Funatical comedy sends up religious extremism

Funatical comedy sends up religious extremism
Samson Koletkar is perhaps the world's only Jewish Indian comedian. Courtesy of Samson Koletkar
Funatical comedy sends up religious extremism
Samson Koletkar is perhaps the world's only Jewish Indian comedian. Courtesy of Samson Koletkar

Funatical comedy sends up religious extremism

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

On Saturday, the American Islamic College will host the Chicago leg of the Funatical comedy tour. It’s not really a place you’d expect to see standup comedians, but then again, Funatical is not your typical tour.

Funatical brings together comedians of different religions - Muslim, Jewish and Christian - to poke fun at themselves and each other.

Here, Mariam Atash Nawabi, the tour’s co-producer, and Samson Koletkar, a comedian on the tour who describes himself as “the world’s only Jewish Indian standup comedian,” tell us why an event like Funatical is surpisingly effective at combatting religious stereotypes.

Watch Mike Batayeh, another comedian who’s performing this weekend, in action: