(Live in Denver: clean version)
(Live in Washington: mature version)
Independent Release
Ahmed Ahmed is a very good stand-up comic. Perhaps you know him because he was on The View, in the extra features section of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, or because he was on many talk shows because he is Muslim and, well, it’s something people pay attention to. Well, the important thing is the Ahmed Ahmed comedy CD I Believe I Can’t Fly is very good. This review is about the mature version of I Believe I Can’t Fly. There is also a different clean version of this CD, with fewer tracks but with a 20 minute recording of One Muslim, One Jew, One Stage, Two Very Funny Guys, the excellent two-man comedy show Ahmed Ahmed and Rabbi Bob Alper have put together.
The mature version of I Believe I Can’t Fly has eleven tracks on which the comic deals with the usual material stand-up comics deal with on their first CD: growing up, airplanes, relationships, and so on. What makes this Ahmed comedy CD interesting and definitely worth getting is that not only Ahmed Ahmed can tell a funny joke and a funny story but his take on these well-worn topics is new, different, and definitely has an interesting edge to it. For example, track three is if Blacks go to jail and become Muslim and take a Muslim name, does that mean when a Muslim goes to jail he becomes Black and takes a Black name?
What is really interesting about Ahmed Ahmed and I Believe I can’t Fly is this comedian has the gonads to take on what everybody is thinking, fearing, and wondering about and tackles these questions head on with a great sense of humor. If you are curious about what a Muslim comic sounds like, get this. If you like solid stand-up comedy by an intelligent comic, get this CD. If you enjoy comedy and new takes on things, get this. Oh, make sure you baby this CD. There is no doubt Ahmed Ahmed will be around for a long time, will become even more successful, and this independent release of I Believe I Can’t Fly will become a valuable collector’s item.