Standup comedy is a very recent phenomenon in Pakistan, but in other parts of the world like America it’s a huge business. Some of the biggest standup comedians tour all over the world and perform in massive venues in front of huge crowds of people. Some of these standup comedians become so famous that they end up becoming movie or TV stars.
We had Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey in the past and in the recent years we have the likes of Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Louis CK and others who became movie stars after honing their craft doing standup comedy.
The big news for Pakistani citizens is that the comedy hero, Jeremy McLellan, has decided to visit Pakistan this August. According to his official facebook page, McLellan would be having three shows in Pakistan in which two are in Islamabad and one in Lahore. The events are being arranged by Kuch Khaas - The Centre for Arts, Culture & Dialogue.
Furthermore, he said that there are going to be four university shows-locations would be announced later. Due to Jeremy’s endless love for Biryani, the show has been named: “This Biryani Tastes Funny”. Such a catchy name to attract spectators.
Jeremy McLellan is a standup comedian based in Charleston, SC where he won the 2015 and 2016 Charleston Standup Comedy Competition and was named Best Local Comic in the Charleston City Paper. In addition to telling jokes all over the country he has also performed with TJ Miller, Todd Barry, Tig Notaro, Mark Normand and others. Having more than 190,000 followers on Facebook, he is not the one to shy away from controversy. His material covers a wide range of hot-button topics like politics, gender, race, disability, religion, and Santa Claus.
It’s on Facebook that Jeremy comes alive and has gained a huge following within the Muslims in a very short amount of time. In an interview with DNA news, Jeremy McLellan said
“I was raised as a Christian in Charleston, South Carolina, so I didn’t really know any Muslims. I didn’t hate them. I just didn’t know any. But before I became a standup comedian, I used to work with people with intellectual disabilities, and I worked with an autistic guy named Saeed whose parents were Pakistani Muslims. They invited me over for biryani and showed me a lot of hospitality and it really meant a lot, because I was kind of an angry lonely guy at the time. So that was my first experience.”
Dates for his shows:
Al-Hamra Lahore: 4th August,2017
Islamabad Club: 10th August,2017
Aiwan-e-Quaid: 11th August,2017
Get your tickets for the show now because they will sell out fast. The tickets are available at Second cup and Islamabad Club.
The comedian himself is enthusiastic about the trip. The thrill and excitement can be identified by the jokes he has been uploading on social media sites. Some examples are quoted below:
The star has also declared his main purpose of visit besides performing comedy shows.
“My original reason for going is to assist a dental missions team in providing free dental care to the villagers surrounding Islamabad. So from August 7-11 I'll be spending 10-hour days in the hottest time of the year, serving people who may have never been to a dentist in their life. If you would like to support this trip, please donate and share. 100% of the money goes to the parent organization IMANA to pay for the care and supplies they receive”, the comedian explained.
If anyone wants to donate for this noble cause, here’s the link to it: https://imana.networkforgood.com/projects/33358-jeremy-mclellan-s-fundraiser?from_wicked_finish=true
The comedian has great sense of humor. McLellan has also made several visits to different Islamic countries including Turkey because of his huge popularity among Muslims.
To learn more about him, please visit his official website and facebook and twitter page.
