Wednesday, November 09, 2005

"Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World"

One of my all-time favorite comedians, Albert Brooks, has produced a documentary in which he goes to India and tries to figure out what makes Muslims laugh. There's no mention of God, the Qu'ran, or other religious subjects. He's just trying to find out what's funny to the average Muslim on the street.

This is genius.

Brooks has been responsible for some of the biggest laughs in my life. His bit on "Rewriting the National Anthem" on his first album has stayed with me since I first heard it late one night on Q102's "Comedy Hour" in 1975 or so. The Pavillion of Past Lives in Defending Your Life cracked me up so badly that my wife thought about leaving the theater.

Making a movie like this took some guts. According to the John Stossel article linked above, Brooks is having a hard time finding a distributor for the film. I hope he gets it out - Warner says they're going to do it and I hope that's right. I will be first in line to check it out if it ever hits the theaters.

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