Kamal Ahmed (comedian)

Kamal Ahmed (Bengali: কামাল আহমদ; born 1966), usually called Kamal, is an American director, comedian, and former member of prank phone calling comedy group The Jerky Boys.

For the British journalist, see Kamal Ahmed (journalist).
Kamal Ahmed
কামাল আহমদ
Born1966 (age 56–57)
East New York, Brooklyn, New York City
Alma materCity-As-School
Occupation(s)Writer, director, producer, musician, comedian
Years active1984-present

Early life and career

Kamal was born in East New York, Brooklyn and raised in Astoria, Queens and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father, Manir Ahmed, a former chemical engineer, started the restaurant "Shah Bagh" in the East Village.[1] This eventually led him to owning a string of Indian restaurants in an area that became "Little India". Kamal's mother, who was from Trinidad & Tobago worked for the United Nations. Ahmed's sister is also a chemical engineer who has worked for major pharmaceutical companies. Kamal took an early interest in music and has become an accomplished bass guitar player and scores many of his productions.

Ahmed was a founding member of The Jerky Boys and co-starred with John G. Brennan in the Touchstone comedy film The Jerky Boys: The Movie in 1995. He played Kissel, a World War II veteran; Tarbash the Egyptian Magician; Curly G. Cradle-Rock, and other characters on the Jerky Boys albums. Kamal appeared in "Punch", a 1994 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Tensions began to develop between Brennan and Ahmed while shooting the Jerky Boys film and their collaboration deteriorated further during the production of Big Money Hustlas, where Ahmed appeared in a cameo.[2]

In 2000, Ahmed released a solo album, Once a Jerk, Always a Jerk.[3] Kamal has made multiple television and radio appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Howard Stern Show. He has acted in, and directed several films, including Laugh Killer Laugh, completed in 2015.[4] In 2022, Kamal released his first mini-series, Crash the System, which was distributed on steaming media platforms worldwide.[5]

Filmography

As of 2022, Ahmed has directed 8 full-length films and 1 TV mini series.

Directed features
Year Title Notes
2003 God Has a Rap Sheet Writer, director, producer
2007 Rapturious Writer, director, producer
2008 Uncle Freddy Writer, director, producer
2010 Circus Maximus Executive producer, producer
2012 1000 Times More Brutal Writer, director, producer
2012 Brutal Director
2015 Laugh Killer Laugh Writer, director, producer
2018 The Martyr Maker Writer, director, producer
2022 Crash the System 8 Episode mini series, writer, director, producer
Acting Roles
Year Title Role Notes
1984 ABC Afterschool Specials (uncredited) TV series, 1 episode
1995 The Jerky Boys Kamal
1995 The Jerky Boys: Don't Hang Up, Toughguy Kamal Video
1997 Men in Black Voice of cab driver (ADR, uncredited)
2000 Big Money Hustlas Old man Kissel, security guard (as Kamal)
2001 The Rules (For Men) Ashalama
2002 I Fouska Cuban taxi driver
2002 Paper Soldiers Shawn's boss
2003 The Sweet Life Cabdriver
2003 Mail Order Bride Buddah
2005 Survive This Kamal
2006 Beer League Umpire #3
2007 Rapturious Cabdriver
2007 Never Down Cop
2015 Laugh Killer Laugh Detective 1
2016 Terrifier Voice on phone (voice)

References
  1. Ferretti, Fred (March 4, 1981). "A Culinary 'Little India' on East 6th Street". The New York Times.
  2. Violent J, Alex Abbiss, Billy Bill. Big Money Hustlas audio commentary (DVD). Psychopathic. UPC 044005380996.
  3. Dean S. Planet (2001). "Kamal from The Jerky Boys". Dean'sPlanet.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  4. "Laugh Killer Laugh". The Hollywood Reporter. April 24, 2015.
  5. "Amazon Prime".
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