The Truth Hurts proved a highly entertaining and political night of comedy
If you enjoy the rawness and unapologetic nature of political comedy, then Aamer Rahman’s free comedy show The Truth Hurts is the stand-up for you.
Terrorism and racism are touchy subjects, and joking about them can spark heated argument among people.
Surprisingly, the audience at the comedy show was ecstatic, and quite pleased, to hear a man of Bangladeshi origin, who spent most of his life in Australia, shining the spotlight on racist white people and cracking jokes about some of the most controversial topics. He seems to be a spinoff of Russell Peters in that respect.
“Tonight I will be making jokes about terrorism, but I’m completely opposed to it,” Rahman clarified.
While his subject matter may be risque, it is clear that Rahman’s intentions are aimed at raising awareness and poking fun at racial prejudices.
For instance, the infamous Boston Marathon bombing that occurred last spring was soon to be transformed into comic relief.
“I didn’t care how many people died, I didn’t care how many people got injured,” Rahman said. “I had one thought in my mind the entire time: whoever finds out who did this, please be white!”
All jokes aside, there is certainly more to Rahman’s comedy than just a series of witty jokes and laughter. Rahman educated his viewers on the gravity of current social-political issues in the Middle East and in Australia.
“The Australian government recently changed the law to make it easier to publish [a] hate speech,” he said.
Naturally, most audience members shook their heads in disbelief. Some even shouted hate at the prime minister of Australia, Tony Abbott.
Rahman soon lightened the mood by recounting a moment when he and his cousin from Bangladesh went to a heavy metal concert.
“These people looked like Orcs from Lord of the Rings,” he said.
He added that they saw a woman in a black sleeveless dress with a tattoo of a portrait of Adolf Hitler on her arm. “ I felt at that moment time stopped and that tattoo of Adolf Hitler locked eyes with me and said ‘have a nice night’.”
This was followed by loud laughter and a standing ovation.
Rahman’s career in comedy began by accident. “My friend Nazeem started doing comedy at an open mic competition and I just copied him,” he said.
He always took interest in political protests as a law student at Monash University, and the comedy prompted him to express these issues to a larger audience.
“I used to be involved in a lot of different types of activism so when I started doing comedy I just started talking about those things.”
Rahman is currently finishing up his North American tour of The Truth Hurts and will be doing another one next year.
For more information, you can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @aamer_rahman.
