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Riad Moosa Biography
Riaad is a medical doctor and both his parents are doctors and all his aunts and uncles are doctors. But his dad has always said to him, "Riaad, you can do anything you want to in this world....as long as you become an orthopaedic surgeon first."
Having trained as a comedy magician, Riaad was challenged to move over to pure stand-up - propless, gimmickless, trickless - for the adrenalin rush of relying on just himself, his voice and thousands of screaming fans..... Riaad started performing stand-up at the Cape Comedy Collective's free Comedy Lab workshops, and just two months later he was the winner of the hotly contested One City, Many Comics Talent Competition held as part of the One City Festival in September 1999.
Riaad represented the CCC at the 9th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Durban in October 1999 and appeared on Evita: Live and Dangerous on eTV as a guest of Pieter-Dirk Uys in December of that year. He is a headliner on the CCC's Cape Town circuit and appeared on stages all over the country as part of the Green's Spicer Comedy Tour to campus cities nationwide in 2000.
Riaad celebrated Eid by headlining the final show of the CCC's run of their festive celebration "FROLIC!" at the Spier Amphitheatre in December 2001.
He spent 2002 living in Gauteng and performed regularly in venues around Jo'burg. He was the hit of the 5fm Heavyweight Comedy Jam at the Sandton Centre in April, appeared on the Sprite Soul Comedy national tour in May and performed at the Laugh Out Loud concert for the Reach for a Dream Foundation in November which was broadcast on SABC3 on New Year's Eve.
Riaad returned to his native Cape Town in 2003 to rejoin the Cape Comedy Collective's mission to make the Mother City laugh.He is currently living in Jo'burg and performs regularly at comedy clubs and venues throughout the city.
Riaad's intelligent and charming comic observations have made him a very popular choice for corporate entertainment.
Riad Moosa Biography
Riaad Moosa, a silver medallion graduate of the College of Magic in Cape Town, started his comedy career as a comedy magician. Regularly enchanting people with his special blend of magic and comedy, he was presented with the Comedy Magic award at the Centre for the Magical Arts in Cape Town.
Riaad, who is also a qualified medical doctor, started doing standup comedy while still studying at the University of Cape Town Medical School. He was an instant hit, receiving rave reviews at his first show.
Riaad started performing stand-up at the Cape Comedy Collective's free Comedy Lab workshops, and just two months later he was the winner of the hotly contested One City, Many Comics Talent Competition held as part of the One City Festival in September 1999.
Being one of the first members of the Cape Comedy Collective, he became a regular headliner on the comedy circuit during his rookie year, where he was also invited to perform on Pieter Dirk Uys’s “Evita Live and Dangerous” eTV comedy show.
Alongside comedians David Levinson and Paul Snodgrass, he performed to sold-out shows in his debut stand-up comedy theatre production “The Paracomics” at Artscape in Cape Town.
Riaad’s humor is based on his experiences as a young Muslim relating to post-911 Islamophobia, growing up in Cape Town and general observational and opinion-based humour. Skirting around the relatively taboo topics with charm and ease this comedy doctor will split your sides and keep you in stitches at the same time.
Now, a regular headliner on comedy circuits all over South Africa, Riaad is also a sought after act for the bigger productions. He has starred in the
Alex Jay 5fm Comedy Jams and Real Concert’s Winston King Size Comedy shows, headlining the Sprite Soul Comedy Jams in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
He supported Marc Curry of “Hanging with Mr Cooper” fame, rocking the crowd at the Durban Playhouse in 2001. In 2002, he supported Russel Peters in his show “Made in India” at the Luxurama theatre where he received excellent reviews.
In 2002, Riaad was part of the largest stand-up show in the history of South African television “Laugh out Loud”, where he joined nine of SA’s top comics to raise money for the “Reach for a Dream” foundation.
In 2003, Riaad performed at the Ediburgh Fringe festival, headlining in the “Cape Comedy Collective -The new South Africa stands up” production. During his month at the festival he performed with the top comedians on the planet, displaying his special brand of South African humour on a world stage.
Now a writer and performer for SABC 1’s the “Pure Monate Show”, Riaad still does medical locums, but has decided to give his full attention to his first love…comedy.
Riad Moosa Biography From IslamOnline.net
Having grown up with parents who are both doctors, it's no surprise that Riaad Moosa turned to the medical profession when faced with life-changing decisions such as choosing a career.
The rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick this doctor-turned-comedian pulled though is that he decided to abandon hospital operating theaters for theaters of
the entertaining kind after completing his studies. Moosa was well-prepared for performances as he spent his high school years honing his skills as a
magician at a Cape Town school of magic.
Part of the magician's training was doing a bit of comedy and he decided to do without the tricks and stick to the laughs. A career in stand-up comedy ensued; and since then, Moosa has appeared on South African television shows and performed before packed audiences with his Muslim comedian act.
His latest show, Strictly Halaal, has recently been traveling South Africa, including his home city - Cape Town. Moosa had the audience's stomach muscles doing back-flips as he tackled idiosyncratic moments in the Muslim community. But he also had a serious element to his repertoire as he tackled the growing discrimination against Islam.
Before the show, his press release informed that the show would be "a message of love, tolerance and oneness but hopefully it's also funny." Moosa also produced a radio publicity campaign aired via a commercial radio station.
The advert featured a fake Osama bin Laden warning that Moosa would be in town soon. It's a gimmick that raised interest and ensured ticket sales. Moosa says he has no problems about not working as a doctor and is content that his comedy career is taking off.
"As a doctor, my opinion on saving your life is to get a second opinion. My comedy career is taking off for now," he says with a smile.
Moosa's career has literally taken flight as he's performed at the Heavyweight Comedy Jam in London and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It's a far cry from the South African townships where he did his medical training as a student. Then again, he says he's all about "breaking down barriers."
"I hear people saying weird things about Muslims. I heard people say that they heard Muslims are not allowed to have cats or animals or eat beef. They just don't know any better. There's also a lot of propaganda on TV so a big part of my show is about being a Muslim in post-9/11," says Moosa.
"I make halal jokes and it's relevant and close to me. I want to do something positive, but I accept that what I say can be misconstrued. People could take some of my jokes and use [them] against Muslims."
Anyone who has sat through most comedy shows would agree that discrimination amidst intentionally politically incorrect comedy circles is the norm. Moosa's response is to not be defensive but rather to be informative in his work.
"You can't stop a trend. However, Muslims should express themselves to dispel the stereotypes. If we don't expose Islam to other people, then we can't really complain when discrimination happens," he offers.
He agrees that offensive jokes do create tension in the Muslim community.
"Some Muslims feel they can't relax. There are a lot of jokes that build up tension." Such humor can be construed as discrimination, says Moosa, "so, Muslims are on the defensive. Every joke can emphasize a negative stereotype. Muslims also need to express themselves," he added.
Most comedians "never take jokes seriously," according to Moosa. And he's certainly not going to get a heart attack over a few jokes from uninformed comedians. So his advice, as a medical practitioner, is to also laugh a little.
"Laughter lowers blood pressure and improves your immune system and respiration. People use laughter as therapy," advises Moosa.
He's currently planning to host an international festival of Muslim comedians in Cape Town later this year. Talks are underway to secure talent from the United States and Palestine. He also aspires to open the first "halal comedy club" in South Africa.
Will he invite Osama bin Laden to the show later this year or perhaps to the comedy club? Bin Laden seems to have been missing-in-action for Moosa's recent touring with Strictly Halaal.
"I couldn't get through to Osama. There's bad reception in the cave," informs Moosa.
"Besides, he said he wants to watch Fear Factor or something."
Riad Moosa Website: http://www.riaadmoosa.co.za/
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