Garden City, NY – The Nassau Community College Fall 2006 Cultural Program is proud to present Iranian-American comic Tissa Hami in Harems, Hostages and Head Scarves on Monday, December 4 at 11:00 a.m. in the College Center Building. Hami’s act is a unique and fresh perspective on life as an Iranian-American woman.

Tissa Hami’s traditional Iranian family moved from Iran to a predominantly white suburb of Boston in 1978 — the year before the 1979 hostage crisis. For her, discrimination started long before 9/11. Schoolmates teased her mercilessly about her Mideastern appearance, her parents’ accents and their foreign sounding name. Like many future comedians, Hami didn’t fit in. She learned to spin laughter out of anger, turning Islamic stereotypes inside out. Hami — who performs in a stage costume of headscarf and a long black coat — is one of the world’s few female Muslim stand-up comics. She offers a sassy, sexual, sarcastic take on Islamic womanhood.

Hami holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations from Brown and Columbia Universities and works a day job in admissions at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Tissa Hami’s appearance at NCC is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled. For more information about Harems, Hostages and Headscarves, call 516.572.7153.

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