"Hello, My Name is Shazia Mirza"12:00AM / Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Lenox - The Last Temptation of Mirza: a montage of original comedy and personal reflection featuring Shazia Mirza, the internationally renowned Muslim stand-up comic, comes to the Berkshires as part of the "Voices from the Edge" speakers series; sponsored by What is Enlightenment? magazine.
On Monday, February 14, 7:30pm at Foxhollow Forum, Route 7, Lenox, MA. Tickets: $12, students $5, available at the door. For more information log on to www.wie.org/voices or call 413.637.6000. Reservations strongly recommended since space is limited.
Shazia Mirza is available for interviews through Hope Cohen, 413.637.6060 or hcohen@wie.org.
The world’s premier Muslim comedienne, Britain's Shazia Mirza, is making her Berkshire debut performing her stand-up act "The Last Temptation of Mirza," which highlights her unique experience as an observant Muslim woman and comic. Presented by the Voices from the Edge speakers series, this event is a rare opportunity to engage with Mirza in an intimate setting. The evening will begin with a stand-up performance, followed by an audience question/answer period, and then end with a reception.
2004 was the "Year of Shazia Mirza." Exploding onto the international media's radar screen, she was: chosen as one of the Women of the Year by The Guardian, one of England's most prestigious daily newspapers; picked as one of the Women to Watch by Marie Claire magazine; interviewed by Ed Bradley on CBS's 60 Minutes; and featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and dozens of international magazines, newspapers, and TV programs around the world. Why all the attention for the 27-year-old British-born Pakistani comic? The answer is obvious once you meet her.
Shazia Mirza is not your ordinary stand-up comic. She's a practicing Muslim, devoted to her traditions and culture. She's also, like many women her age, a devotee of popular music, pop culture, and fashion. Then again, unlike most people her age—let alone any stand-up comic—she maintains Islam's strict prohibitions against drinking, smoking, and dating before marriage.
Directing her deadpan observations not only at her own cultural traditions and faith, but also at the stereotypical views of Muslim people that entered the Western psyche post 9/11, Shazia has a unique appeal to both East and West. Her ability to embody paradox and still be wildly funny and outrageous is why Mirza is a rising star.
This is also the reason she was invited to be a “speaker” for Voices from the Edge. The international speakers series, sponsored by What Is Enlightenment? magazine, presents thought leaders and visionaries from all walks of life with a mission to challenge their audience to stretch beyond familiar ways of thinking.
"I was struck by Shazia's fearless candor. She is walking an edge between Islam and the West as a young Muslim woman doing stand-up comedy,” says Mary Adams, director of the Voices from the Edge series. “Although she is not a 'speaker' as such, I feel she is definitely a 'voice from the edge'."
Mirza’s routines are an original combination of cultural observations, commentary and comedy.
About the male gaze: "I was walking past this building site in Mecca when a group of
Muslim builders shouted, 'Show us your . . . face.' "
About arranged marriages: "My friend Julie says, 'How can you sleep with someone you don't know?'
-- but she does it all the time."
For more information about Shazia's Berkshires appearance visit the Voices from the Edge website at www.wie.org/voices or call Foxhollow Forum at 413.637.6000. For more information about Shazia Mirza and her upcoming 2005 tour of Pakistan, Australia, USA, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, visit her official website at www.shaziamirza.org.
"The packed crowd always explodes with laughter and applause…"
Aliza Marcus, The Boston Globe
"In the global menagerie of comedy Mirza is that rarest of rare creatures…"
Marshall Sella, The New York Times Sunday Magazine
What Is Enlightenment? magazine (WIE) is published quarterly by What Is Enlightenment? Press, a non-profit, educational organization dedicated to a revolution in human consciousness and culture. WIE also sponsors the Voices from the Edge speakers series which offers an annual calendar of lectures and seminars featuring innovative thinkers and prominent leaders in various fields of expertise. WIE has an international readership of 75,000 and is celebrating its thirteenth year in print. www.wie.org
Foxhollow Forum, the international base for Voices from the Edge, is an elegant turn-of-the-century speaking venue. Drawing to the podium those pathfinders who are expressing the visions and values of an emerging global culture, The Forum also functions as a conference center for events related to the work of author and evolutionary philosopher Andrew Cohen, founder of WIE magazine and the Voices speakers series. |
