Comedian Gibran Saleem had never met a Jewish person until starting his graduate studies at New York University more than a decade ago. The child of Pakistani immigrants, Saleem was raised in a Muslim household in northern Virginia where, he said, he was mostly surrounded by people with a similar cultural background.
“I knew about the Holocaust, and that was it,” Saleem said. “I didn’t know anything about the [Jewish] religion, culture, any of that until I moved to New York [City], which is pretty wild to me.”
Things have changed drastically since then. Today, Saleem is part of a loose collective of about a dozen comedians known as Comedy for Peace, an international, interfaith comedy project that brings together Jewish, Muslim and Christian comedians. On Saturday, Saleem, along with four other comics, will perform a one-night-only show, “Comedy for Peace,” at the Upper East Side’s Comic Strip Live as part of the New York Comedy Festival.
“It’s a very simple idea,” said the group’s founder, Jewish Israeli comedian Erik Angel, who is also performing Saturday. “It’s to bring, under one roof, different communities and show how easy it is to have fun.”
A 10-year resident of the Upper West Side, Angel, 50, grew up in Petach Tikvah. He founded Comedy for Peace in 2019, just a few years after he entered the comedy circuit following a career as a musician. After two successful interfaith shows early that year, “Comedy for Peace” became a recurring event that aims to promote tolerance. Since then, the group has played more than 200 shows across North America, where they’ve helped raise money for various causes, including helping nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting the Parents Circle Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian group that brings together families who have lost relatives on both sides of the conflict.
And now, the group’s latest gig will take place in a tense New York City, with many local Jews worried about the forthcoming mayoral leadership of avowed anti-Zionist Zohran Mamdani. As such, Angel thinks Saturday’s show will be “very important,” adding that he hopes cross-cultural comedy will help alleviate “all the fear, all the things coming from this separation” between Mamdani’s supporters and detractors.
“Even in Israeli media, people online, and I think the panic is — I understand where they’re coming from, and I also have my concerns,” said Angel. “But on the other hand, it’s democracy.”
Despite their lofty ambitions, Angel sees “Comedy for Peace” as a brief respite from politics. “We say to you, ‘OK, you want to fight before? You want to fight after? With us, we’re gonna chill [for] two hours,’” he said. “’We’re gonna chill.’”
Saturday’s “Comedy for Peace” lineup includes Iranian comedian Tehran Ghasri, who is also Black and whose family is Muslim, Zoroastrian and Jewish; lesbian Jewish comedian Liz Glazer, who recently made her “Tonight Show” debut; and Texas-born Ashley Austin Morris, who is Christian.
“The ultimate goal is just unity and shared compassion,” Saleem said.
“Comedy for Peace” will take place on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Comic Strip Live, 1568 Second Ave. Get tickets, $36.60, here.
Other Jewish shows at the NY Comedy Festival
With more than 100 shows across the five boroughs, the annual New York Comedy Festival runs through Sunday, Nov. 16 this year. Here are a few Jewish highlights from the fest:
Anna Roisman co-hosts “Celebrity Drop-In” on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at The Stand West (407 West 15th St.). Roisman is the creator of the one-woman show “Jewish American Prodigy” and known for her impressions and characters on Instagram and TikTok. Get tickets from $29.
Eli Leonard presents “Good Showbiz,” an experimental show exploring the history of Jewish comedy, on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at iconic Jewish restaurant Barney Greengrass (541 Amsterdam Ave.). Tickets here from $72.
“Alex Borstein Is Thirsty” plays Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at The Bell House (149 7th St., Brooklyn). The Jewish comedian and actress is best known for her voice work on “Family Guy” and as Susie Myerson in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and this solo show is part of her national tour. Tickets here from $38.
“The Jackie Mason Musical” will have three showings, on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at the Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd St.) on the Upper West Side. Mason’s daughter, Sheba, who was not publicly recognized by the late comedian until she was 18 years old, stars in this story about her parents’ relationship. Get your tickets here from $30.
“Good Neighbors: A Fundraiser for Jews for Racial and Economic Justice,” hosted by comedians Orli Matlow and Marcia Belsky, will be performed on Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Brooklyn Art Haus (24 Marcy Ave.). Tickets start at $23.
“Hysterical,” presented by stand-up comedian Hannah Lieberman, will be performed on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at QED Astoria (27-16 23rd Ave.). The one-woman comedy musical is about Lieberman’s experience learning she has the BRCA-1 gene. Get tickets, $10, here.
“Natan Badalov: Chosen Fam” will be performed Friday at 8 p.m. at Astoria’s Grove 34 (31-83 34th St.). Badalov, a Bukharian comedian, debuted his first stand-up special, “Connect The Dots” at the New York Comedy Festival in 2023. Get your tickets for “Chosen Fam” here from $23.
“Alex Edelman: What Are You Going To Do” will be performed on Saturday at 6 p.m at Carnegie Hall (881 Seventh Ave.). Edelman is the creator of the very Jewish, award-winning special “Just for Us,” and now stars on the Peacock show “The Paper.” (Tickets for this show are sold out.)
“Talia Reese and Friends: Kosher Style” will be performed Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Rodney’s Comedy Club (1118 First Ave.). Reese, an Orthodox Jewish woman and a former lawyer, is known for her insider-y Jewish comedy. Tickets here from $22.
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