Riaad Moosa

I'm a comedian who happens to be Muslim; my comedy stems on all forms of my identity.

who comedy identity happens

Europeans ridicule Muslim culture because they don't understand the wisdom behind it. Take swine flu for instance: all the sudden you've got Europeans scared of pigs - we've been saying that for years!

understand you wisdom culture

I would never want to disrespect my beliefs. There are certain, obviously different, areas you wouldn't go. It's not congruent to who I am as a person, and it would be insincere, and it wouldn't be based on truth.

i-am never you truth

Both my parents are doctors, so from the time I was a child, I wanted to do medicine.

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What I wanted to do was the comedy, and I found that. I found my bliss, I think.

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Remember, we really grew up separately; our life experience was very different because of segregation. So I think comedy is a good space to work those things out and educate everyone about the different experiences and different race groups in South Africa.

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I use myself as a template for my comedy. So first my background as a Muslim man, my being a doctor, I talk about my family quite a lot, my kids. Anything that resonates with me I talk about. The important thing is it should be able to work in a family setting.

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I think comedy tells a lot; you can tell what people think by what they laugh at.

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When I started out, it was around the whole 9/11 - Islamophobia was just sort of hitting a second wind. Obviously that informed a lot of my humor, and it influenced a lot of what I was talking about on stage because it was extremely relevant at the time.

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The Muslims in the Cape are associated with having a very good sense of humor.

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