Muslim Comedians Know Their Audience

May 25, 2006

Source: Orange County Weekly

http://www.ocweekly.com/culture/comedy/looking-for-muslims-in-the-comedy-world/25186/

On May 25, 2006 Orange County Weekly reported, "You had to wait almost two hours at the Second Annual Entertainment Night for Civil Rights before the funny men of the Muslim comedy group Allah Made Me Funny stopped skewering their own and started sticking it to the United States. Then it got good. 'Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World—like we don’t have a sense of humor, like we don’t smile,' said Muslim comedian Preacher Moss, pacing the stage and taking a swing at comedian Albert Brooks’ recent film. 'That’s like looking for crime in Harlem, or wine in a liquor store, or stupidity in the White House. It’s right there.' Then, not missing a beat, he veered back to safe jokes about converting to Islam when your parents are Southern Baptists, and marrying into an Indian family when you’re African-American. It was sad—when would he bash Bush some more?—but you gotta know your audience, and this was a Muslim family crowd overwhelmingly. The organizers, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, expected no more than 600 people and roped off vast sections of the floor at the Heritage Forum in Anaheim. They got a crowd of 1,600, who bought tickets at the door for the chance to see their teenagers receive college scholarships and to hear some light comedy. They wanted to laugh; it was Saturday night. But then there’s Iraq. And Iran. And everyone who stepped up to the mic had something to say about the haters in our midst."