Comedy special: This House believes women are superior to men
Monday May 24 2010
MOTION PASSED
by 67% to 33%
Speakers
Azhar Usman
Speaking for the motion
Azhar Usman is a standup comedian and the co-founder of the "Allah Made Me Funny-Official Muslim Comedy Tour." Formally trained as an attorney, Azhar has been touring as a full-time standup comedian since 2004 and has performed in over twenty countries, on five continents. Azhar will appear in the indie film "MOOZ-lum" alongside Hollywood actors Danny Glover and Nia Long. In 2006 he performed a full hour of live standup at a private dinner party for former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and in 2009 was named among " The 500 Most Influential Muslims" on the planet by Georgetown University's The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
Carrie Quinlan
Speaking against the motion
Carrie Quinlan is a British actress, writer and comedian. She is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz, and has also written for Radio 4's The Now Show and That Mitchell and Webb Sound. Quinlan trained at the Guidhall School of Music and Drama. She started out performing in the theatre, appearing in plays such as Hedda Gabler, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, and The Seagull. She regularly appears at the Edinburgh, Hay-on-Wye and Latitude festivals in the UK. She writes regularly for The Guardian newspaper and has contributed to New Humanist and The Tablet. She is as baffled by the recent UK election as everyone else.
Maysoon Zayid
Speaking for the motion
Maysoon Zayid is an actress and professional standup comedian. She has performed stand-up in top New York clubs, and has toured extensively in the USA as well as Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. She has also appeared on As The World Turns, Law & Order, MTV, NBC Nightly News, CNN, ABC's 20/20, The New York Times, and BBC. She is the co-founder and co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and can be seen in Comedy Central's The Watch List, PBS's America at a Crossroads: Muslim Comics Stand Up, and in Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess With Zohan. Currently she is a co-headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour. Maysoon spends 3 months a year in Palestine where she runs Maysoon's Kids, a scholarship and wellness program for disabled and wounded refugee children and orphans.
Robin Ince
Speaking against the motion
Robin Ince is a comedian, writer and broadcaster . He began his career writing for BBC comedy shows including The 11 O'Clock Show, Alistair McGowan's Big Impressions and Meet Ricky Gervais. Ince appears regularly on the BBC's arts programme, Newsnight Review and has recently written a science show for BBC Radio 4. Ince supported Ricky Gervais on his Fame tour in 2007 and his first feature film Razzle Dazzle about children's dance contests in Australia was officially selected by the Berlin Film Festival and the New York International Children's Film Festival.
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