Video: Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

Published: March 7, 2009

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Visitor Comments: 25

(25) Ann Nonymous, July 26, 2011 4:04 AM

A demonstration of Jewish idiocy?

These are not muslims at all. They are Hindu and possibly Sikhs. Now everyone will know how dumb and stupid we Jews really are......aren't we?

(24) Anonymous, October 23, 2010 1:51 AM

Just because islam seems like a more serious religion doesn't mean that muslims are not allowed to laugh or don't think of something as funny, islam just says that you shouldn't make fun of anyone or any imam or prophet.

(23) Kat, June 7, 2009 7:03 PM

Funny?

I saw that movie. Wow, was it ever boring. I don't even know why I'm commenting on it now. Someone shoot me, please.

(22) Ezza Amittai, April 1, 2009 9:26 AM

Australian comedy

One of my friends is an excellent comedian here in Australia -Akmal Saleh. He started doing stand-up comedy but he's so good that within months he was asked to appear weekly on several TV shows. He is of Arabic descent, and is possibly Muslim or Christian, but that doesn't matter. He's really funny and makes people laugh. Just how much his Australian upbringing has to do with this, I'm not sure. But I am sure that "political correctness" is humour's worst enemy!

(21) josh, March 27, 2009 11:55 AM

funny, but to clarify those are sikhs/hindus

that was funny and brooks is definately hilarious, but just to clarify muslims resign primarily in pakistan and this movie displays sikh's and hindus

(20) fayge, March 23, 2009 10:28 AM

another comment a bout India

I didn't see the movie but read a review or two and everyone commented on it being India, not a heavily Moslem country. So why did they film there again?

(19) Betsy Penn, March 18, 2009 11:56 PM

the woman on the street who had no time

this woman reminded me of people in our culture. I think Muslims can be very funny, I have known a couple of them who made me laugh, and I'm a tough customer. humor can go beyond culture to the core of what makes us human but needs to be approached with that in mind. what we laugh at, they laugh at. don't go looking for trouble. that will only create trouble.

(18) Ariel, March 18, 2009 9:45 PM

These are Hindus and Sikhs...

The people pictured in this clip are not Muslims, they are Hindus and Sikhs -so in even worse taste that if they WERE Muslims.

(17) Sol Kopfscwhindel, March 14, 2009 7:24 AM

Brooks for ambassador

Send Albert to the muslim countries. What’s not to laugh at?

(16) Aliza, March 13, 2009 11:59 PM

Funney

I think that his ignorance is what made this movie funny. He's being open and honest about his ignorance and is trying to feel his way around. If anything, this movie proves the great cultural gap that exists between us.

(15) Zvi, March 12, 2009 7:16 PM

Movie was stupid - a poor question...?

I actually saw this movie - it was very stupid and not funny in the least. Brooks was horrible. That said, all people have a sense of humor - but the context for that humor is almost always culturally dependent. A Muslim from Indonesia will laugh at a joke that a Muslim from Egypt won't get. Visa versa. Muslims do not have a different sense of humor - rather it is that different cultures generally find different things to be funny. There probably are a few 'universally funny' scenarios or jokes, but most are culturally specific. [The exceptions I would make to the above are psychotic, schizophrenic, or other psychologically disturbed/brain damaged individuals.)

(14) Joel Rosenblum, March 12, 2009 6:02 PM

wrong people in the audience

Brooks wasn't exactly killing the audience but that's the point. There's nothing funny about being a muslim. Their meager laughter would come from scoffing at the irony of their lives: stuck in a modern society without an ability to defend themselves from the hate their religion (in the minds of most of us)has engendered. I have questioned many muslims about their relative silence about 9 11 and always the response was, "Oh. That's not me" Allah weeps. No one will be reading this so it's a treat to make my point. Brooks had more courage than all of Islam.

(13) lisa, March 12, 2009 11:24 AM

film

I found this clip funny, although it left me wondering what Muslims do find funny. Americans can laugh at themselves. " Honor" is one of their core values(except when it comes to suicide bombers and honoring life )- so I wonder if they can laugh at themselves.

(12) Anonymous, March 11, 2009 10:09 PM

Not Muslims

I believe that most of the people depicted in this "joke" aren't Muslims at all. They look primarily Sikh and Hindu. It's a little ridiculous to expect this to be funny.

(11) rozanne, March 11, 2009 8:08 PM

not funny at all

This clip shows a lack of cultural awareness. The people in the streets and theatre are Hindus and Seiks and they don't find American humour funny. Nor do I.

(10) Hannah, March 11, 2009 10:31 AM

this is not funny, rather racist

I laugh a lot and I love most types of jokes: about mother in law, sex, marriage, religion, etc.. But I find these types of jokes that ridicule a nation embarrassing for those who come up with them and tell them. The fact that we don't understand another culture, assuming that they are like us, paints us as ignorant. For example, several people in this film are not muslim, they are hindi. BIG difference. A good comedian will study culture before trying to entertain people. The fact that they did not laugh was his fault, not their different sense of humor. This is ridiculous and offensive. Thistype pf attitude reinforces the world's view of Americans as abrasive, loud, and lacking of social grace.

(9) Anonymous, March 11, 2009 9:53 AM

to anonymous 6 from anonymous

Although I found this clip stupid and had no response to it, I am curious as to what makes Muslims laugh. Since you do say they don’t laugh at American humor, what do they find funny? Also, do you think they are different when it comes to general human emotions as well? Btw, do are you saying that because they have had a difficult life they don’t have much opportunity for joy? I think the Jewish experience is prime proof that you don’t wait for the easy life to create joy and laughter.

(8) Lou, March 11, 2009 8:59 AM

Incorrect title

This film excerpt should actually be titled "Do Indians find American humor funny" The crowd and people on the street actually looked like they were a mixture of Hindus and Sikhs instead of Muslims.

(7) hadassah, March 11, 2009 8:24 AM

Is this a joke? If it is, it's not a funny joke anyway. For one, I would start by learning people's language when I want to understand their humor. English is not a funny language, and jokes in English are very lame. They never translate. Even jokes in Yddish are very poorly translated when in English. Second, India as a muslim world? Couldn't you go to a country like Indonesia? that would make more sense for the muslim world. So what's the purpose of this program? I totally missed the point here.

(6) Anonymous, March 10, 2009 3:08 PM

Muslims vs. Arabs

Although I will agree that by an large, Arabs (including myself--an Arab convert to Judaism) don't find Western jokes funny, there is a big difference between Arabs and Muslims. Arabs and Easterners typically have has a difficult life, and don't find much opportunity for joy. Arabs are stereotyped, esp. in modern society, excluded, ridiculed, and often discriminated against. Arabs typically don't find joy in American humor, of which they are frequently the butt (as in this video). That said: only about 20% of the world's Muslims are Arabs. The non-Arab Muslims of the world can be found everywhere. Their tastes are individual and unique, and often not that different from your own.

(5) Richard, March 9, 2009 11:16 PM

Its very simple

The comedian wasn't wired.

(4) Alan Stanton, March 9, 2009 6:36 PM

Ignorant racist twaddle, and not funny.

Whoever made this film doesn't actually seem to know the difference between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. I have no idea what the purpose of the film was: it certainly failed as humour and even more certainly as investigation. or was it just a sort of perverse purim spiel?

(3) Mark Shmagin, March 9, 2009 6:18 PM

I'd pull this one of Jewlarious. It's not funny

There is secular muslim comedy out there. It's self-deprecating, like must ethnic humor. Did you look for it?

(2) Myriam S. Gabbay, March 9, 2009 3:58 PM

Comment about Muslim sense of humor.

First, there are some inaccuraries. India has a much larger Hindu population than Muslim, some of which were shown in that trailer. And the issue here would be what makes an Indian laugh, becuase even the Muslims there have the Indian mentality.

(1) Anonymous, March 9, 2009 2:35 PM

Muslims? In India???

Why is this film, set in India, titled "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World?" As humor it falls really flat.

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