{"id":23336,"date":"2021-02-18T15:03:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T20:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=23336"},"modified":"2021-02-18T15:03:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T20:03:37","slug":"on-stage-ahamed-weinberg-shares-a-slice-of-life-through-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=23336","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Ahamed Weinberg shares a slice of life through comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ahamed Weinberg<\/p><\/div>\n

There are times when you see names where the first name and the surname just do not seem to be a match \u2013 just do not seem to fit together well.<\/p>\n

Names such as Werner DiNapoli, Mikey Patel, Enrique Edmundsdottir, Chauncey Lopez or Jean-Luc Kratingdaenggym might leave you scratching your head. Some might make you wonder about a possible cultural clash — like if you met someone named Billy Bob Rockefeller.<\/p>\n

One of the top young comedians in America has a name that features an unusual combination \u2013 Ahamed Weinberg. It\u2019s not often that you\u2019ll find a pairing of Arabic and Israeli names.<\/p>\n

On February 21, Weinberg, a Philadelphia native, will put his comedic talents on display at Helium Comedy Club (2031 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Weinberg\u2019s background does include Jewish and Arabic elements \u2013 and a lot more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia,\u201d said Weinberg, during a phone interview Monday afternoon from his family home in Philly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents had settled here in the \u201970s. My mom grew up in a big Catholic family that was very strict. My dad was born Jewish in Brooklyn and his divorced mother was a hippie. They each found a Sufi Muslim Guru in Philadelphia \u2013 Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey met when they were in the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship \u00a0(Fellowship \u2013 Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship (bmf.org)<\/a> and got married after a few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up memorizing the Qur’an and Muslim prayers. I\u2019m still active in the community. There always has been diversity on our family. My grandfather is into Zen Buddhism.\u201d<\/p>\n

More diversity entered Weinberg\u2019s life when he attended one of the Philly area\u2019s \u201celite\u201d prep schools \u2013 Chestnut Hill Academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI graduated Chestnut Hill Academy in 2008 and then went to the University of Vermont,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cI spent two years there studying film theory, snowboarding and partying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I transferred to Temple University in my junior year. I spent the second semester in Los Angeles doing an internship and taking classes. I got lucky because I was working at a cool production company \u2013Tim & Eric. They were two guys that were from Temple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim & Eric\u2014Tim Heidecker\u00a0and\u00a0Eric Wareheim\u2014are an American\u00a0comedy duo\u00a0and creators of the\u00a0Adult Swim\u00a0television series\u00a0\u201cTom Goes to the Mayor,\u201d \u201cTim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!,\u201d \u201cCheck It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule,\u201d\u00a0\u201cTim & Eric\u2019s Bedtime Stories\u201d and\u00a0\u201cBeef House.\u201d Wareham graduated from nearby Methacton High while Heidecker is an Allentown Central Catholic alum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got in there and worked as an intern on all sorts of projects that got picked up,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cI landed on my feet in L.A. It was there that I eventually gave up production and did comedy full time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinberg got his first taste of performing comedy at an early age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was basically doing standup infrequently since sixth grade,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cIt started in a school show at Chestnut Hill Academy. I don\u2019t know if I was good or not — but people laughed. It was at that point that I got addicted to comedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter high school, I started doing open mics. I did my first open mic at Helium so it\u2019s exciting to be going back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinberg left college after his junior year and has been in southern California ever since. He currently resides in L.A. — in Los Feliz, a hillside neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I decided to stay in L.A., I got serious about comedy,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cI did open mics wherever I could. I\u2019ve been doing standup full time for five years now. Before the pandemic, I was doing clubs and had my own show at Lyric Hyperion (The Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Caf\u00e9 in L.A.\u2019s Silver Lake area).\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinberg has appeared on \u201cLate Night with Seth Meyers.\u201d and has been named one of TimeOut LA\u2019s Comics to Watch and Vulture\u2019s 20 Comics to Watch. He was awarded New Face at the 2016 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. He also did a late-night set on \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.\u201d<\/p>\n

His resume includes writing, directing, and starring in two seasons of\u00a0\u201cAhamed\u2019s Ramadan Diaries\u201d and appearing in \u201cComedy Bang Bang,\u201d \u201cThe Eric Andre Show,\u201d \u201cI Love You, America,\u201d \u201cComedy Knockout,\u201d and the HBO show \u201cInsecure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinberg\u2019s film \u201cLovebirds\u201d premiered on Amazon Prime as part of its inaugural FunnyFest short films festival. His Facebook series \u201cPlease Understand Me\u201d was executive produced by Sarah Silverman and released in June 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the pandemic hit, I had to cancel a lot of gigs,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cIn the last year, I\u2019ve been doing weird jobs like doing IT support for mall Santas and working as a COVID compliance officer for commercials.\u201d<\/p>\n

These jobs just add more fodder to Weinberg\u2019s cache of material for his comedy shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I do standup, I\u2019m more just talking about my life \u2013 weird shit that happens to me,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cI\u2019m deconstructing weird experiences that have happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Ahamed Weinberg — https:\/\/youtu.be\/sTHGFXvPvFQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Weinberg\u2019s shows at the Helium Comedy Club will start at 8 p.m. on February 21. Tickets, which are not sold individually because of capacity restrictions and social distancing, are $40 for a two-person table or $80 for a four-person table.<\/p>\n

Other upcoming shows at Helium this month are Ryan Niemiller from November 18-20, Ryan Long on February 24 and Adam Ferrara on February 25 and 26.<\/p>\n

The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>) remains one of the few places to hear live music by national acts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AM Radio Tribute Band<\/p><\/div>\n

The venue\u2019s schedule for this month includes AM Radio Tribute Band on February 19 and 20, Adam Monaco on February 23, and King Solomon Hicks on February 26.<\/p>\n

AM Radio Tribute Band, which is the brainchild of Su Teears and Kevin Burk is exactly what its name implies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play songs mostly from the \u201960\u2019s, some from the \u201970\u2019s, some older stuff like the Ronettes,\u201d said Teears, during a phone interview from her home in King of Prussia. \u201cWe also do some stuff from the \u201950\u2019s like Bill Haley & the Comets and Elvis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burk, who is a native of King of Prussia and an Upper Merion High grad, said, \u201cWe\u2019re normally a six-piece band and sometimes for bigger shows we\u2019re a seven-piece with an added guitar. There are also times when we add a horn section and play as a 10-piece.\u201d
\nAM Radio Tribute Band got its start exactly six years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin and I were on a road trip to upstate New York,\u201d said Teears. \u201cAs we travelled north, we listened to the radio until we lost our favorite station. When we lost the station we were listening to, we found a station playing all the hits we grew up with. We toyed with the idea of playing these songs. We started playing them while trying to do things a little left of center.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, Teears and Burk were assembling a band \u2013 a band that became AM Tribute Radio.<\/p>\n

The lineup of AM Tribute Radio features drummer Jimmy\u00a0Cavanaugh\u00a0from Norristown, guitarist Danny Eyer (Absecon, N.J.), Bill Sharrow (Collingdale\/Spring Mount) vocalist\/guitarist Joe Triglia (Lansdale), keyboardist Steve Sauer (Lancaster), Teears (Northeast Philadelphia) and Burk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re purists,\u201d said Teears. \u201cWe try to keep it as close as possible to the original.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burk said, \u201cOur first gig was December 2014 at the Bridgeport Ribhouse and we\u2019ve had a stable lineup since then. Our repertoire now is well over 500 tunes. There is so much to pick from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for AM Radio Tribute \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/an3eLlSQmIw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The AM Radio Tribute Band shows at Sellersville are scheduled for February 19 at 8 p.m. and 20 at 5 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in person and $10 for Livestream.<\/p>\n

Other shows this month at the Sellersville Theater are Ben Arnold & Band on February 13, AM Radio on February 19 and 20, Adam Monaco on February 23, and King Solomon Hicks on February 26.<\/p>\n

AM Tribute Radio also has other small upcoming shows at bars and restaurants. The band has come full circle and plays regularly at the Bridgeport Ribhouse (1049 Ford Street, Bridgeport,\u00a0www.ribhouse.net<\/a>) \u2013 including a show on March 14.<\/p>\n

The Bridgeport Ribhouse\u2019s February schedule also includes Mike Greer & Co. on February 19, Rhodes Less Traveled Duo on February 19, Catullus on February 20, Brian Quinn & Danny Beissel on February 24 and Montoj on February 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times\u00a0 There are times when you see names where the first name and the surname just do not seem to be a match \u2013 just do not seem to fit together well. Names such as Werner DiNapoli, Mikey Patel, Enrique Edmundsdottir, Chauncey Lopez or Jean-Luc Kratingdaenggym might leave you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4357],"tags":[9548,9428,3162,9454],"class_list":["post-23336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-ahamed-weinberg","tag-am-radio-tribute-band","tag-featured","tag-temple-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23337,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23336\/revisions\/23337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}