‘Muslim Funny Fest’ to Hit NYC

By Kenrya Rankin Jul 07, 2015

For three days in July, New York City will be a more hilarious place. With the Muslim Funny Fest,  plannersMaysoon Zayid and Dean Obeidallah aim to use comedy as a weapon to combat stereotypes.

“Most people don’t see Muslims as funny or think of Muslims laughing at themselves,” Obeidallah, a comedian, told the New York Daily News, “But if you can’t imagine that then you don’t know Muslims.”

The comedy festival, which will run July 21 through 23, will feature sets from professional Muslim comedians who cover tough topics, including Islamophobia and ISIS. Zayid, also a comic, and Obeidallah co-founded the Arab-American Comedy Festival back in 2003, but say that this is the first festival specific to Muslim comics.

In addition to Zayid and Obeidallah, featured comedians include Ali Al Sayed, Aman Ali, Mo Amer, Negin Farsad, Dina Hashem, Ali Hassan, Sana Khan, Preacher Moss, Zahra Noorbakhsh, Gibran Saleem, Azhar Usman and Ramy Youssef. Watch the trailer below.