Racism, Christmas, Hanukkah and dollar store pregnancy tests were all poked at during The Brown Man Group comedy show Thursday night. Comedians Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali and Prashanth Venkat headlined the event, which opened at 7:30 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium for a crowd of more than 150 students.

Minhaj, a writer for The Onion and featured TBS headliner, took the stage first, followed by Comedy Central comedian Ali and the Chicago club-scene hit Venkat. The event was brought to SU by the Hindu Students Council and the Muslim Student Association in partnership with Comedy Central.

Ahmed Al-Salem, a sophomore finance and information technology major, organized the event for the sole purpose of bringing Islam and Hindu students together in an environment that could foster friendship between the two groups, which Al-Salem says is divided.

‘It’s about getting together, to work through the problems between Hindus and Muslims,’ Al-Salem said. ‘The best way to build bridges is through comedy.’

The show was delayed half an hour because the host, Ahmed Ali, was pulled over for speeding on his way to campus. Nevertheless, the show kicked off after local Z89.1 mixer DJ Stay Fly warmed up the crowd for 30 minutes or so.

Ali was a strong host, introducing the themes for the night: race and being misunderstood in a different culture, especially the American culture which cheapens race discussion and neglects ‘Sub-Asian’ culture altogether.

The comics all had a different brand of humor, which was colorfully displayed in both their dialogue and movements. All of the comics got love from the crowd, receiving adoring applause and loud laughs.

Asif Ali, who has been featured on ‘Comedy Central Presents,’ scampered around the stage in an energetic fury. His repeated use of the word ‘ridiculous’ and his shout-outs to the ‘poor folks’ made him a warming presence on stage.

Ali mocked pretentious and elitist rich people who look down on people who don’t have money, which Ali says the Yale graduates make fun of him for. He pointed out social and racial injustices that don’t get as much media attention as others, such as class and East Indian culture.

Venkat took it a step further, prophesying what the demon spawn of Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter would act like and mimicking Christians who take their conservative views too far. His act was the most political, but brought the crowd, mostly composed of Indian, Middle Eastern and black students, together in a very light and open environment.

Shalen Tejwani, a freshman information technology major, thought the show was a great opportunity to bring the misconceptions of Middle-Eastern and Indian races to light.

‘I think racism is a funny thing,’ Tejwani said. ‘If you’re around open-minded people, it can be a great time.’

While all the performances were strong, the best performance of the night came from Minhaj.

From glorifying life in Salem, Mass. during the Salem Witch Trials to pretending to be black on medical forms, Minhaj had audience members nearly falling out of their seats in laughter. He even called out Kanye West for sensationalism himself, a bold move that kept the crowd laughing for several minutes.

Although his jokes lit up the room, Minhaj came for the purpose of jumping in on the race debate.

‘I think laughter helps with things like that,’ Minhaj said.

He challenged Americans’ perceptions on Indian and Middle-Eastern races, mocking white people’s sensitivity with black people’s. As he said in his act, ‘who the f*** are you to question my blackness?’

Minhaj interacted with the crowd, posing for pictures during the middle of his show and asking questions to audience members, even though he said their answers were all wrong.

He will be performing at the TBS Comedy Festival in Las Vegas next week with comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Dane Cook and Tracy Morgan.

The show reached other students, like freshmen pre-med student Sarita Ram, who enjoyed it for the personal connection with the material.

‘I’m Indian and I related a lot to it,’ Ram said.

The audience had a good time, and that’s what Al-Salem was going for. The comedians helped bring together two groups of people who have a history filled with hostility in a time when all the comedians noted it is a new age.

‘As generations go on, people are more open-minded,’ host Ahmed Ali said.

rdjone03@syr.edu

Published on November 13, 2008 at 12:00 pm