Last Thursday evening, the Muslim Comedy Tour, “Allah Made Me Funny,” came to Richardson’s Charles W. Eismann Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations. Proceeds from the event were originally supposed to go to the Muslim Cemetery Improvement Project, but due to recent events regarding Hurricane Katrina, the money raised was re-directed to the Islamic Relief USA, one of the highest-ranking Muslim charities, according to comedian Preacher Moss.
The tour, co-founded by Moss and fellow comic Azhar Usman, brings together Islamic stereotypes pre- and post-Sept. 11, according to their website, www.allahmademefunny.com.
“Humor is used to bridge gaps of bias, intolerance and other social ills that are pre- and post-9/11 relevant,” says Moss on the show’s website.
The evening began with Moss, a Muslim convert. Moss has been featured on such networks as the BBC and PBS. He also is a scriptwriter for “Saturday Night Live” and “The George Lopez Show.”
He talked about everything from undercover Muslims to strong sisters. He explained how Islam is confounded by stereotypes that lead to racism and hold people back. His overlying theme throughout the night was uniting people despite their differences.
He also talked about stereotypes of Pakistanis and Indians. He explained how his wife, an Indian woman, was almost three hours late for their wedding. His father retorted that if she had been 15 minutes later, then she would have been just in time for the divorce.
Moss also brings laughter to the struggle of a young African-American man converting to Islam. He explained how his mother thought he was doing exercises when he was saying his prayers.
Moss made the largely Muslim audience a bit uncomfortable when he talked about his experiences as a young boy growing up in a Baptist church. He had the audience roaring with laughter when he impersonated a Jamaican cop who pulled him over for speeding.
Next up was Usman, who talked about the strange habits of the Decis, a people on the Indian subcontinent. Usman is a former lawyer who shut down his law practice to join the tour. Usman delved right in to the absurdity of “Bollywood” films. He explained how all Bollywood films were the same and he even went as far to impersonate some of the typical dance moves from such movies.
Usman, being Deci himself, talked about the treatment of Muslims, especially Pakistani and Indians, on airplane flights. He discussed how nervous people are when he boards the plane, and how thankful to him they are when they land safely.
Usman believes that comedians do more than just make people laugh.
“Great comedians make people laugh and think,” he said.
Both comedians cracked jokes about George W. Bush, but were hesitant to do so because they were in “Bush Country.” These jokes brought mixed responses from the audience. Overall, both comedians helped unite a diverse audience of both Muslims and non-Muslims through their jokes and anecdotes.
