{"id":1896,"date":"2004-05-19T01:05:00","date_gmt":"2004-05-19T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2004-05-19T01:05:00","modified_gmt":"2004-05-19T06:05:00","slug":"allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/","title":{"rendered":"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/preacher_moss.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"right\">\n<div class=\"caption\">Insert punch line here<\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>One of the ways many Jews coped with the anti-Semitism of the early 20th century was to go into comedy, which allowed them to defuse tensions, entertain people, and create a lasting artistic legacy.  In the heated atmosphere of the post-9\/11 world, more and more Muslims are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com%2Fac2%2Fwp-dyn%3Fpagename%3Darticle%26node%3D%26contentId%3DA39975-2004Apr24%26%2365533%3BFound%3Dtrue\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">following in their footsteps<\/a>, taking the stage to forge laughter out of the American Muslim experience.  In Toronto, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yukyuks.com%2F\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Yuk Yuk<\/a> comedy club owner Mark Breslin saw an opportunity to pair Muslim comic <a href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com%2Fhtml%2Fartsentertainment%2F2001902200_preachermoss14n.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bryan \u201cPreacher\u201d Moss<\/a> with other local Muslim comics to create the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com%2FNASApp%2Fcs%2FContentServer%3Fpagename%3Dthestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1%26c%3DArticle%26cid%3D1084572619917%26call_pageid%3D968867495754%26col%3D969483191630\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Muslim Comedy Festival<\/a>.  \u201cI got this tape from Preacher Moss, and it was really funny,\u201d said Breslin.  \u201cBut I didn\u2019t want to bring him in on his own. I wanted him to be part of something larger.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>A similar situation happened in Los Angeles when Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore (who launched Letterman and Leno) launched an \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/condor.depaul.edu%2F%7Emwilson%2Fextra%2Fhumor%2Fmiddleeasternhumor.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Arabian Knights<\/a>\u201d show shortly after 9\/11, featuring some of LA\u2019s Arab and Muslim comics, including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mazjobrani.com%2F\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Maz Jobrani<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ahmed-ahmed.com%2F\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ahmed Ahmed<\/a>.  \u201cMy goal as a comedian is to make people laugh. But if I can also make them think, then that\u2019s an added bonus,\u201d said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tissahami.com\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Tissa Hami<\/a>, an Iranian-born stand-up comic in Boston. \u201cI want to show we\u2019re not all terrorists, we\u2019re not all fanatics.\u201d  One Muslim comic, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.azhar.com\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Azhar Uzman<\/a>, was even called \u201cpraiseworthy\u201d by an Imam discussing the permissibility of stand-up comedy in the shari\u2019a.  <\/p>\n<p>Moss is <a href=\"http:\/\/hollandsentinel.com%2Fstories%2F050804%2Frel_050804029.shtml\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">collecting<\/a> many emerging stars in the Muslim comedy scene to launch \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dcimprov.com%2Fcomics%2Fallah_made_me_funny.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Allah Made Me Funny: The Official Muslim Comedy Tour<\/a>,\u201d which will be touring clubs like the Improv all over North America.  Muslim comedy is becoming <a href=\"http:\/\/cbsnewyork.com%2Fentertainment%2Fentertainment_story_123194414.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">accepted<\/a> in mainstream Muslim communties, even with the preponderance of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fortwayne.com%2Fmld%2Fjournalgazette%2Fliving%2F8621003.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">self-deprecating humor<\/a> that older generations might feel uncomfortable with.  But not all Muslims get a laugh out of the new trend.  Hami said her parents have seen her performance. \u201cThey think it\u2019s not too late for me to go to medical school,\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty.  This year, they&#8217;re getting together, going on international tours, and they&#8217;ve &#8220;bin Laughin.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":530,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they&#039;re getting together, going on international tours, and they&#039;ve &quot;bin Laughin.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they&#039;re getting together, going on international tours, and they&#039;ve &quot;bin Laughin.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/preacher_moss.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/\",\"name\":\"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they're getting together, going on international tours, and they've \\\"bin Laughin.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\",\"name\":\"Shahed Amanullah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shahed Amanullah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show","description":"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they're getting together, going on international tours, and they've \"bin Laughin.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show","og_description":"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they're getting together, going on international tours, and they've \"bin Laughin.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/preacher_moss.jpg"}],"author":"Shahed Amanullah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shahed Amanullah","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/","name":"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2004-05-19T06:05:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945"},"description":"Last year, Muslim comics were a novelty. This year, they're getting together, going on international tours, and they've \"bin Laughin.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/05\/allah_made_me_funny_muslim_comics_steal_the_show\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Humor and Muslims: Muslim comics steal the show"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945","name":"Shahed Amanullah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shahed Amanullah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}