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, which eventually led to him owning a string of Indian restaurants in an area that became known as "Little India". Kamal's mother, originally from
Trinidad and Tobago, worked for the United Nations. His sister, a chemical engineer, has worked for major
pharmaceutical companies. Kamal developed an early interest in music and has become an accomplished bass guitar player and
scores many of his productions. Kamal was a founding member of The Jerky Boys and co-starred with
John G. Brennan in the 1995
Touchstone comedy film
The Jerky Boys: The Movie. 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 also appeared in "Punch", a 1994 episode of
Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Tensions began to rise between Brennan and Kamal during the filming of
The Jerky Boys movie and their collaboration deteriorated further during the production of
Big Money Hustlas, in which Kamal appeared in a
cameo appearance. In 2000, Kamal released a solo album titled
Once a Jerk, Always a Jerk. He has made multiple television and radio appearances, including on
Late Night with David Letterman,
Late Night with Conan O'Brien and
The Howard Stern Show. Kamal has also acted in and directed several films, including
Laugh Killer Laugh, which was completed in 2015. In 2022, Kamal released his first mini-series,
Crash the System, which was distributed on streaming media platforms worldwide. == Filmography ==