Azhar Usman is one of the world's few American Muslim standup comedians. Writing and performing comedy for the past several years, he has developed a unique act based on transethnic and intercultural issues, keen and witty insights, and general observational humor. In 2004, he co-founded Allah Made Me Funny-The Official Muslim Comedy Tour with fellow Muslim comedian Preacher Moss, a 21-year veteran of the comedy industry and a former writer for George Lopez, Darrell Hammond, and Damon Wayans. Azhar and the Tour have been profiled, featured, and/or mentioned in over 100 major world media including, The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek, Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, WGN, FOX, BBC (UK), BBC Urdu (South Asia), CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), MBC (Middle East), Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt), Jawa Pos (Indonesia), DAWN (Pakistan) and dozens more. In March 2005, Azhar was the subject of an entire episode of ABC NIGHTLINE; he was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered during the following summer; and in August he became a regularly featured on-air personality on Viacom's newly established MTV DESI. Azhar has performed at universities and prestigious theatre halls and auditoriums across the world, as well as North America's top comedy clubs, including The Improv (DC, Brea, and San Jose), The Comedy Zone (Charlotte and Knoxville), Yuk Yuk's (Toronto), and his hometown club, Zanies (Chicago).

The New Republic Online wrote: "In the world of 'Allah Made Me Funny,' Usman is the show. He's not just a person in whom two cultures clash, he's a wholly new invention: a world-weary comic, yes, but also a strictly optimistic believer, a political activist and obedient follower, a preacher and rebel all rolled up into one, swirling the audience's unspoken fears, expectations, and preconceptions in a richly entertaining mix."

Beyond comedy, Azhar is also an experienced lecturer, presenting around the country on a variety of subjects. Drawing on his insights as a successful entrepreneur, lawyer, and community activist, Azhar's lectures are insightful and in demand. He serves as a co-founding Board Member of The Nawawi Foundation, an educational non-profit foundation created to foster research and development of an American Muslim intelligentsia to support American Muslim social and cultural creativity. He also serves on the Strategic Advisory Board of The Starlatch Press, a publisher and purveyor of translated classical and traditional Muslim texts.

Azhar has taken classes at the world famous Second City Training Center in Chicago, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School.

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