Like all human souls, Azhar Usman’s came into existence many millennia ago. He lived in the Preternal Spirit world for ages, awaiting his turn to enter a physical body, which was finally formed in his mother’s womb during the year 1975 (Anno Domini; 23 B.G. [Before Google]). His parents trace their worldly lineage to India, though Azhar was conceived and born in Chicago. Raised in American suburbia as an Indian-American in a non-White Muslim family, Azhar naturally began to think of himself as Black. Heavily influenced by anti-establishmentarian rap lyrics, left-leaning political writings, and with a flare for the philosophical, he stumbled into serious consideration of the origin of the universe as an inquisitive teenager.
Study of wisdom traditions, spirituality, organized religion, and Sufism followed. After earning degrees in Communication and Law, he co-founded an internet startup, then practiced law, and then fell in love with standup comedy. He considers himself a “citizen of the world,” and describes himself variously as follows: “Intellectually White; Emotionally Japanese; Spiritually Indian; Psychically Persian; Physically Arab; Artistically Southeast Asian; Romantically Latino; and Psychologically Black.” Today, Azhar is a global standup comedian who makes people laugh by telling the truth.
He is the co-founder of the wildly popular “Allah Made Me Funny—Official Muslim Comedy Tour,” which has toured over 20 countries (on Earth). He has appeared on radio and television dozens of times as well as in a handful of indie films. He is proud of his accomplishments, but not too proud to see that this bio is a ridiculous series of exaggerations, especially since he knows that the following phenomena really do exist: Hubble Ultra Deep Field; micro-sculptor Willard Wigan; Integral Traditionalism; Thaumaturgical Teleportation; Neurolingistics; and T.J. Winter (a living, spiritual re-incarnation of al-Ghazali). He adds: “Seriously, just Google them.” Azhar is a language maven, Googaholic, Wikipaddict, and avid fan of Dictionary.com’s “Word of the Day” mailing list.
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“Azhar Usman is untouchable.”
— Dave Chappelle
“Azhar Usman is a true original and will laugh the hate right out of you.”
— Louie Anderson
“Insightful, empowering, and hilarious!”
— Margaret Cho
“Allah Made Me Funny is an idea whose time has come.”
— Russell Peters
“Azhar is truly a global comedian—just what the world needs right now.”
— Aasif Mandvi, The Daily Show