STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age - Review

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Bushra
Filed Under Reviews, TV |

On Sunday, May 11, PBS will air another entry in their American at a Crossroads series with STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age. This latest entry is decidedly less serious than the previous documentaries in this series but still takes on the ever important question of the role of Muslims in America after 9/11.

The documentary follows five Muslim American comics: Azhar Usman, Ahmed Ahmed, Dean Obeidallah, Tissa Hami, and Maysoon Zayid. These comics range all over the Islamic spectrum, from the devout to cultural Muslims. Yet, they all felt a responsibility to do something after 9/11. In their case, this revolved around using comedy as a tool to dispel stereotypes.

However, this responsibility was not always apparent, as Dean Obeidallah discussed in the documentary. He was quite candid about using his first and middle name, “Dean Joseph” when he went on the stage to perform in the weeks that followed the 9/11 attacks. However, he understood that this wasn’t the ideal manner to deal with his Arab side. Obeidallah went on to found the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival to showcase Arab-American comics in the hope of humanizing this ethnic group to non-Muslims and non-Arabs. In essence, this festival and the Allah Made Me Funny Tour with Azhar Usman and Ahmed Ahmed have done much to portray
this group of people contrary to how the media typically portrays them.

The documentary was rather entertaining and informative and, while I did know about a few of these comics (I think I heard all of Azhar Usman jokes before ), I became introduced to others during the one hour show. It goes to show that we all need to use our strengths, whatever they may be, to further help along the image of Muslims and Arabs.

My one gripe with the documentary was that the viewer is not quite shown the reaction of non-Muslims to these comics. I would have loved to see the ramifications Muslim/Arab comics have on non-Muslims/non-Arabs who are watching them. Are they making a difference? Do audience members come away with a more positive views of the people the comics represent? The only glimpse the producers gave of this was in an interview with Ahmed Ahmed when he said that one person came up to him after a show and said he “was funny”. Fortunately, I was able to propose this question to the comics through the firm promoting the documentary:

Question: What are some of the changes you all have seen with non-Muslims after a show? What kind of effect do the shows have on non-Muslims? Do they seem receptive in the audience?

Dean Obeidallah:The fact that non-Muslims and non-Middle Easterners come to our shows in increasing number is very encouraging. Overall they seem to enjoy the shows a great deal. In fact, I hope that people in our community will try to bring one person from outside of it to our shows because I think they will be surprised how accessible and funny it is for people of all backgrounds.

Maysoon Zayed: 99% of my non muslim audience converts by the end of the show. Mostly they do it so that they can ask my dad the HAJ Musa Zayid for my hand in marriage. This includes the women. Did I mention how much I love my audiences. [Note: I'm pretty sure she's kidding about the first part.]

Check the local listing of your PBS station for show times in your area. Unfortunately for those of us living in the San Francisco Bay Area, it does not appear to be showing anytime soon.

Comments

3 Responses to “STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age - Review”

Nelson on May 9th, 2008 9:40 pm

I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I heard about it. I think it’s great that they’re taking a look at the issues facing Muslims in America and analyzing them through the medium of comedy.

I’m looking forward to learning and laughing this weekend! Can’t wait!
Bushra on May 9th, 2008 10:07 pm

The interesting thing about this documentary is that, while it does show a bit of the comics’ acts, it mostly goes into their lives, their motivation, etc. It will also serve as good background for the upcoming theatrical release of the Allah Made Me Funny Tour, which features Azhar Usman, Ahmed Ahmed, and Preacher Moss (the latter of which is not in Stand Up) since we’ll know more about two of the comics than what we see on the stage.
Halperin on May 13th, 2008 7:35 pm

Exactly, Bushra. While I really enjoyed the comedic segments (and can’t wait for the release of the AMMFT), I found the exploration of the comics’ motivations and the criticisms faced by each to be the most compelling aspect of the documentary. And per your question, as an non-Muslim, I can certainly see this film positively influencing the perceptions and beliefs of other non-Muslims.