Fear of a Brown Planet opens with a riveting video sequence; scenes of epic movie battles spliced with scenes of the Cronulla riots. Accompanied by a Public Enemy soundtrack it sets the tone for an evening of Muslim-themed comedy.
Fear of a Brown Planet are Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman, they deliver individual stand-up routines around similar themes. Nazeem Hussain is an easy-going performer who brings a new voice and a fresh eye to a variety of topics including bogan party pin-up Corey Worthington, the racist overtones of the Auslan language and what Osama Bin Laden would be like as a stand-up comic. Suicide bombers, Hollywood villains and Bollywood soppy love songs get a workout in Hussain’s tight set that had the packed audience in stitches.
Aamer Rahman wraps up the second half with a slightly edgier set that pushes the audience just that little bit further out of the comfort zone and into new territory. There are a few lessons to we white-folks in the audience but then darker topics such as the Palm Islands riots and the benefits of migration are covered. There was a particularly interesting moment when Rahman moved onto sedition laws reminding the audience that John Howard was no longer the prime minister so that if you did want to follow your dream and perhaps dismember and assassinate him then now was the time. The man sitting behind me was outraged and made it clear to those around him that this was NOT funny. We were seated far enough from the stage for Rahman not to notice but interestingly everyone around him just ignored him – eventually he just shut up and left. It seems there are still people around who think it’s ok for our brown brothers and sisters to make fun of themselves but they’d better not make fun of the whities.
There is a lot of buzz around this show, reports of slow ticket sales for this year’s comedy festival certainly weren’t evident in the packed Quilt Room at Trades Hall last night. Simon Palomares urged his audiences to check out the show saying it felt like a new Wogs out of Work. Hussain does make jokes at his own expense about watered-down political statements but I don’t think either of these guys are going to go all Nick Giannopoulos on us. It’s up to you to decide if you believe the hype, Fear of a Brown Planet aren’t scary but they are definitely funny and we’ll certainly be seeing a lot more of them.
Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details