A&E

In February, Azhar Usman, a nationally recognized American Muslim comedian, received an unannounced visit at his house from the FBI. They didn’t tell him why they were there — only that they wanted to talk to him and ask him some questions. A first-generation American, Usman was shocked and surprised.

“It was a confirmation for me of feelings I had for a while,” Usman said. “There is a certain percentage of our country that presumes somebody who is a Muslim is somehow unpatriotic, un-American and anti-American.”

After sitting with these feelings for a long time, Usman created a comedic show that explores the tensions and paradoxes surrounding national, cultural and religious identity this past spring. On Thursday, Usman will perform this show, “Un-American,” at the McCormick Foundation Center as part of Northwestern’s Muslim Cultural Students Association’s annual fall entertainment event.

The show will be emceed by comic Tucker Millett, a student at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, and opened by Prateek Srivastava, a non-Muslim Indian comedian based in Chicago.

McSA President Dania Atallah said they chose to bring Usman to campus because he understands what many American Muslims experience.

“Sometimes the way media portrays Muslims, especially abroad, is very negative,” the Weinberg senior said. “Someone like Azhar shows a different side.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Usman was born to Indian immigrants. Before becoming a comedian, he practiced law as an attorney, thinking he could not make a career out of comedy.

However, a few years after his first open mic, Usman started receiving booking requests from Muslim communities in the U.S., U.K. and Australia who found him online. In 2004, he quit his job to pursue comedy full time.

As a comedian, Usman has been called “America’s Funniest Muslim” by CNN and identified as “one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World” by Georgetown University. He is the co-founder of the international comedy showcase “Allah Made Me Funny” and has toured in more than 20 countries.

Usman said he is motivated to bring an underrepresented voice into the stream of public discourse because the point of view of American Muslims is “virtually absent” in media.

“Muslims are almost everyday on the front page of CNN, BBC and Fox News,” he said. “It almost seems like everybody’s talking about Muslims, but Muslims don’t really ever talk about themselves.”

Usman is aware that his comedy might offend, but said good stand-up is sometimes offensive.

“The question is who does it offend, why does it offend and the intent of the artist,” he said. “I try to speak my truths and share my point of view. If somebody finds it offensive, then I’m OK with that because the point of it is free expression. The point of it is to be an artist.”

Rimsha Ganatra, vice president of public relations for McSA, said she hopes “Un-American” will contribute to McSA’s mission to provide a safe place for Muslims on campus, and also show non-Muslims what Islam is about.

“If (the audience) gets laughs, and if they learn something they didn’t know before or get a new viewpoint of Islam, that is enough for us,” the Weinberg junior said.

Similarly, at the end of the day, Usman just wants people to have a good time.

“My belief is great comedy makes you laugh but it also makes you think,” he said. “That’s certainly what I’m trying to aspire toward.”

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Twitter: @kimberlygo2018