LOOKING FOR COMEDY
IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
Year: 2005
USA: Warner Independent
Cast: Albert Brooks, John Carroll Lynch, Sheetal Sheth, Jon Tenney, Fred Dalton Thompson, Amy Ryan, Homie Doroodian, Kavi Raz, Emma Lockhart, Penny Marshall, Victoria Burrows, Paul Eric Jerome, B J Ward, Tony Montero, Lynda Berg, Steve Kramer, Conrad Bachmann, Vipin Kumar, Avinash Kaur, Juliet Touzene, Sunny Raina, Rima Laham, Sanjeev Johrai, Imran Mashkoor Khan, Kavita Ashok, Sandhya Bhatia, Mitlesh Prasad, Manoj Buxi, Homie Doroodian, Surinder Arora, Gabbar Singh, Raul Laskarov, Duncan Bravo, Kevin Mukherji, Barbara Ali, Ali Supriwala, Sankalp Rastogi, Dhiru Shah, Ajay Mehta, Radha Zaidi, Kavi Raz, Anand Vadehra, Lalit P Jobanputra, Gagan Deep Singh, P D Mani, Mike Akrawi, Marco Khan, Ben Anand, Raghu Bhagat, Subash Kundanmal, Ahmed Ahmed, Yasmine Hannaney, Marshall Manesh, Sameh Sheik, Shaheen Sheik, Linden Soles
Director: Albert Brooks
Country: USA
USA: 98 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for drug content and brief strong language
USA Release Date: 20 January 2006 (Limited Release)
Synopsis
In the hilarious new film LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD, comedian Albert Brooks gets summoned by politician/actor Fred Dalton Thompson to come to Washington D.C. to help in a new diplomatic effort. His job? Spend a month in India and Pakistan, write a 500 page report, and tell the U.S. government what makes the over 300 million Muslims in the region laugh. While Brooks isn't sure he's the man for the job, the possibility of a Medal of Freedom proves irresistible and he accepts.
With the aid of two government agents, Stuart (John Carrol Lynch), Mark (Jon Tenney), and a lovely assistant, Maya (Sheetal Sheth), Brooks starts the interviewing process, as soon as he lands in India, asking everyone, "What makes you laugh?" Since people aren't as forthcoming as he would like, and when he discovers there are no comedy clubs in India or Pakistan that would help him observe, he decides to put on The Big Show, the first comedy concert in New Delhi. He figures that by what the audience laughs at, he'll get what he needs for his important government assignment. He figured wrong. Undaunted, Brooks continues his quest, doing everything from a clandestine meeting with a group of Pakistani comedians, to a business meeting with Al Jezeera, all in the hopes of achieving his goal.
LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD provides an inspired and comedic view of America's approach towards other cultures. Written, directed by and starring Albert Brooks, the comedy also stars John Carroll Lynch, Sheetal Sheth, Jon Tenney, and Fred Dalton Thompson.