‘A Muslim, a Mormon, and a Jew Walk into a Bar’

 


Shazia Mirza

A Muslim, A Mormon, and A Jew Walk into A Bar: The Comedy of Religion featuring three stand up comedians, in three Bay Area cities (Berkeley, San Rafael, and San Francisco), over the course of three consecutive days. The show features Shazia Mirza (a Muslim), Bengt Washburn (a Mormon), and Lisa Geduldig (a Jew). Mirza is based in London, Washburn hails from Utah but currently resides in Monterey, and transplanted New Yorker Geduldig lives in San Francisco.
The idea for the show came to comedian and comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig, when she shared the stage this past Spring with Bengt Washburn. “Bengt’s perspective as a recovering Mormon was so funny and unique; I had never seen anyone speak, from experience, about knocking on strangers' doors and proselytizing religion to them…and do comedy about it! I knew I had to book him, but he didn't fit into any of my shows — Jewish, women, or political— so I created a show around him.”
To round out the spectrum of religions, Geduldig called on British Muslim comedian, Shazia Mirza, and will be bringing her to San Francisco for the third time. Shazia’s first US appearance was at the Kung Pao Kosher Comedy production, The 5th Annual Funny Girlz: A Smorgasbord of Women Comedians in 2003. In need of a Jewish comic, Geduldig looked no further than the mirror and booked herself. In addition to each comic performing his/her stand up act, the three will also take to the stage together to talk about religion, myths, stereotypes, and who knows what else.
The shows take place on the eve of the high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan — times of new beginnings. Pioneer Day, the main Mormon holiday, falls in July. The dates of this run also coincide with 9/11, the mere mention of which evokes a range of strong emotions. The comedy show, A Muslim, A Mormon, and A Jew Walk into A Bar, hopes to bring together people of all backgrounds and religions and through humor celebrate togetherness rather than divisiveness.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2007 @ 8PM — Julia Morgan — BERKELEY
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 @ 8PM — Showcase Theatre — SAN RAFAEL
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 @ 8PM — Victoria Theatre —SAN FRANCISCO

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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