Allah Made Me Funny Film Review

By Kam Williams

Standup Concert Flick Features Muslim Kings of Comedy

You get a good idea just how hard it is being a Muslim in America since 9-11 thanks to Preacher Moss, Azhar "Az" Usman and Mohammed Amer, the trio of young Chicago area comedians featured in this enlightening concert flick. In much the way that The Original Kings of Comedy did for blacks, and The Kims of Comedy did for Asian-Americans, Allah Made Me Funny is a flick designed to make you laugh while looking at the lighter of side of life from the perspective of a specific minority.

Az wonders onstage why so many people think attending a "madrassah" has anything to do with radical Islam, when that's simply the Arabic word for school. Meanwhile, Mohammed, whose mother was disappointed with her son's political brand of comedy, says he's not afraid of offending the government since he's Palestinian and has no country to be deported to. Preacher blames Muslims for their present unpopular plight, because they don't try to overhaul their image through advertising and lobbying like other ethnic groups.

Besides taking shots at themselves, these caustic comics joke about an array of subjects ranging from Jesus to Jews to the Bollywood movie formula to feeling left out at Christmas to ridiculous names of rap stars. While not as consistently hilarious as either the Kings or Kims of Comedy, Allah Made Me Funny is generally in good taste and is amusing enough to remain recommended as a worthwhile diversion.

Three Muslim Rodney Dangerfields complaining about not getting any respect on account of their religion.

Very Good (2.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 83 minutes
Studio: Truly Indie

To see a trailer for Allah Made Me Funny,