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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
Controversial stand-up comedian Shazia Mirza isnt afraid to joke about 9/11, sexist Muslim men, or the fact that she's a 28-year-old virgin. But not everyone is laughing.
Sep 21, 2004 | You wouldn't expect the teetotaling, Muslim virgin to be the funniest person in the room -- but if that person were Shazia Mirza, you'd be wrong. Originally from Pakistan but raised in England, Mirza began doing stand-up four years ago, and quickly became famous in the U.K. and Australia for her dry sense of humor and the fact that she challenges cultural expectations of what a Muslim woman is supposed to be. Simultaneously biting and good-natured, her one-liners have a slow burn. Often at a Mirza show the audience is silent for a beat after she delivers a punch line while they figure out the joke. She wryly tackles everything from Muslim traditions ("The women in my family all use the same passport") to politics ("I said, oh, come on, Germany, join the war, it's not the same without you"). But Mirza is best known for her takes on post-9/11 tension; her most oft-quoted joke is, "My name is Shazia Mirza -- at least that's what it says on my pilot's license."
Her humor is often lost on her family and fellow Muslims, some of whom have sent her death threats because of what they perceive as her disrespect for Islam. In fact, as part of her current show, "The Last Temptation of Shazia," Mirza performs in front of a bulletin board covered with printouts of the nasty letters she's received, and at various points in her act, she pulls them down and reads from them.
But "The Last Temptation of Shazia" isn't just about hate. It's also about Mirza's travels through Europe and the United States; being mistaken for everything from a suicide bomber to Dobby, the house elf in "Harry Potter"; and what it's like to be a 28-year-old virgin.
Mirza, dressed in a simple gray T-shirt and slacks, her hair recently freed from her burqa, brought her show to New York last week. Salon spoke to her the morning after her sold-out opening night at Baruch Performing Arts Center, over a mug of hot chocolate near Gramercy Park.
Are you really the world's only female Muslim comic?
No, I'm not the only one now, but I think I was when I started out four years ago. After 9/11, Muslims got terrible press and people were like, my God, how can there be a Muslim comedian, they're all terrorists, aren't they? There have been Jewish comedians and Catholic comedians but there's never been a Muslim comedian. We were famous for blowing people up.
Is being a Muslim and being a comic contradictory?
Some people say you can't be both. I stand up onstage for an hour and a half and make people laugh and tell them mostly the truth -- most of the stuff is true, it happened to me -- and then I go home and pray. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't take drugs, I don't eat pork, and I'm a good Muslim. I don't understand why people say I can't be a comedian. I don't relate the two at all.
And there are always Muslims in my audience. I was so happy there were women with hijabs on [at my show], having a good time. And that they're allowed -- that there's somewhere where women with hijabs on can go out for entertainment, to watch comedy. They've probably never watched comedy in their life! And maybe it's opened a door for them, that they're watching comedy, and they're enjoying it.
