Can humor change the world? Laugh and talk about war and peace with this special performance and conversation with comedian Azhar Usman. Co-founder of the wildly popular “Allah Made Me Funny—The Official Muslim Comedy Tour” and born and raised in Chicago to immigrant Muslim parents from Bihar, India, Usman is always interested in “waging peace through humor.”

Presented in partnership with Th!nk Art Salon, as part of their ongoing War & Peace exhibit.

Azhar Usman is a Chicago-based standup comedian. He is the co-founder of “Allah Made Me Funny – The Official Muslim Comedy Tour” and has performed in over a dozen countries on five continents. Azhar and the Tour have been covered by over 100 major world media outlets. He has shared the stage with many of his favorite comedians including Dave Chappelle, Jim Gaffigan, Russell Peters, Todd Barry, and the late Mitch Hedberg. Azhar recently produced a concert/documentary project, Allah Made Me Funny – Live in Concert, a Kings-of-Comedy-style feature-length concert film. Additionally, he is the star and creator of Tinku’s World, a semi-scripted alternative web comedy show, and he is also developing a television show and a humor book project.

Azhar was born and raised in Chicago to immigrant Muslim parents from Bihar, India. Always interested in “waging peace through humor,” he regularly performs a Jewish-Muslim comedy show, “The Laugh in Peace Tour,” with comedian Rabbi Bob Alper, as well as a South Asian solidarity comedy show with fellow Indian comic Rajiv Satyal: “Make Chai Not War.” Azhar serves as a co-founding board member of The Nawawi Foundation, an Illinois nonprofit dedicated to contemporary Islamic research. He also serves as an Arts and Culture advisor to the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) in Chicago. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Minnesota Law School. To find out more, visit Azhar online at www.azhar.com and www.allahmademefunny.com or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

This event is presented by The Public Square and Th!nk Art an International Art Gallery & Policy Salon.

Recorded Thursday, March 11, 2010 at ThinkArt Salon.