KPLU Local News
(2010-09-17)
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Stand-up comedian Dean Obeidallah is part of the "Arabs Gone Wild" show playing at The Triple Door in Seattle on September 18.
Photo by: persianmirror.com
What's funny about being a Muslim in America? A lot, according to Dean Obeidallah. He's a comedian who performed at The Triple Door in Seattle over the weekend as part of a show called "Arabs Gone Wild."
Before the World Trade Center bombings, comedian Dean Obeidallah never made jokes about being Muslim. Afterall, he'd grown up in New Jersey as an American. But, he says, on 9/11 everything changed.
"You know, I tell people on September 10th I went to sleep a white person, September 11 I woke up an Arab. It's an over simplification, but that's the truth of our community."
Suddenly, he says, anyone who looked Middle Eastern or had an Arab name was viewed with suspicion. So he started using it in his act.
In his stand-up routine, he says the difference between negative and positive news about Arabs is the negative news refers to them as "militants, gunmen and terrorists" while the positive news refers to them as "alleged militants, gunmen and terrorists."
Obeidallah believes one of the best ways to counter prejudice is by getting people to laugh at it. He says he also gets a lot of Arab and Muslim Americans coming to his shows.
"And for them it's more cathartic. It's an opportunity to laugh at a time when the climate is very tense," he said.
Obeidallah says lately there seems to be a renewed anti-Muslim fervor in this country what with the controversy over a Mosque near Ground zero, threats to burn the Quran and people mistakenly saying that President Obama is Muslim, as if that is a bad thing.
"Through the comedy, you try to make the point that we are going to a place where I fear the loss of fundamental rights based on religion," he said.
Obeidallah says he tries to make sure what he's doing doesn't turn into "Arab 101." At its heart, he says, it's still a comedy show.
