The rising star of Bethlehem

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Look at that mug by Haris Khan

Look at that mug
by Haris Khan

Just kidding. Haris Khan is a rising star of comedy!

He was the 2015 CBC Future 40 award winner. He was runner up for Best Comedian of 2015. He opened for Chris D’Elia at Casion Regina, he sold out shows on his world tour, and he raised over $20,000 for non-profit organizations in six years.

Who is this?! You guessed it! Haris Khan.

In reference to his sold out World Tour shows, Haris states, “Being on an International show I can proudly say, ‘I’m Canadian!’ Here, if I say that, people are like, ‘Excuse me. Hello immigrant.’”

Clearly, this bro is pretty legit and quite funny. And, he’s putting on a Stand Up for Humanity show on Mar. 12 in the Education Auditorium 106. Doors open at 6:30p.m. and show starts at 7p.m. So, get your dolla’ dolla’ bills ready to buy tickets. Just kidding! This show is free, folks. Yes, free. Boom.

Now, what, you may ask, will this lovely show entail? Well, let me allow Haris to tell you.

“We’re getting religious scholars from different faiths from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They’re going to come and talk about love and peace from their religions and how we can promote love and peace using religion.”

Doesn’t that just sound wonderful? I think so. Ultimately, through this show, Haris and his Stand Up for Change crew hope to educate students on and promote the themes of peace and love instead of talking about differences in religion.

According to Haris, an Aboriginal speaker will also be joining the ranks to present the “Aboriginal perspective of love and peace [and to talk] about things from their culture and from their traditions.”

As Haris states, “The whole point is to promote peace and harmony by educating people.”

I personally think this is a valuable event. Hopefully it will help others understand the similar themes of peace, love, and harmony in various religious groups rather than focus on the differences, othering, and racism.

This one time, Haris did a show in small town SK to a group entirely composed of Caucasians.

Haris says, “After the show, a guy came to me and said, ‘You’re Muslim?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m Muslim.’ And he said, “Man, you’re so different from the others I’ve seen on TV.’”

Obviously, this gem, who will not be named, lacked experience and education on different cultural and religious groups. According to Haris, this man wanted to learn more about Haris’ culture and religion. He even asked to keep in touch with the comedian to continue asking questions. That’s what sparked the idea of having this Stand Up for Humanity show. Clearly, people need to get educated on these things! Ignorance is just not cool, yo.

Anywho, for those of you who don’t really give a crap about any of this peace, love, and harmony business, at least come to the second part of the show, which is… wait for it… entertainment! Huzzah!

“The second part of the show is pure entertainment,” says Haris. “There will be comedians. There will be musicians. There will be improv groups.”

In other words, much fun will be had.

“There will be fun and laughter,” Haris states. “Plus, at the same time, you learn, hopefully take a positive message, do something good about it, and spread peace and love in your community.”

Plus, let’s be honest here. Haris has a diverse group of friends; he’s lived internationally, so he has a pretty good handle on tailoring his jokes to certain audiences. So, prepare yourself for some sick jokes.

In reference to a show he put on in an Aboriginal community, Haris says, “One of the jokes that killed was when I said, ‘My parents want me to marry a Pakistani woman,’ but I want to marry a Native Indian woman for obvious reasons. I’ll be driving a cab and she’s going to support me with her tax-free gas, so soulmate there! They laughed! They went nuts on it!”

Although he likes to joke on common stereotypes, don’t worry about being offended. His intent is to tell jokes that make people die laughing, not to offend and make people throw tomatoes at him.

Haris also has his own experiences to draw on when it comes to cracking some good ones. He’s actually been told by an airport official “You’re not a Canadian,” which resulted in a pretty awesome joke. But, I forgot what it was. Sorry.

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