Why is Stand Up Comedy So Popular?
Because it feels good!
Laughing alleviates stress and helps us step out of routine and shake off the seriousness of life. It reminds us of our shared and familiar human experiences. Comedy also has the ability to unify a culture and even a population, bridging political, religious and cultural divides. In todays world, as the growing tension between Eastern and Western cultures dominates the media, Muslim American comedy could be the most important medium for dissolving misunderstandings. It stands perhaps as the only effective vehicle for promoting unity within the current conflict. |
Criticism
The growth of Muslim comedy worldwide has not been void of criticism. Some Muslims find the genre of comedy to be offensive and even dangerous, feeling that it places too much emphasis on the cultural differences between Muslim and non- Muslim communities.
In response to complaints about the current British Muslim sit-com “Citizen Khan”, television personality Saira Khan comments that: "Crucially, if we British Muslims can’t laugh at ourselves, with all our cultural tics and traits, and also allow the rest of Britain to laugh at us, too, there’s a real danger that our community will end up ostracised and isolated." |
Another critic, David Zurawik who writes for The Baltimore Sun, has compared Muslim American comedians to the groundbreaking minority comedians of the 1960's and 1970's who have used comedy to raise political and social issues in an effort to change them:
"Just as comic Lenny Bruce battled the stifling conformity of the 1950s or Dick Gregory and Richard Pryor challenged racism in the '60s and '70s, these performers now are challenging mainstream notions about their ethnic, religious and racial groups."
We propose The United States as perfect testing ground for the effectiveness of Muslim comedy as a form of social and cultural mediation. We invite you to explore the material of four of the most currently popular Muslim American comedians - and decide for yourself.
"Just as comic Lenny Bruce battled the stifling conformity of the 1950s or Dick Gregory and Richard Pryor challenged racism in the '60s and '70s, these performers now are challenging mainstream notions about their ethnic, religious and racial groups."
We propose The United States as perfect testing ground for the effectiveness of Muslim comedy as a form of social and cultural mediation. We invite you to explore the material of four of the most currently popular Muslim American comedians - and decide for yourself.
Introducing the Stars of the Show!
Here's What People in the Audience are SayingMaz Jobrani, an Iranian American Comedian, recounts an experience he had with an audience member:
“He emailed me to say he had hated Middle Easterners after September 11th and that he started to [change his] mind as time went by. He said that seeing the TV special helped in that process.” Discussing the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, James Poniewozik wrote for TIME: "It's an edgy line, but it shows how suited comedy is to introducing a group that mass culture has stereotyped, literally, as walking time bombs. Stand-up is warfare by humorous means. Just look at the violent lingo: comedians slay a crowd, or they die. Four years into Iraq, the U.S. may finally be ready to meet a group of incisive Middle Eastern Americans who do anything but bomb. In fact, they kill." |