Bryant Reginald Moss (born 1967), best known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Preacher Moss, is an American stand-up comedian and writer. He is best known as one third of comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny.

Early life

Moss was born in Washington, D.C. to African American parents, Clifford Moss and Mary Moss. He began practicing comedy at the age of seven, when he earned the nickname "Preacher" for his imitations of the pastor at his family's church. He was raised Christian in a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

suburb and was sent to a local military academy for his schooling. Moss started out doing sketch comedy when he was 17 and by his early 20s he began to make his way to comedy clubs. In 1988, at the age of 20, he

converted to Islam Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

. He graduated from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

with a degree in journalism and a took a job teaching emotionally disturbed children in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, while continuing to do standup comedy.Preacher Moss

Writing career

In 1994, Moss was the opening act for a comic

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014. Upon his departure, Hammo ...

, Hammond hired him as a writer. In order to develop his comedy skills, Moss moved to Los Angeles. There, he continued to teach special education classes and worked as a writer for comedians, including

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...

and

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rec ...

Stand-up career

Moss moved on to perform at mainstream comedy venues. Moss wrote his own show, titled ''End of Racism''. Beginning in 2000, he toured hundreds of national college campuses and high schools performing, teaching, and discussing poverty, racism, multiculturalism, civil rights, and

critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...

. He performed "End of Racism" for four years when he got an idea for another kind of progressive comedy experience which addressed another kind of prejudice, that was spreading rapidly throughout non-Islamic communities in post-9/11 America. In May 2004, Moss and other Muslim comedians

Azhar Usman Azhar Muhammad Usman (born December 23, 1975) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer of Indian descent. He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and has been referred to as the "Ayatollah of Comedy" and "Bin Laug ...

and Azeem Muhammad (later replaced by

Mohammed Amer Mohammed Mustafa Amer ( ar, محمد عامر; born July 24, 1981) is a Palestinian American stand-up comedian. He is best known for his Netflix comedy special ''Mo Amer: The Vagabond'', and his role as one third of the comedy trio Allah Made ...

in 2006) launched a comedy tour titled '' Allah Made Me Funny'', ''Allah Made Me Funny'' toured 30 U.S. cities during its first year, and also in Canada, Europe, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Moss has performed at the Global Peace and Unity Event in the

ExCeL Exhibition Centre ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

in London organised by

Islam Channel Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel and online media platform funded by advertising and donations. It was founded in 2004 by Mohamed Ali Harrath (born 1963), a Tunisian act ...

. Preacher Moss He has also performed at the Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet in Oklahoma City in 2010. Preacher can be seen in the documentary, ''

The Muslims Are Coming! ''The Muslims Are Coming!'' is a 2013 American comedy documentary film co-directed and co-starring Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah. It follows a team of Muslim-American comedians as they tour the American South and American Southwest, Southwest ...

'', which features a group of Muslim American comedians touring the U.S. in an effort to counter

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

Television career

In March 2013, Moss started the process of securing funds to develop a pilot for a sitcom ''Here Come the Muhammads''. In October 2013, production for the sitcom started.

Comedy style

Moss talks about his conversion from Christianity to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. He uses his experiences of being black and Muslim in America as a vantage point for asides on race and religion.

Personal life

In 2003, Moss married Yasmin, an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Muslim living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. When not on tour, he lives in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California, and frequently visits his mother's home in Washington, D.C.

Awards

References

External links

* *

Performance at Muslim Public Affairs Banquet at the University of Houston
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090105183903/http://www.p0wned.net/mrt/news/article-preacher.htm "Poor Righteous Preacher," Muslim Round Table Televisionbr>"Clean Jokes and an Attempt to Foster Understanding"
''The State.com: South Carolina's Homepage'' *Murphy, Caryle
Poking Fun, In Good Faith: Muslim Comics Laugh In the Face of Intolerance
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. April 25, 2004
The Fundamentals of Laughter
''Muslim Entertainment''. December 12, 2004 *Duffy, Conner

''

ABC Online The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

''. November 21, 2006 *Ali, Dilshad D
Preacher Moss Performs ‘Allah Made Me Funny’
''Onislam''. February 10, 2010 *

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

on Sunday, April 1, 2007. *India-West (San Leandro, CA), January 27, 2006, p. C1. *

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, December 12, 2004, p. I10. *

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

(Indianapolis, IN), May 6, 2005, p. C3. *

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

(Seattle, WA), October 1, 2005, p. C1. *

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

(Seattle, WA) April 14, 2004, p. H29. *

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

, May 16, 2004, p. 15. * Weekend All Things Considered (Washington, D.C.) August 14, 2005, p. 1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Preacher 1967 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) African-American Muslims African-American former Christians Converts to Islam from Protestantism African-American stand-up comedians American stand-up comedians American comedy writers Muslim male comedians African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Wisconsin Writers from Washington, D.C. Writers from Long Beach, California Marquette University alumni Allah Made Me Funny 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians