The Buzz Intro Interview

Osama Mahmoud Ashour (can you call it a company if it's just one person?)

Because I need money....
Just kidding! Look, I don't know what I can say to compel you to see this show. I'm an actor with no talent for marketing. I have a story that I think will resonant with a lot of people from marginalized groups. And like a lot of people in this country, I'm hurting right now. The best thing we can do for each other is hold space and be compassionate. Maybe this show will help with that. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope you walk away feeling seen. And above all, I really hope you don't call me Bin Laden.

Because Atlanta is one of the coolest places I've ever been to. I would move here in a second.

The concept of this show began as a joke. I was a second year MFA student at the University of Alabama taking a class called Solo Performance. Like most people in my cohort, I did not have a high opinion of solo shows. They seemed awkward, uncomfortable, and cringe. Our first exercise included sharing possible ideas for a solo performance, and my quippy ass shouted out My Name is Not Bin Laden, to uncomfortable chuckles. It was just a joke.

But as the class progressed I began to use the space to tell stories. An odd comment here, a micro aggression there, and everywhere a joke to lighten the tension. The truth is my name informed who I would become in a way that I don’t think most people experience. This later became my Graduating thesis the following year.

What inspired me to write this? My anger. I have been called a terrorist from peers, instructors, employers, and patrons. So often after someone calls me Bin Laden, they’ll say they’re “just joking.” This show is my rebuttal, “please explain -I love jokes.”