Yesterday (Sunday, May 11, 2008), PBS premiered the film Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age, which is one of many films in the America at a Crossroads series. Unfortunately, I happened upon it too late to see it in its entirety, but what I did see was wonderfully funny stand-up and a truthful statement about what it must be like to be Muslim American in post-9/11 America. The five comedians in the film (Ahmed Ahmed, Tissa Hami, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman and Maysoon Zayid) reiterated that one way to eliminate discrimation is by making people laugh. It has been the American tradition to fight and dismantle stereotypes through comedy; comedians like Maragaret Cho and Richard Pryor used laughter as a means to make a case for inclusion in mainstream America. Ahmed Ahmed says, “We can’t define who we are on a serious note because no one will listen. The only way to do it is to be funny about it.”
If you are in the Minneapolis area, the film is playing again tonight on Channel 17 at 9:00 pm. If you want to find out when it’s playing in your area, see clips from the movie, or just find out more, please see PBS here.
