Allah made them funny

By April Corbin

Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 | 1 p.m.

The kid who approaches comedian Mohammed Amer after his set Thursday night at the Omar Haikal Islamic Academy is at least half a dozen years from being old enough to visit the local 21-and-up comedy club circuit. He's not even old enough to drive himself to tonight's event, and he needs a gentle nudge from his mother to work up the courage to introduce himself.

Once he does, however, the timid teen's eyes light up. He reminds Amer of the bits he didn't do tonight during his stand up. He watches the comedian on DVD all the time, his mother chirps in; he could probably recite the set himself.

"This is what it's all about," Amer says after mom's bought another DVD for her son, "giving back to the community, to kids like that."

Amer is here with comedian Azhar Usman. The latter opened for Louie Anderson at Excalibur days earlier, and the former is here to network. Only seven days prior to tonight, they e-mailed LVMuslim.com, a resource website, to set up a one-off event catered to the local Muslim community. The Web site teamed up with UNLV's Muslim Student Association to organize the event, which brought a decently sized crowd to the gymnasium.

Amer and Usman are part of Allah Made Me Funny, a troupe showcasing the talent of Muslim comedians. They hit all the things typical comedians joke about — growing up, their children and pop culture — but with a distinct cultural flare. Amer talks in length about his mother's homemade cure for everything (olive oil) while Usman explains that he looks like "a cross between the fat guy and the Indian guy on Lost."

Hidden among those jokes, sometimes just under the surface, is social commentary on outdated beliefs, stereotypes and politics — though both comedians are quick to remind that humor is always the main goal. Usman, an Indian American Muslim, makes commentary on the tumultuous relationship between Indian and Pakistani people. "We're the only one who distinguishes between the two!" he yells at the crowd after asking the audience where they're from. The crowd erupts in laughter.

Even Amer's seemingly harmless joke about his mother's obsession with olive oil sends a deeper message about how harmful rejecting modern medicine can be. "I can't just say, 'Get off your ass and go to the doctor,'" Amer points out. "That's not funny. So I use humor. There's a lot of truth in it."

Most touching is Amer's retelling of his 20-year journey through the bureaucracies of the immigration system, from Kuwaiti refugee to alien ("Alien? I'm an alien now?!"), and, at long last, to naturalization (Amer. Amer-ica. Not so different!).

"Muslims need more humor," says Amin Nash, president of MSA. "We have a reputation for not being funny."

Usman agrees, and he's hoping the Allah Made Me Funny troupe, along with their self-titled film, will help. Muslims have failed in having a comedian obtain mainstream success the way other minorities have. No Bill Cosby, George Lopez or Ellen DeGeneres of the underground "kabob circuit" of Muslim comedians exists.

"Ultimately, funny is funny," Usman says. "As a stand-up comedian, you're really just being yourself, and, if you're good, your material will transcend."