While discussions of religious topics and stereotypes are typically serious, Grand Valley State University’s “Migrations of Islam” program will host a comedic guest speaker to lighten the mood.

Dean Obeidallah, a writer, social commentator and comedian, will bring his unique blend of comedy to GVSU on Wednesday.

Obeidallah has always been funny. As a young lawyer in New Jersey, a friend suggested entering a comedy contest searching for the funniest lawyer in the state. Obeidallah took the stage that night armed with a viewpoint few stand-up comedians have, a Muslim-Arab cultural background.

Obeidallah decided he was unsatisfied with his law career and needed to find something more creative. He joined the NBC page program and then got a job in the law offices for Saturday Night Live.

“I realized that in comedy I could bring up political and social subjects,” Obeidallah said. “These were things I couldn’t do in law.”

In 2005, Obeidallah received the first annual “Spirit of Bill Hicks” award by the New York Underground Comedy Festival, an award that celebrates the brand of thought provoking comedy that the always unapologetic late Bill Hicks spread.

“I admired Bill Hicks for a long time,” Obeidallah said. “He didn’t care if you laughed or not, he had a message and he told it.”

Obeidallah’s comedy shares the political and social themes with Hicks, but Obeidallah is far less abrasive. Obeidallah joked that he sometimes wishes he could be more like Hicks but he has too strong of a desire for people to like him.

“There’s a great deal of excitement over bringing Dean Obeidallah to Grand Valley,” said Brian Bowe, visiting communications professor at GVSU. “He does such a great job of using humor to promote peace, tolerance and understanding, in part by showing how absurd some common stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims are.”

A typical routine for Obeidallah will touch on many subjects ranging from the political to the silly. His material is not solely focused on Arab-Muslim issues, but that is a prevailing theme.

“I, as do all comedians, do jokes that break down stereotypes instead of furthering them,” Obeidallah said. “I feel I have a responsibility as a part of a community to make them proud.”

Moments before his interview with the Lanthorn, Obeidallah appeared on CNN supporting his fanatical dislike for the holiday Valentine’s Day.

“I do some writing for CNN.com so they like to bring me on and talk about what I wrote,” Obeidallah said.

Obeidallah’s writings have a broad base of topics ranging from Stephen Colbert to Mormonism. He also contributes writing to the Huffington Post.

Obeidallah’s newest project is a documentary titled “The Muslims are Coming.” This film documents a group of Muslim-American comedians performing free comedy shows throughout the southern U.S. The film also has interviews from some of the biggest names in comedy including Lewis Black, David Cross and Jon Stewart.

“This has been one of the most exciting projects I have ever been involved with,” Obeidallah said. “It has been truly eye-opening.”

Obeidallah said he prefers shows on college campuses like the upcoming GVSU event.

“The typical comedy club audience doesn’t want to hear about political and social issues,” Obeidallah said. “College kids are great. They need a break from studying but they are still engaged.”

Obeidallah will be performing at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Cook-DeWitt Hall. The show is open to the public and free. This event is a part of the “Migrations of Islam” program.

“One of the main goals of the Migrations project was to allow a diversity of Muslim-Americans a space to communicate outside the typical media discourse of conflict,” Bowe said. “I think the project has been a great success so far.”

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