JChristin
04-01-03, 03:39 PM
Female Muslim comic tours US
By Amit Roy
(Filed: 31/03/2003)
Britain's first Muslim comedienne has been invited to the United States on the seemingly impossible mission of making Americans laugh about being at war.
Shazia Mirza, from Birmingham, has been invited to present shows in San Francisco and New York in May and has begun rehearsing new material about the conflict in Iraq.
Shazia Mirza
"Anyone with a moustache is now a target," she says, poking fun at strained Anglo-Muslim relations. "My mum's been attacked."
She is also suggesting a possible hiding place for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction - "He's hidden them in his wife's purdah, no one has thought of looking there."
Mirza's international reputation is spreading, with many countries intrigued by the idea of a female Muslim stand-up comic but also feeling the sharpness of her wit. In Germany recently she told an audience: "Come on, Germany, join the war - it's not the same without you."
Mirza has had to overcome many difficulties in her own community and was once punched in the face by a Bangladeshi youth in London's East End.
She admits to feeling great uncertainty about how her unconventional humour will be received in the United States.
By Amit Roy
(Filed: 31/03/2003)
Britain's first Muslim comedienne has been invited to the United States on the seemingly impossible mission of making Americans laugh about being at war.
Shazia Mirza, from Birmingham, has been invited to present shows in San Francisco and New York in May and has begun rehearsing new material about the conflict in Iraq.
Shazia Mirza
"Anyone with a moustache is now a target," she says, poking fun at strained Anglo-Muslim relations. "My mum's been attacked."
She is also suggesting a possible hiding place for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction - "He's hidden them in his wife's purdah, no one has thought of looking there."
Mirza's international reputation is spreading, with many countries intrigued by the idea of a female Muslim stand-up comic but also feeling the sharpness of her wit. In Germany recently she told an audience: "Come on, Germany, join the war - it's not the same without you."
Mirza has had to overcome many difficulties in her own community and was once punched in the face by a Bangladeshi youth in London's East End.
She admits to feeling great uncertainty about how her unconventional humour will be received in the United States.