11/6/2009 11:45:02 AM

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By Christina Killion Valdez

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

Turning the pulpit into a stage for a Jewish and Muslim stand-up comedy duo may be unorthodox, but expect this show to be kosher. Or for that matter, even halal.

	If you go What: Laugh in Peace Tour, with Rabbi Bob Alper and Azhar Usman When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Where: B'nai Israel Synagogue, 150 Seventh Ave. S.W., Rochester Tickets: $18 in advance, $22 at the door.

Comedian Rabbi Bob Alper of Vermont, whose act is heard on Sirius and XM satellite radio, has teamed up with Muslim comedians since 2002. "We wanted to do a three-comic show -- a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian," Alper said, "But we couldn't find any Christian comedians."

All joking aside, the goal of the Laugh in Peace Tour, which Alper will perform in Rochester with Chicago-based comedian Azhar Usman, is, "If you can laugh together you can't hate one another."

"What the show does is bring people together to have a good time," Usman said.

The duo, which travels across the country and internationally, often performs on college campuses where Muslim and Jewish students don't interact until the student groups jointly promote, plan and attend the show. "By the end they are actually friends," Usman said.

The same thing happened with Alper and Usman, who have performed more than 100 shows together and gotten to know each other personally. "It's a joy for me to work with him," Usman said of Alper. "He's a mentor and confidant for me."

Usman, a 1999 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, quit his legal practice in 2004 to do comedy full-time. He's since co-founded the "Allah Made Me Funny -- The Official Muslim Comedy Tour" and shared the stage with Dave Chappelle, Jim Gaffigan, Russell Peters, Todd Barry and the late Mitch Hedberg.

Alper, who's been a rabbi for 37 years, made the switch to stand-up more than 20 years ago. Yet he still leads High Holiday services in Philadelphia where he had a congregation for 25 years.

"I did not want to have to listen to some other rabbi's service on High Holidays," he joked.

While both men use religion in some of their jokes, it's not esoteric.

"People of all faiths will certainly understand all the material. You don't need to be a Jew or Muslim," Alper said.

The duo also steers clear of politics. Even during a question and answer portion of the show, they stick to comedy.

"The point is to bring people together," he said. "Politics tend to demonize and pull people apart. We treat this as an apolitical show on purpose, not that we don't think people should talk politics, but because unfortunately the discourse is so frustrated that people can't sit in same room with someone of a differing point of view without getting angry and upset. To have a meaningful exchange, we need to sit down in (the) same room and humanize one another."

Because of that, their jokes stem from truth and real life.

"Good comedy makes you laugh and makes you think," Usman said.

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