Media Coverage about ICCF:

Holy jokes!

Christian and Muslim comics show believers that faith sometimes is best shared through laughter - especially when it's at themselves.

By Ron Orozco / The Fresno Bee

Comedian Preacher Moss draws laughter at the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno.

Kurt Hegre / The Fresno Bee

Emily Wildey sits near the last row at Clovis Hills Community Church last Saturday night, laughing at a stand-up comic.

Leland Klassen, the comic, fans out his fingers and thumbs to show his abnormally large hands.

"When I shake someone's hand," Klassen says, "I tickle their armpits."

Wildey, who has small hands, smiles and chuckles.

"Life is funny," says Kathy Forringer, who also is at the comedy show at the church. "God has a sense of humor."

Comedy material that audience members can identify with, particularly everyday life involving family members, is finding a niche at central San Joaquin Valley places of worship.

Religious officials say they want to provide comedy that doesn't have profanity and references to sex and drugs.

Kimberly MacNeil, pastor of worship and arts at Clovis Hills Community Church, says Christian comics connect in a special way with audience members, making them feel comfortable about visiting the place of worship.

"It's comics talking about themselves - and real life," MacNeil says. "People say, 'They get me. That's me.'

"All of a sudden, people are saying, 'I might be able to find the answers to my spiritual questions here because they get me.'"

Imam Seyed Ali Ghazvini of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno says Muslim comics not only make audience members laugh but also help to dispel negative images toward Muslims in post-Sept. 11 America.

"People think we are terrorists," says Ghazvini, who is in his office talking before the center had a comedy night on May 19.

A Muslim comic, Azhar Usman who is sitting nearby, interjects, saying, "We are going to do a lot of terror here tonight."

Muslim comic Bryant Reginald Moss, who goes by the stage name Preacher Moss, and Usman brought the Allah Made Me Funny tour to the center.

Preacher Moss wears glasses, a black skullcap and quotes late comedian Redd Foxx: "He said, 'I didn't want to be Catholic - I had a bad knee.'"

Like all comics, they will do a lot to get a laugh. Usman wears a blue cap with "S" for Superman.

At Clovis Hills Community Church last Saturday, Klassen wears an oversized green hockey jersey. He contorts his lanky frame into Big Bird, sans the yellow feathers, and wobbles across the stage. Comics Kenn Kington and Tim Hawkins join Klassen for the show.

Kington pulls up his pant leg to reveal what he is wearing - women's black stockings.

It has a run, of course.

Audience members such as Wildey and her husband, Dave, say it is a good thing that comics with material about family members getting through everyday circumstances come to churches.

"We would love to go to comedy clubs, but everyone at those places feels they have to use bad language," she says.

Officials at Clovis Hills encourage members to invite friends who normally wouldn't visit the church. So the Wildeys bring another couple with them to Ultimate Comedy Theater.

"They feel this isn't such a bad thing," she says. "You come knowing what's going to be thrown at you."

During the performance, Kington talks about his daughter singing the popular children's song "Jesus Loves Me" but mistakenly mixing in lyrics from the songs "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "The Alphabet Song."

Kington repeats his daughters' words, "Jesus loves me, this I know . Up above the world so high . L, M, N, O, P."

Kington says his daughter asks for help. So he responds, "Q, R, S, T."

Daughter wrinkles her nose, Kington says.

"Oh, Daddy" comes the clincher.

Emily Wildey, who has kids, feels her heart melt.

Forringer agrees that it is important that comics such as Kington, Klassen and Hawkins perform at churches. One of the hardest things about being Christian, she says, is being called a serious person about everything in life.

"A lot of times, the image of Christians is, 'You're staunch,'" says Forringer, who is from Philadelphia and is visiting MacNeil.

Forringer says, "As a Christian, you have that joy, so it makes it a lot easier to respond to ups and downs in life."

Before performing at Clovis Hills, Kington, Klassen and Hawkins meet in the Green Room at Clovis Hills to discuss comedy at churches.

Kington has been a comic for 15 years. His first gig was in 1991 at a church, which paid him $50. Kington says opportunities increased for comics at places of worship soon after Sept. 11.

"There was such a hunger for anything faith-based, after 9/11," says Kington, who is writing a book about his experiences.

"There was an awareness of people seeking," Kington says. "Believers were wanting some sort of bridge to invite their friends to church."

The Ultimate Comedy Theater tour was founded in May 2002.

In the Green Room, the subject of the recently released film "The Da Vinci Code" pops up. Kington says he is certain Jesus and Mary Magdalene never married.

Hawkins interjects, addressing how Mary Magdalene would have responded while opening wedding gifts.

"What - myrrh again?" Hawkins says.

Kington fires back, "Regifted."

At the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, Moss says comics and faith have been around for a long time.

Moss, a comic for 22 years, used to specialize in black-themed humor. He has performed at the same Comedy Cafe in Washington, D.C., where Dave Chappelle and Martin Lawrence tore up audiences.

Things changed after Moss converted from Baptist to Muslim.

Moss agrees that opportunities have increased for comics to come to places of worship after Sept. 11. Moss put together the Allah Made Me Funny tour in April 2004.

Usman's routine includes the predicament of being Muslim in post-Sept. 11 America.

Usman says he gets dirty looks walking down the street as if he were responsible for 9/11.

"Me responsible for 9/11?" he asks.

"7-Eleven, maybe."

The reporter can be reached at rorozco@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6304.


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