Azhar Usman

Azhar Usman

Azhar Usman during the 2007 Allah Made Me Funny Tour in Dublin.
Born 23 December 1975 (1975-12-23) (age 36)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Residence Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nationality American
Ethnicity Indian
Education BA Communication
Juris Doctorate Law
Alma mater Niles West High School
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Minnesota Law School
Occupation Comedian, actor, writer and producer
Notable works Allah Made Me Funny
Style Islamic humour
Religion Sunni Islam
Website
www.azhar.com

Azhar Usman (Urdu: اظہر عثمان; born 23 December 1975) is a Indian American Muslim comedian and actor born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.[1][2]

He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and is often referred to as the 'Ayatollah of Comedy' and 'Bin Laughin'.[3]

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Background and education

As a child Azhar Usman lived "in mostly Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois", where he was born. His family emigrated to the United States from India.[4]

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.[3] He co-founded an Internet startup, then practiced law, and then started performing stand-up comedy.[5]

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 Moss and Azeem Muhammad (later replaced by Mohammed Amer in 2006) launched a comedy tour titled "Allah Made Me Funny."[6]

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.[7][8]

He has performed in over a twenty countries on five continents. Usman and the Tour have been featured in over 100 major world media,[6] 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.[9] He performed at Global Peace and Unity Event in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London.[6] He also appeared in the independent film "Mooz-lum."[10]

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.[11] He also serves as an Arts and Culture advisor to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) in Chicago.[12][13]

Awards and recognition

In 2009, he was listed as one of the world's 500 most influential Muslims by Georgetown University's The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.[13]

See also

References

External links