In an interfaith comedy event, the First Baptist Church will host Muslim comic Azhar Usman and Jewish comedian Bob Alper on Sunday, Aug. 17.
'Breaks down barriers'
"It breaks down barriers," Alper said of their show. "You can't laugh with somebody and then hate them."
Alper, 63, lives in East Dorset. Now a full-time comedian, he holds a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary and served as a rabbi for 14 years. His wife, Sherri, a psychotherapist, is a Bennington native.
Usman, 32, is from Chicago. His parents are immigrants from India. He received a law degree from the University of Illinois in 1999. He moved from moderate success as a dotcom entrepreneur to practicing law and doing standup comedy on the side. Eventually, he dropped law and picked up comedy full time.
One of the most prominent Muslim comedians in the U.S., Usman was the subject of a whole episode of the television news program "Nightline."
He is also an actor and filmmaker, and recently served as executive producer of a short film called "The Boundary."
The two men are friends and work together for about 20 shows a year, a number that is increasing. However, they avoid talking about politics when they're together, Alper said.
Alper and Usman don't perform together on stage in the classic comic and straight-man mode. It's more of a "tag-team" arrangement, where one man does a routine alone on stage followed by the other. Later, they are on stage together to tell stories of life on the road and to answer questions from the audience. "It's a pretty full evening," Alper said.
Together, Usman and Alper perform at churches, synagogues and colleges, including earlier this year Yale, Duke, Rice, Queens, Wayne State and Dartmouth. In February, the pair did a show with Evangelical Christian comic Nazareth at Drew University, a performance that was written up in The New York Times.
According to the Times, Alper began the Drew show with thoughts about raising adolescents: "There was a reason Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac at 12 and not 13," he said. "At 13, it wouldn't have been a sacrifice."
When Usman took the stage later, Alper patted him down for weapons.
Noting that he once appeared before an audience of 300 Muslims at the University of Oklahoma, Alper said that the tour can be good for people who don't usually have exposure to people of other faiths.
Usman, speaking to the Banner from Los Angeles, said he was happy to be doing a mini-tour with Alper. Besides the Aug. 17 show in Bennington, the duo will be performing in Great Barrington, Mass., on Aug. 18, Brattleboro on Aug. 19, and in Rutland on Aug. 20.
Usman said that working with Alper is a wonderful and positive experience. "There is a lot more going on than just jokes," he said of their show.
But beyond any political or civil rights aspects, "it's a funny show. We're very proud that we put on a hell of a show."
The Rev. Jerrod Hugenot, pastor of First Baptist, says the duo's jokes "slyly poke at religious stereotypes in need of deflation."
He added, "Through this evening of laughter, we celebrate hope, one of the shared values among the religions. It can be frustrating and unsettling to deal with life, and laughter liberates us by poking at the fears of the day — real and imagined. Luther said, 'one little word shall fell' evil. A belly laugh works just as well."
The Sunday, Aug. 17, performance in Bennington will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church at 601 Main St. The show is open to the entire community. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door, $15 for seniors and students. The comedy is "clean" and also does not include mean jokes, so children 11 and over are welcome to attend.
Advance tickets are available at the Bennington Bookshop, by check or cash only. For more information, call 442-2105.