Azhar Usman

Usman wrote a one-man show titled "Ultra American: A Patriot Act starring Azhar Usman" and premiered it at Silk Road Rising in Chicago in September 2016.

In June 2013, Usman featured on an interfaith special, What's So Funny About Religion?, alongside Lewis Black and Mohammed Amer, which was broadcast on the CBS Television Network.

In 2008, CNN aired an hour-long special, entitled America's Funniest Muslim, on its Turkish affiliate, which included both performance clips and an extended Q&A session with Usman. In November 2008, he toured India, debuting at the American Center in New Delhi.

Usman and Matt Sunbulli founded a production company called 9 Saints. (now defunct). In 2008, Usman produced a short film, The Boundary (directed by Julius Onah), which was selected as a finalist by the HBO Short Film Competition, and aired on that network several times. Usman also appeared in the critically acclaimed, independent feature film Mooz-lum (directed by Qasim "Q" Basir) in 2011, starring opposite Roger Guenveur Smith, Evan Ross, Nia Long, and film legend Danny Glover. He also appeared in several documentaries as himself, including It's My Country Too: Muslim Americans (directed by Ruhi Hamid for BBC), Me and the Mosque (directed by Zarqa Nawaz for CBC), and STANDUP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age (directed by Glenn Baker for PBS).

In March 2005, ABC Nightline ran an entire episode about Usman called "MUSLIM COMIC." In 2008, CNN's Turkish affiliate (CNN Türk) ran a one-hour special starring Usman, entitled "America's Funniest Muslim," which included a portion of live standup, followed by a lengthy Q&A session with the audience. In 2009, Usman was listed as one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims by Georgetown University's The Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding and Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan. In 2010, fellow comedian and legendary standup icon Dave Chappelle remarked: "Azhar Usman is untouchable", after a show at The New Parish in Oakland, California. Usman has opened for Chappelle over 40 times since first meeting him in 2005.

In May 2004, Usman along with Preacher Moss and Azeem Muhammad (later replaced by Mohammed Amer in 2006) launched a comedy tour titled Allah Made Me Funny. He also co-wrote and produced a feature-length documentary/concert film based on the live tour, which was theatrically exhibited at Landmark Theatres in over a dozen top US markets in 2008. The film was directed by award-winning documentarian Andrea Kalin and funded by the Unity Productions Foundation. Allah Made Me Funny toured 30 U.S. cities during its first year, and also in Canada, Europe, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Middle East.

Since 1996, Usman had a friend who was an amateur comic and he would take him to a comedy club in Minneapolis. This inspired him to write an act in 2000. Usman started performing stand-up comedy in early 2001, a few months before September 11, initially as a hobby. However, in 2004, he had enough bookings to make a run at it. In early 2004, Usman stopped practicing law full-time. He has performed in many major cities in the U.S. as well as in over 20 countries on five continents.

In 1993, Usman graduated from Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois. In 1996, he graduated with a BA degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and in 1999 a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School. He co-founded an Internet startup, then practiced law, and then started performing stand-up comedy.

Azhar Muhammad Usman (Urdu: اظہر محمد عثمان ‎; born December 23, 1975) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and film producer of Indian descent. He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and has been referred to as the "Ayatollah of Comedy" and "Bin Laughin". He is best known as one third of comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny.

Usman was born in Chicago and as a child lived in mostly Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, United States. In the 1970s, Usman's veterinarian father Zia Usman (a graduate of Aligarh Muslim University) and housewife mother Atiya Usman left Bihar, India and emigrated to the United States.