Comedian Ali Siddiq more of a storyteller than a joketeller, and boy does he have stories to share

Comedian Ali Siddiq needs no introduction. Or, at least, he doesn’t feel the need to introduce himself at the beginning of his sets. Siddiq simply sits in a chair placed in the middle of the stage and waits for the applause to die down. Once it’s quiet, he says, “Hey.”

From there, Siddiq launches into a story. That’s right; Siddiq doesn’t tell jokes so much as he tells stories. As a member of the audience, you’re meant to sit back, relax and go along for the ride.

This storytelling style of comedy sets Siddiq apart from comedians who write shows full of bite-sized bits, perfect for sharing on social media. Siddiq’s work is shareable, of course, but to get the full picture, you have to sit down with him and let him talk.

And Siddiq can talk. In just more than two years, Siddiq has released five hour-plus-long specials: “Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover” and the four-part “Domino Effect” series. Altogether, those specials come to about 7½ hours of material.

Writing so much isn’t difficult for Siddiq because he’s not coming up with new jokes; he’s simply sharing stories from his life. The “Domino Effect” series, for example, explores Siddiq’s life from ages 10 to 25, beginning with his decision to live with his father as a child, to dealing with the loss of his younger sister, to getting arrested for his time as a “street pharmaceutical rep” and working with his lawyer, to his six years in prison.

“People make a lot of mistakes in their life and go through things,” he said at the beginning of “The Domino Effect.” “You should have went right but you went left, you zigged when you should have zagged. Things happen, but you don’t get a chance to pinpoint a lot of times when you went wrong.”

Siddiq, who will headline the Spokane Comedy Club on Friday and Saturday, goes on to explain that, during his time in prison, he reflected on the mistakes he had made and pinpoint the exact year in which the first domino fell, leading to his incarceration.

He initially shared stories from his time in prison during his 2015 set on Comedy Central’s “This is Not Happening.” In this set, Siddiq talks about learning what the phrase “Mexican got on boots” means. Two years later, he’d share more during “It’s Bigger Than These Bars,” a stand-up special he filmed at Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas.

“The Domino Effect,” Siddiq said, was supposed to be a one-off, but fans wanted more of the story and he was ready to share after “It’s Bigger Than These Bars.”

“ ‘Are people ever going to wonder how I got locked up?’ ” he remembered thinking after “It’s Bigger Than These Bars” was released. “I want to give the history of it. Once I did ‘Domino Effect,’ and people were interested, it was like, ‘Oh, what a way to go,’ and I can continue to do them.”

Along with the titular special, the series also includes “The Domino Effect 2: Loss,” “The Domino Effect 3: First Day of School” and “The Domino Effect 4: Pins and Needles.”

When it comes to the storytelling style of comedy displayed in the series, Siddiq recalls something comedian Billy D. Washington told him: “When you’re not being funny, be interesting.”

“ ‘The Domino Effects’ are a reality of that,” Siddiq said. “When I’m not being funny, the story is interesting. I don’t even start off trying to be funny; it’s me telling this story and taking this deep dive into what I have experienced versus what somebody else has experienced.”

Siddiq said he understands the responsibility of what he shares with audiences and sees the “Domino Effect” series as a blueprint for how to not be in trouble or not feel like a mistake is a be all, end all.

“It’s a whole different thing than a stand up to me,” he said. “It’s the life lessons within it … Those are the things that really resonate with me with the work and the craft, and putting something in the craft that’s meaningful that’s different from everybody else. Those are the things I really relish.”

With the “Domino Effect” series complete, Siddiq is preparing to share more stories in “My Two Sons” and “I’m Not Handy,” specials he is scheduled to film in October in Dallasr. He’s also working on a series called “In the Shadows,” which will pick up where “Domino Effect 4” left off and explore his beginnings in comedy after his release from prison.

Siddiq is more than his time in prison, and he wants his comedy to reflect that. He was nearly two decades into his comedy career before “It’s Bigger Than These Bars” was released, after all. Before the special’s release, Siddiq had performed on BET’s “Comic View” and HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” and toured with the likes of Lavell Crawford and DL Hughley. Since its release, he’s appeared on “@midnight with Chris Hardwick” and “Bring the Funny.”

Turning 51 in October, Siddiq is looking forward to getting into the “In the Shadows” series and sharing more about his life after prison. He’s also looking forward to whatever comes next, saying each day is an experience that could lead to a new story or stand-up series.

“I’m still trying to get better as a storyteller,” he said. “I’m not the best that I can be yet. I can get better. I can develop better. I’m doing other specials in order to get better at what I actually do and put all of these different works out.”

Siddiq says he wants to be like Denzel Washington.

“Denzel is Denzel regardless,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what role he’s in. He’s still Denzel, he just sells you something else.

“I want to get better in my craft and be myself and give you all this different work. It’s like, ‘Yo, man, he was great in this. He was great in this. He was different in this, but he was still great.’ Same chair, same microphone, he’s just giving us something different.”