{"id":357034,"date":"2024-07-16T06:57:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T10:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=357034"},"modified":"2024-07-16T06:57:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T10:57:14","slug":"2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?’ (4 stars)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"W<\/span>hile in line to enter the comedy show Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?<\/em><\/a> at the Capital Fringe Festival, I overheard a well-meaning but painful conversation behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to be enlightened,\u201d a man\u2019s voice said, \u201cto learn about other cultures.\u201d I knew the man was white even before turning to confirm. Any creative of color will recognize the frustrating weight of expectations this guy was saying out loud. You make art to explore being alive, but white folks want you to be legible, to speak on behalf of your culture<\/em>, which is to say your race.<\/p>\n

\"\"Why Are You Brown? <\/em>hilariously turns the tables on that white gaze, and offers boundless moments of affirmation for people of color. Yet the show also directs most of its attention toward the haunting presence of casually harmful white folks.<\/p>\n

Prince Arora<\/a> opens the show, and also serves as host for this showcase of local DC stand-ups organized by Badar Tareen<\/a>. Arora\u2019s set talks about feeling Americanized; Shelley Kim <\/a>explores dating and perceptions of Asian women. Dee Ahmed<\/a> talks about accents among his other first-gen siblings; Matt Chrzanowski<\/a> (the sole white comic) tells some raunchy and self-deprecating stories. Tareen and Ahmed ask intentionally inflammatory questions about race to Chrzanowski in an improvised section; Alex Tyminski<\/a> discusses adoption and aging, before Tareen returns with a funny bit about personal experiences with civil rights.<\/p>\n

This is a great roster of comics, together creating one of the more memorable comedy shows I\u2019ve seen in the District. Standouts are definitely Kim and Ahmed. Kim is pitch-perfect, bringing razor-sharp insights into interracial relationship dynamics. And Ahmed is a warm presence who\u2019ll make you laugh with his relaxed yet confident delivery. All comics circle around similar topics (dating and politics), but I appreciated the specificity of the punchlines. One of Kim\u2019s jokes about Filipino identity seemed tailor-made for me, so even though I was one of the few people who \u201cgot it,\u201d the moment felt transcendent.<\/p>\n

The show falls short of triumph because its provocations on race don\u2019t feel particularly new. We\u2019ve heard these jokes before: TV shows like Ziwe<\/em><\/a> and Dear White People<\/em><\/a> already confronted white liberals with a smirk and a wink. But both TV shows became tiresome, unable to craft an identity outside of opposition to whiteness. Something similar threatens to ruin the fun here.<\/p>\n

The audience at Why Are You Brown? <\/em>was the youngest and most diverse crowd I\u2019ve ever seen at a Fringe show. Yet it was still white women audience members who felt emboldened \u2014 or entitled \u2014 to speak back to the comedians. Why Are You Brown? <\/em>is caught in an impossible position: by allowing people of color to speak about their struggles with white people, they\u2019re really making white audiences the most addressed people in the room.<\/p>\n

I wonder what would happen if the comedy show had a Black-out<\/a> (or Brown-out) performance, with no white people in the room. Maybe Chrzanowski could stay, just for the lolz. Would the comedians return to the \u201cWhite folks, am I right?\u201d schtick, finding a subversive joy in sharing frustration? Or would they crack jokes about being alive, and who-they-are-beyond frustration?<\/p>\n

I have a feeling the Brown-out performance could be incredible. The jokes I heard in Why Are You Brown?<\/em> are already bangers. I\u2019d love for these comics of color to direct their jokes toward people who actually deserve their brilliance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Running Time:<\/strong> 75 minutes
\nGenre:<\/strong> Comedy
\nDates and Times: <\/strong>(This show’s run has ended.)
\nVenue:<\/strong> Goldman Theater – Theater J, 1529 16th St NW
\nTickets:<\/strong> $15
\nMore Info and Tickets:<\/strong> Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?<\/a><\/p>\n

Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?<\/em><\/strong>
\nDirector: Badar Tareen
\nPerformers: Badar Tareen, Shelley Kim, Dee Ahmed, Alex Tyminski, Matt Chrazanowski, Prince Arora
\nDJ\/Lighting\/Comedic Sound Effects: DJ Gaston<\/p>\n

The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online\u00a0<\/strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEST OF FRINGE<\/strong> A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity. By NATHAN PUGH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":357037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[867,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-357034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-2024-capital-fringe-festival","8":"category-reviews"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars) - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DC Theater Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-16T10:57:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Pugh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Pugh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/\",\"name\":\"2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars) - DC Theater Arts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-16T10:57:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f55aa75deb82478eb31d20b07d553b29\"},\"description\":\"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?’ (4 stars)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\",\"name\":\"DC Theater Arts\",\"description\":\"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f55aa75deb82478eb31d20b07d553b29\",\"name\":\"Nathan Pugh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-Nathan-Pugh-2025-scaled-1-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-Nathan-Pugh-2025-scaled-1-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Nathan Pugh\"},\"description\":\"Nathan Pugh (he\/him) is a writer, journalist, and culture critic currently based in the Washington, DC, area. He is gay, biracial, and Filipino American. Pugh\u2019s writing explores how identity is performed both on and off the stage (with special attention paid to race, sexuality, and gender). His bylines include Theatrely, Smithsonian magazine, DCist, NPR\u2019s Code Switch and It\u2019s Been a Minute. From August 2022 to March 2025, he served as a copywriter\/coordinator for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. BA English & Theater: Wesleyan University. Pugh is available for contact through his website\u00a0nathanpugh.site\u00a0and on\u00a0Instagram\u00a0@nathanpugh.3\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.nathanpugh.site\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/nathan-pugh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars) - DC Theater Arts","description":"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars)","og_description":"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.","og_url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/","og_site_name":"DC Theater Arts","article_published_time":"2024-07-16T10:57:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nathan Pugh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathan Pugh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/","name":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: 'Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?' (4 stars) - DC Theater Arts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-16T10:57:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f55aa75deb82478eb31d20b07d553b29"},"description":"A civil rights attorney and comedian hosts a stand-up showcase for comics of color interrogating race and identity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BadarTareenPresentsWhyAreYouBrown_800x600.jpg","width":800,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/16\/2024-capital-fringe-review-badar-tareen-presents-why-are-you-brown-4-stars\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?’ (4 stars)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/","name":"DC Theater Arts","description":"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f55aa75deb82478eb31d20b07d553b29","name":"Nathan Pugh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-Nathan-Pugh-2025-scaled-1-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-Nathan-Pugh-2025-scaled-1-96x96.jpg","caption":"Nathan Pugh"},"description":"Nathan Pugh (he\/him) is a writer, journalist, and culture critic currently based in the Washington, DC, area. He is gay, biracial, and Filipino American. Pugh\u2019s writing explores how identity is performed both on and off the stage (with special attention paid to race, sexuality, and gender). His bylines include Theatrely, Smithsonian magazine, DCist, NPR\u2019s Code Switch and It\u2019s Been a Minute. From August 2022 to March 2025, he served as a copywriter\/coordinator for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. BA English & Theater: Wesleyan University. Pugh is available for contact through his website\u00a0nathanpugh.site\u00a0and on\u00a0Instagram\u00a0@nathanpugh.3","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.nathanpugh.site\/"],"url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/nathan-pugh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}