“My name’s Ahamed Weinberg, that’s my real name,” a stand-up comedian jokes in a recent episode of “Hacks.” “My dad’s a Jew who converted to Islam. He’s the only one to do that.” Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) cackles from the audience, before Weinberg adds, “The answering machine in my house growing up was: ‘As-salamu alaykum, you’ve reached the Weinbergs.’ That’s true. ‘Please leave a message.’ Nobody left a message ever.”
Later, we see Weinberg doing a set on “Late Night with Deborah Vance.” After weeks of trying to appeal to the majority of Americans, and specifically moms, Vance is finally taking her head writer Ava’s (Hannah Einbinder) advice of making the show more sharp and political. That includes giving up-and-coming comedians space to shine on the show.
Ahamed Weinberg feels like he could be an invention of the “Hacks” universe. Except, similar to Robby Hoffman’s ex-Hasidic gay character Randi, Ahamed Weinberg isn’t a character. He’s a very real and very hilarious Muslim-Jewish comedian. And the jokes he said on the show? Those are his, too.
Per The Forward, Weinberg, a practicing Muslim and the son of two Muslim converts in Philadelphia, first began comedy as a way to channel an identity that was confusing to his peers and sometimes something he experienced Islamophobia over. “You think your life is hard?” He asked the crowd at his first public performance at a sixth grade talent show. “I’m Muslim and Jewish. Try being at holy war with yourself.”
“I felt this wave of acceptance that I never really felt before,” Weinberg told The Forward in 2016. So he kept performing, ultimately moving to Los Angeles when he was 21 to pursue comedy. Since then, he has produced episodes of “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” made his real-life late night debut on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” in 2017, had roles on “Insecure,” “The Joe Schmo Show” and “Late Bloomers” and written on Ramy Youssef’s “#1 Happy Family USA.” And, of course, he’s continued performing his own stand-up.
But if you think “Hacks” covered all of the Muslim-Jewish comedy Ahamed has to offer, you’d be very mistaken. He’s done bits about how his dad is “a Jewy Muslim,” trying to convert his girlfriend via the Quran on Spotify, hearing conspiracy theories about Jews while touring and being the only Muslim on a Birthright Trip. Given the specific nature of Ahamed’s cameo, it seems unlikely that he will return this season or at all in “Hacks.” But if he does, I have two requests. 1) I want to see Ahamed interact with Randi and 2) I want even more of his Muslim-Jewish jokes and sensibility.
