Ismael Loutfi

Set in the state of Florida, “Heavenly Baba” follows comedian Ismael Loutfi, a deeply religious Muslim in a small redneck town. Guided by his father Yaser’s zeal, Ismael attempts to convert his classmates from 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, Yaser decides to paint Islamic messages all over his car, so the school administrators can see just how openly, and aggressively, Muslim you can be. Over the following two decades, the car turned into a moving billboard for Islam, covered in all sorts of odd statements and screeds, like “Jesus Never Said Worship me,” “Buddhism is Atheism,” and “It is not Gay to Love a Friend.”  

As Yaser developed his style on the car, Ismael eventually developed past being a religious zealot in the shadow of his father, and falling in love with a classmate at the ripe age of 17 — but instead of dating this girl like a regular kid, Ismael conspired with his dad to marry her so that their relationship wouldn’t be haram, or forbidden. This marriage, naturally, only lasted about 6 months, and the divorce launched Ismael into a career as a stand up comedian. Ismael found success after years of failure, and became obsessed with learning how to talk about his upbringing; the car, the marriage, etc. It wasn’t until his father Yaser died and left him a secret stash of 300 paintings, that Ismael was able to connect the dots – his father was, more than anything, an artist, and the car was his canvas.  

“Heavenly Baba” is a show that needs to be seen to be believed, a hilarious and touching exploration of what it means to express oneself honestly and authentically, and how not to lose yourself in said expression.