Standup Comedy Center: Profanity(Seldom)

Friday, January 25, 2013

Ahmed Ahmed

Characteristics: Alive, Ethnic, Male, Profanity(Seldom)

Date of Birth: 6/27/1970

Though funnyman Ahmed Ahmed was born in Helwan, Egypt, he grew up in the Riverside California. Having moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career at the young age of 19, Ahmed has come a long way, managing to appear in numerous television programs and movies. Punk’d with Ashton Kutcher and “The Breakup” (with best-friend, fellow comedian and actor Vince Vaughn) were amongst the most notable. His biggest success, however, has been as a touring comedian.

After September 11th, life became tougher for all Americans, including those of Middle Eastern descent. Still smarting from the attack that many Americans thought was an attack from the entire Middle Eastern region, Ahmed found a way to turn negative sentiments and suspicions on their head. He did so by making people laugh.

Ahmed Ahmed began working at L.A.’s Comedy Store club one year prior to 9/11, hired, in part, because the club’s owner, Mitzi Shore, believed that Arab Americans sorely needed a voice. After 9/11, during a time when many Americans were suspicious of anyone who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, Ahmed’s first joke was a play on those fears, deadpanning, “My name’s Ahmed Ahmed, and I didn’t do it.” Shortly afterward, he along with other comedians embarked on a number of Middle Eastern comedy tours. One of those tours “Just Like Us,” was made into a film.

Instead of cowering, Ahmed opted to do what seemingly only comedians are successfully able to, put a humorous spin on an event that seems anything but. He titled his first-post 9/11 show “One Arab, One Muslim, One Stage.” It was a U.S. tour. In 2005, he was a featured act in the“Axis of Evil Tour” which featured Ahmed, along with Maz Jobrani and Aron Kader. Won Ho Chung, Nick Youssef and Dean Obeidallah, performed as special guests. The “Axis of Evil” tour was a play off of a term that former President George Bush coined during a speech which referred to the countries of North Korea, Iraq and Iran as the aforementioned.

In 2004 Ahmed Ahmed was awarded the Richard Pryor Award for ethnic comedy at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. In December of 2001, he was featured on the front page of both Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. PBS aired a special titled “STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age,” which featured a number of Muslim-American comedians, hence the title.

Today, Ahmed Ahmed is an in-demand comedian who regularly plays The Comedy Store. He also continues to tour in the United States and Middle East, managing to forge a career under what was at one time, not only very difficult circumstances but which could have permanently derailed his career. Instead, Ahmed found a way to make people laugh and perhaps challenge their assumptions and prejudices at the same time.