I was in Vancouver opening his shows and there was no flight on that Sunday. Like a direct flight that would get him to the east coast. So, he drove, he had someone drive him three hours to Seattle just so he could take a really early flight back to the east coast, so he could be there in time to tuck his kids into bed.
And that, like, things like that I find very inspiring.
TINA PITTAWAY
At the same time, you also have to avoid kind of becoming completely burnt out. Uh, how, how do you do that? Um, or do you?
HOODO HERSI
Oh, no, no, I, I, listen. I, I've seen my family history. And I definitely need to, yeah, I've just seen, like, what happens when folks don't manage their stress well. So, what's really important for me is I try to go to the gym twice a week, minimum twice a week. Then I also really try to go to, I go to therapy, you know. I also, you know, I pray, you know, and then I also go and get massages, two-hour massages. Tina, it is not a game.
Um, and then I make sure I see my friends and I'm like, you know, because human beings are social creatures. We're not meant to live in isolation. Um, and then I have, I do give myself a couple days where I don't do any comedy. You know, there's no standup. I'm not leaving my house. I'm just resting.
TINA PITTAWAY
Yeah, Yeah.
HOODO HERSI
Uh, trash reality TV, you know So there's many things, you know, it's both high and very low vibrational, you know? I think just seeing my parents and that's the whole thing with the immigrant story is you see your parents sacrifice so much and one of the things that they do sacrifice in many ways is their health, right?
‘Cuz overworking, Uh, not sleeping properly. Long term, this all has effects on your body, right? So, it's seeing them, in a way, make sacrifices with their own bodies that I go, Oh, I just, I'm like, Oh, I can't do this to myself. Like, I have to learn from them. I have to learn from them. And so that, yeah, that, that's been so, so, so, so, so important.
TINA PITTAWAY
What's on the horizon that you're looking forward to other than the Halifax comedy festival?
HOODO HERSI
Oh, I'm so excited for that, Yeah. I really hope I get to I really want to go to Africville. There's like an old black settlement that used to exist there and now it's a museum. Um, so really excited for Halifax. Um, I am right now touring.
I'm Booking dates and things. I am trying to run this hour of material that I have and God willing, Inshallah, as the Muslims say, Baruch Hashem, as the Jews say, I really want to shoot a special. Um, and then I also, uh, you know, I'm developing my own TV project, so, you know, and TV takes so long. Also, shooting a special takes so long.
So, it's just, you know, really working on those two things. Um, yeah, and then just, you know, uh, Staying sane.
TINA PITTAWAY
Well, thank you so much.
HOODO HERSI
Thanks, Tina.
TINA PITTAWAY
If you’d like to hear more stories like this and help new listeners discover this podcast, make sure to rate Countless Journeys on your favourite podcast app or leave us a review. Countless Journeys comes to you from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 located at the Halifax Seaport. I’m Tina Pittaway. Bye for now.