the Rice Thresher

Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Taylor Johnson Comedians Azhar Usman and Rabbi Bob Alper take a collective bow after their Tuesday night show "Comedy's Odd Couple," which was held in the Baker College commons. The event was sponsored by Rice Hillel, the Muslim Student Association and the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance.

"Comedy's Odd Couple," a show featuring nationally known comedians Rabbi Bob Alper and Muslim Azhar Usman, came to the Baker Commons Tuesday as part of an interfaith event to promote tolerance on campus. The comedians' routines covered their family backgrounds, current lives, religious experiences and the elephant in the room, as Alper referred to it: Their separate faiths.

Usman, a Chicago-born Indian Muslim has served as a lecturer and lawyer, community activist and co-founder of the Allah Made Me Funny Comedy Tour. He told the audience of his experiences with religious and racial intolerance.

"People see me and they can't help but think, 'Bin Laden … Saddam … Obama?'" Usman said.

Alper, an author and an ordained rabbi for 14 years and a Ph.D from Princeton University Theological Seminary, followed Usman's routine. Alper's routine covered his experience as a rabbi. After their individual acts, the two shared the stage to discuss how they came to work together.

Alpher, who had previously done a comedy routine with a Muslim comedian, looked for another partner when the two went their separate ways.

"When [Ahmed Ahmed] decided to move back towards movies, I had to find another partner, so I Googled 'Muslim Comedian,'" Alper said.

Usman said Alper found him because there were not many Muslim comedians to choose from.

"If you googled ['Muslim comedian'], I'm going to come up," Usman said.

The two comedians discussed their religious differences and animosities, as well as their similarities. For example, Usman said Jews and Muslims are similar in that they are willing to spend $1,000,000 on a temple or a mosque but not on a $50 sound system at a garage sale. The two finally displayed their idea to arrive at interfaith peace via Irish dancing.

Continued...

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