Ahmed Ahmed
Encyclopedia
Ahmed Ahmed is an Egyptian American
Egyptian American
Egyptian Americans are Americans of Egyptian ancestry, first-generation Egyptian immigrants, or descendants of Egyptians who immigrated to the United States. In the 2007 U.S. census, the number of people with Egyptian ancestry was estimated at 195,000, although some estimates range from several...

 actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

.

Early life

Ahmed Ahmed was born in Helwan, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. His family came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 when he was one month old and he grew up in Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Career

Ahmed Ahmed moved to Hollywood when he was 19 years old to pursue a career as an actor and stand-up
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 comedian, and he has been working there ever since.

He has appeared in several films and television shows such as Executive Decision
Executive Decision
Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...

, Swingers
Swingers (1996 film)
Swingers is a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival...

, Tracey Takes On, Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

, JAG
JAG (TV series)
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...

, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn is a comedic talk show that aired on Comedy Central. The show featured roundtable discussions, inviting various guests of many views, mixing mostly comics/entertainers expressing themselves with journalists and political figures. Quinn's regular guests consisted mainly...

on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

, and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's Punk'd
Punk'd
Punk'd is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers...

with Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show...

. He would later joke about his part in Executive Decision
Executive Decision
Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...

in his standup routine for the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour
Axis of Evil Comedy Tour
The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour is a stand-up comedy tour featuring Middle Eastern comedians Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader and Maz Jobrani, with special guests Dean Obeidallah, Won Ho Chung, and Nick Youssef. The tour's name is derived from a speech by US President George W. Bush which designated Iraq,...

. He has also appeared on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, The View, and National Public Radio, and was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

in December 2001, as well as in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

. He was featured in the PBS television documentary America at a Crossroads
America at a Crossroads
America at a Crossroads is a documentary miniseries concerning the issues facing the United States of America as related to the War on Terrorism. It aired originally on PBS television....

series in "STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age", an episode about Muslim American comedians.

Ahmed Ahmed is a regular performer at The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...

 in Hollywood and tours all across the US and Europe. He was the winner of the first annual Richard Pryor Award for ethnic comedy at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in the summer of 2004. Ahmed is currently with the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour
Axis of Evil Comedy Tour
The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour is a stand-up comedy tour featuring Middle Eastern comedians Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader and Maz Jobrani, with special guests Dean Obeidallah, Won Ho Chung, and Nick Youssef. The tour's name is derived from a speech by US President George W. Bush which designated Iraq,...

. He was also a notable guest for Axis of Justice
Axis of Justice
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots progressivism to fight for social justice together.-Formation:...

 which is a rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 concert which fights for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

.

Personal life

Ahmed says his role models include his parents, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

, Mitzi Shore
Mitzi Shore
Mitzi Shore founded the Los Angeles comedy club, The Comedy Store. Mitzi Shore took over operation of The Comedy Store in 1973.Her former husband, Sammy Shore, is also a comedian. Pauly Shore is their son.-References:...

, and friend Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...

.

Following 9/11, and through 2004, Ahmed Ahmed and the comedian Rabbi Bob Alper toured the USA with their ground-breaking show "One Arab, One Jew, One Stage" about interfaith harmony and essential human dignity.

Filmography

  • City of Life (2009) .... Nasser
  • The Legend of Awesomest Maximus (2008) .... Slick Slave Trader
  • Iron Man
    Iron Man (film)
    Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...

    (2008) .... Ahmed
  • The Onion Movie
    The Onion Movie
    The Onion Movie is a comedy film written by The Onion writers Robert D. Siegel and Todd Hanson along with the Chicago-based writing staff of the paper...

    (2008) .... Ahmed
  • Knight Fever (2008) (in production)
  • You Don't Mess with the Zohan
    You Don't Mess with the Zohan
    You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Carlito Cabardo, and produced by and starring Adam Sandler. This is the fourth film which has starred Sandler and has been directed by Dugan...

    (2008) .... Waleed
  • Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
    Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
    Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is a 2006 film starring and directed by Albert Brooks. It was shown at the Dubai International Film Festival.-Synopsis:...

    (2005) .... Escort
  • JAG
    JAG (TV series)
    JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...

    .... Jalal Sharif (1 episode, 2005)
  • All In (2005/I) .... Amir
  • Girlfriends" (1 episode, 2001) - Bad Timing (2001)
  • Roseanne
    Roseanne (TV series)
    Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

    .... Hakeem (1 episode, 1996) - Roseambo (1996) .... Hakeem
  • Swingers
    Swingers (1996 film)
    Swingers is a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival...

    (1996) .... Party Mystery Guy
  • Executive Decision
    Executive Decision
    Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...

    (1996) .... Terrorist
  • Steel Sharks (1996) .... Lt. Noussavi
  • Virtuosity
    Virtuosity
    Virtuosity is a 1995 techno-thriller film directed by Brett Leonard. The movie tells the story of a virtual villain's successful attempt to escape into the "real world". SID 6.7, the villain program portrayed by Russell Crowe, is eventually transplanted into an android body and escapes...

     (1995) .... Cameraman

Self

  • America at a Crossroads: "STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age" (2008) .... Himself
  • The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour (2007) (V) .... Himself
  • I Am Ahmed Ahmed (2006) (TV)
  • Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
    Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
    Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland is a comedy documentary film directed by Ari Sandel and follows the 30 day comedy of tour of several stand up comedians. It premiered September 8, 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival...

    (2006) .... Himself
  • Last Call with Carson Daly ..... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
  • National Lampoon Live: The International Show (2004) (TV) .... Himself
  • Punk'd
    Punk'd
    Punk'd is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers...

    (2003) TV Series .... Field Agent (unknown episodes, 2003)
  • Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
    Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
    Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn is a comedic talk show that aired on Comedy Central. The show featured roundtable discussions, inviting various guests of many views, mixing mostly comics/entertainers expressing themselves with journalists and political figures. Quinn's regular guests consisted mainly...

    .... Himself (1 episode, 2003)
  • The View .... Himself (2 episodes, 2001)
  • Hey Hey it's Saturday
    Hey Hey It's Saturday
    Hey Hey It's Saturday was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years , debuting on the Nine Network on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers, who would later...

    .... Himself (2010)

External links

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