There’s an unwritten rule in the world of comedy: If you are a person of color, if you have a disability, if your nose is too ethnic, you have to call yourself out when you walk on that stage. You have to be self-aware that you know, that they know, that your face is weird-looking. Explain your face!
I often walk onstage and say, “I’m an Iranian American Muslim female, like all of you,” emphasis on American. It’s “funny” because there are never Iranian Americans in the audience. And chances are, the only Iranian Muslims the audience knows anything about are (a) violent terrorists on TV or (b) violent terrorists that many alt-right types, and some regular-right types, like to fantasize about. President Trump, painting with his own gorgeous brush, recently referred to those affected by his travel ban as “bad people,” “bad dudes,” and, um, “evil.”
With my simple introduction, I’m identifying the (brown) elephant in the room. I’m deducting points from the “Muslims Are Evil” column and adding them to the “Muslims Are Funny” column. And I’m establishing a baseline for American patriotism. Then, throughout my set, regardless of what I’m talking about, I’m engaging in a political act. If I do jokes about my mother, who was born in Iran, it’s seen as political. It doesn’t matter if my mom joke is about the way she keeps me abreast of Brangelina’s postdivorce life-building—any Iranian accent on any American stage is political. But beyond making people laugh, I’m trying to prove to the audience that my Iranian mom is just as ridiculous as any American mom.
For comedians of color, disabled comedians, and all the “other” comedians who don’t figure neatly into the plan to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN—we have to first prove our patriotism, and then we can proceed with the jokes. This may sound like a burden, but it isn’t. We get to play our very small part in redefining what it means to be American. And with their laughter, the audience affirms it. The audience becomes the public, retabulating their “Muslims Are …” spreadsheets, one gig at a time. Yes, you’re laughing at a Muslim woman. But you’re also laughing at a patriot.
Negin Farsad (@neginfarsad) is the author of How to Make White People Laugh.
Fake @POTUS tweets by Owen Ellickson (@onlxn).
This article appears in the April issue. Subscribe now.
