Ahamefule J. Oluo

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, comedian, and creator of live performance

Ahamefule J. Oluo (they/them) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, comedian, and creator of live performance. They were a member of award-winning experimental jazz quartet Industrial Revelation. They are a Mellon Creative Research Fellow, Creative Capital awardee, MAP Fund awardee, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Creative Research Fellow, FCA Emergency Grant recipient, USArtists International grantee through MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, and Artist Trust Arts Innovator awardee. Oluo premiered Now I’m Fine (2016) and Susan (2020) at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, both of which were critically acclaimed by The New York Times. Oluo wrote, scored, and starred in the award-winning film Thin Skin (2020), which won Best Director at the Harlem Film Festival; appeared on This American Life; and produced albums by comedians Hari Kondabolu and Dwayne Kennedy. Oluo is co-writer and director of Lindy West’s solo comedy show Every Castle, Ranked. They have written for television, including HBO Max’s Santa Inc. with Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen. Oluo has received presentation and/or residency support from Transform Festival in Leeds, UK, Under the Radar Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, ArtsEmerson, the Historic Asolo Theatre at the Ringling Museum, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, The Clarice at the University of Maryland, Fusebox Festival, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, On the Boards, UW’s Meany Center, Seattle Theatre Group, Seattle Rep, Intiman, Field Hall in Port Angeles, Wa Na Wari, Langston, Yaddo, and MacDowell. THE THINGS AROUND US premiered at Portland’s Time-Based Art Festival in Fall 2024 and continues to tour nationally and internationally. A second-generation Seattleite, Oluo is now based on Twana lands on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington and remains active in Seattle’s music, comedy, and performance communities.