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