Azhar Usman
Encyclopedia
Azhar Usman is a Indian American
Muslim
comedian
and actor
born in Chicago
, Illinois
, United States
.
He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and is often referred to as the 'Ayatollah
of Comedy' and 'Bin Laughin'.
suburb of Skokie, Illinois
", where he was born. His family emigrated to the United States
from India
.
He graduated from Niles West High School
in Skokie, Illinois
in 1993. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago
in 1996, and a Juris Doctorate
in Law from the University of Minnesota Law School
in 1999. He co-founded an Internet startup
, then practiced law, and then started performing stand-up comedy.
and Azeem Muhammad (later replaced by Mohammed Amer
in 2006) launched a comedy tour titled "Allah Made Me Funny
."
The show not only offered non-Muslims a chance to get to know a little about Islamic culture, but it provided a place where Muslims could gather to share humor about their own lives and experiences. Moss and the other comics on the tour made sure that their jokes were respectful and did not include sexual references or profanity. To ensure that Muslims would be comfortable attending the show, the comics requested that comedy clubs not serve alcohol or pork or allow smoking during performances. "Allah Made Me Funny" toured 30 U.S. cities during its first year, and also in Canada, Europe, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.
He has performed in over a twenty countries on five continents. Usman and the Tour have been featured in over 100 major world media, including the including CBS Sunday Morning, CNN Headline News
, and an entire episode of ABC Nightline
. He has played original sketch comedy characters for MTV Networks
, E4
, and he is the creator and star of his own semi-scripted Web comedy show, Tinku's World. He performed at Global Peace and Unity Event
in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London
. He also appeared in the independent film "Mooz-lum
."
(IMAN) in Chicago.
's The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and is often referred to as the 'Ayatollah
Ayatollah
Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
of Comedy' and 'Bin Laughin'.
Background and education
As a child Azhar Usman lived "in mostly Jewish ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Skokie, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
", where he was born. His family emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
He graduated from Niles West High School
Niles West High School
Niles West High School, or NWHS, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High School District 219, which also includes Niles North High School. Its school teams were originally the Indians, but...
in Skokie, Illinois
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
in 1993. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
in 1996, and a Juris Doctorate
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in Law from the University of Minnesota Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
in 1999. He co-founded an Internet startup
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
, then practiced law, and then started performing stand-up comedy.
Career
Usman has been performing stand-up Muslim comedy since 2001, and has performed stand-up in many major cities around the US, as well as in the United Kingdom, Ireland and The Netherlands. In May 2004, along with Preacher MossPreacher Moss
Preacher Moss is an American comedian and writer.-Background and education:Born Bryant Moss in Washington, D.C., United States. He began practicing comedy at the age of seven, when he earned the nickname "Preacher" for his imitations of the pastor at his family's church...
and Azeem Muhammad (later replaced by Mohammed Amer
Mohammed Amer
-Background:Mohammed Amer is originally of Palestinian decent, and the youngest of six children. He and his family fled his birth country of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War when he was 9 years old...
in 2006) launched a comedy tour titled "Allah Made Me Funny
Allah Made Me Funny
Allah Made Me Funny is a documentary film directed by Andrea Kalin, an independent filmmaker , and produced by . This live concert features three Muslim Americans Mohammed "Mo" Amer, Bryant "Preacher" Moss and Azhar Usman....
."
The show not only offered non-Muslims a chance to get to know a little about Islamic culture, but it provided a place where Muslims could gather to share humor about their own lives and experiences. Moss and the other comics on the tour made sure that their jokes were respectful and did not include sexual references or profanity. To ensure that Muslims would be comfortable attending the show, the comics requested that comedy clubs not serve alcohol or pork or allow smoking during performances. "Allah Made Me Funny" toured 30 U.S. cities during its first year, and also in Canada, Europe, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.
He has performed in over a twenty countries on five continents. Usman and the Tour have been featured in over 100 major world media, including the including CBS Sunday Morning, CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
, and an entire episode of ABC Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
. He has played original sketch comedy characters for MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
, E4
E4
E4, E.IV or E-4 may refer to:In entertainment:* E4 , a digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland* Every Extend Extra Extreme a video game from Q Entertainment* Entertainment for All video game expo...
, and he is the creator and star of his own semi-scripted Web comedy show, Tinku's World. He performed at Global Peace and Unity Event
Global Peace and Unity
The Global Peace and Unity event is an annual two-day conference held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in Royal Victoria Dock, London and organized by the Islam Channel. It is the largest Muslim, interfaith and multicultural event of its kind in Europe, having attracted over 55,000 visitors from...
in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He also appeared in the independent film "Mooz-lum
Mooz-lum
Mooz-lum is a 2010 American independent film written and directed by Qasim "Q" Basir and starring Danny Glover. Mooz-lum tells the story of an African American Muslim family whose lives are changed by the September 11 attacks and their aftermath...
."
Other activities
Azhar is an artist and an activist and continues to serve as a co-founding board member of The Nawawi Foundation, an Illinois non-profit dedicated to contemporary Islamic research. He also serves as an Arts and Culture advisor to the Inner-City Muslim Action NetworkInner-City Muslim Action Network
Inner-City Muslim Action Network , founded in 1996 by Rami Nashashibi, is one of the leading Muslim charity organizations in the United States....
(IMAN) in Chicago.
Awards and recognition
In 2009, he was listed as one of the world's 500 most influential Muslims by Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
's The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
See also
- Allah Made Me FunnyAllah Made Me FunnyAllah Made Me Funny is a documentary film directed by Andrea Kalin, an independent filmmaker , and produced by . This live concert features three Muslim Americans Mohammed "Mo" Amer, Bryant "Preacher" Moss and Azhar Usman....
- Preacher MossPreacher MossPreacher Moss is an American comedian and writer.-Background and education:Born Bryant Moss in Washington, D.C., United States. He began practicing comedy at the age of seven, when he earned the nickname "Preacher" for his imitations of the pastor at his family's church...
- Mohammed AmerMohammed Amer-Background:Mohammed Amer is originally of Palestinian decent, and the youngest of six children. He and his family fled his birth country of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War when he was 9 years old...
- Islamic humourIslamic humourIslamic humour is the long tradition of humour in Islam, dating as far back as the Prophet Muhammad.-Islamic restrictions on humour:In accordance with Islam, Muslims generally abide by some basic rules on making jokes, such as humour being within the limits of Islamic tolerance, and not going...
- Shazia MirzaShazia MirzaShazia Mirza is a British comedian and columnist from Birmingham, England.-Background:Shazia was born as the eldest daughter in Birmigham to Pakistani parents, Mohammed and Sarwat Mirza...
- Shabana RehmanShabana RehmanShabana Rehman Gaarder is a Norwegian stand-up comedian, writer and columnist.-Brutalized by adolescence boyfriend:...
- Dean ObeidallahDean ObeidallahDean Obeidallah is a Palestinian-American/Italian-American comedian, who was born in Lodi, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Paramus. His father was born in Battir, Palestine- a small village near Bethlehem; his mother's parents were born in Sicily...
- Indian AmericanIndian AmericanIndian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
- List of American Muslims
- List of Indian Americans
External links
- Official Website
- IMDb Entry
- Allah Made Me Funny
- BBC interview with Azhar Usman
- BBC: Muslim comedians laugh at racism. Jannat Jalil. BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
. Tuesday, 15 June, 2004 - PBS on Azhar Usman. Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. September 15, 2006
- Interview with Azhar Usman. Emdad Rahman. Mathaba. 26/02/2007
- Sarfraz Manzoor on Muslim comedy tour Allah Made Me Funny. Sarfraz Manzoor. The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. Friday 6 April 2007 - Does Islam have a sense of humour?. Yasmeen Khan. BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
. Tuesday, 20 November 2007
- Meet Azhar Usman, the 'bin Laughing' from Bihar. Rashmee Roshan Lall, The Times of IndiaThe Times of IndiaThe Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
. December 1, 2007Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - Comedian Azhar Usman: Allah made him funny. Shahed Amanullah. altmuslim . October 3, 2008
- Comedians Break Muslim Stereotypes. Kaitlin. Inside Islam. October 15th, 2008
- Azhar Usman : Allah Made Me Funny. Anjum Naim. SpanSPAN magazineSPAN is a bimonthly general interest ezine on India and the United States published in English, Hindi, and Urdu by the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi since November 1960...
. January/February 2009 - Muslim comedy trio take on UK. Kieran Fox. BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
. Friday, 17 April 2009 - Azhar Usman: “Never imagined becoming a comedian”. Victoria Vandersteen. Indymedia.be. 19 October 2009
- Comedian-activist Azhar Usman to keynote ‘Nonviolence in the Islamic Traditions’ conference here Saturday. Bulletin today. University of St. ThomasUniversity of St. Thomas (Minnesota)The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
. Wednesday, April 6th, 2011