Bob Alper has been doing stand-up comedy since 1986.
“Actually as a toddler I was very funny, but I started working in earnest in the late 1980s,” he said.
Alper is a rabbi, author and stand-up comic who will be performing along with two other comedians at the Interfaith Comedy Show tonight at 7:30 in the Ferguson Center Theater.
The other two comedians are Azhar Usman, an American-Muslim comedian, and Rev. Susan Sparks, who, according to the press release, is “America’s only female comedian with a pulpit.”
Alper said the three of them will do tag-team comedy, which they have been doing together since 2002.
“Comedians don’t perform together unless there is a straight man and a funny man like Abbott and Costello,” Alper said.
Each member of the trio will do about a 30-minute stand-up comedy session and will end by joining together on stage to tell how it all came about, share some of their history and have a question and answer session.
“It’ll be about 100 minutes if people laugh and 34 minutes if they don’t,” Alper said.
Alper said the show is satisfying on many levels.
“I almost feel guilty because it’s so much fun and so incredibly satisfying on so many levels,” Alper said. “Actually it’s on three levels: One, just being able to artistically perform stand-up. Two, being able to hang out with my friends Azhar and Susan. And three, looking out there and watching kids from really different backgrounds hanging out together and laughing together.”
The event has been in the works for almost a year now and Kathy Merrell, programming director for the Hillel Association, said it has definitely been worth it.
“We all tend to live in our own little worlds and tend to make stereotypes about groups,” Merrell said. “When you learn about somebody and their religion personally it’s not only intriguing but you know yourself and them so much better. You may not end up agreeing with them but you will end up not lumping a group of people together. We all just feel this is a really important topic and the best way to go about it is to laugh.”
Although tickets were free and open to the public, students could reserve tickets online before the event, but the event is now currently sold out.
Merrell said there will be an over-flow option for students that still want to attend. There will most likely be a viewing area in the Ferguson Center, such as the Ferguson Center Ballroom, where students can watch a live-feed of the event.
Merrell, who originally recommended the event to the Campus Ministry Association, said she previously heard of the event getting a very positive response at other universities, like Auburn. Kristen Robinson, the marketing coordinator for the Ferguson Center, said the response to the event at Alabama has been very positive as well.
“We have received an overwhelmingly positive response,” Robinson said. “The tickets were sold out almost a week before the event.”
Robinson said he agrees that it is a great chance for students to learn about other cultures and religions.
“The Interfaith Comedy Show will be a cultural experience that students would not usually be able to get on campus,” Robinson said. “It is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about other cultures and religions in a setting that is comfortable and fun — a comedy show.”
Michelle Hunter, the UA Wesley Foundation’s campus minister, said Campus Ministries fully supports the event.
“The overall goal of CMA is to foster appreciation and acceptance of all faith traditions on the UA campus, and this event really supports that goal,” Hunter said. “CMA hopes that this event will spark a discussion about true understanding and acceptance of our faith traditions. Through humor, we will see our strengths and differences through new eyes, and come to understand that we are more alike than different.”
The CMA always hosts a speaker for the Faith Seeking Understanding event and in order to attract more students, the comedy trio was invited to campus.
Hunter said the message behind the event is still important.
“Attending this event doesn’t mean that a person will convert to any faith tradition, but it does give us an opportunity to better understand where other people are on their faith journey, and in so doing we better understand our own journey” she said. “This event is not about converting people — it is a place to meet in the middle, get to know each other, and offer respect and dignity to each other.”
“There is an implicit message of healing and understanding that we really love to share, but we’re not preachy,” Alper said. “We don’t hit people over the head.”
