“We twist ourselves into knots convincing people that Islam is peaceful and varied before we realize that, wait a second, you can be a Muslim while also recognizing that Islam doesn't even explain half of your behaviors!” PeopleWaitingRealizingBehaviorIslamPeacefulConvincing Author:Negin Farsad
“There's something about political comedy that sometimes closes people off, and my general goal is to open people right up.” PeopleSometimesPoliticalGoalComedy Author:Negin Farsad
“I knew that the black struggle wasn't my struggle. But I felt like it was my-struggle-adjacent, you know? I've always said that if you turn the dial in one direction, a Muslim is a Jew is an East Asian person is a Native American and so on. I feel very much that all of these struggles are kind of the same and - Hillary Clinton actually said this recently - when you get rid of one barrier, it opens up the gates for a whole bunch of people you didn't even know would benefit from it. So not fighting for the black struggle is like not fighting for the Muslim struggle.” PeopleKindFightingBlackStruggleClintonJewNativeBarriersGatesNative AmericanMy Struggle Author:Negin Farsad
“In general, I think there are some things that require time before you can talk about them. Some stuff that happened over the summer, for instance - the Philando Castile shooting, Alton Sterling, the police officers in Dallas - there was no room for jokes. But there are, of course, the policies that have given us those events. Now, there's a lot of room for jokes there. When you're looking at something difficult to talk about, there's always a sideways way in that feels a little less personal to people. That's where the joke lives.” PeopleThinkingDifficultPolicySummerJokesPolicePolice OfficerSideways Author:Negin Farsad
“Thanks to the Internet, I think, a lot of hate has moved to more anonymous venues. A lot of people get their aggression out that way. Or they do some drive-by hating—you know, where they’re in a car and they yell something stupid out the window at a stoplight and then take off. It’s just not as involved and laborious to be a hater as it used to be. There’s not as much face-to-face interaction. Facebook’s made ’em lazy.” PeopleThinkingHateCarStupidInternetWindowMovedThanksLazyAggressionHate You Author:Negin Farsad
“The fundamental truth guiding social justice comedy is that people are not shitty. That sounds cheesy, but that's how I have to approach it. Everybody has the capacity for change.” PeopleJusticeComedySocial JusticeCheesy Author:Negin Farsad
