FRINGE WELCOMES SCHOLARSHIP WINNER’S NEW SHOW MEXISTANI!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2017
NEW SOLO SHOW: MexiStani! Growing Up Mexican & Pakistani in America

Press Contact:
Sofie Khan
[email protected]

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 5, 2017) — Mexican-Pakistani comic Sofie Khan uses her personal experience to explore racial and faith-based identity issues in a thought-provoking and hysterical solo show. MexiStani! will be performed at Studio/Stage Theater, 520 N. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004, June 4 – 17.

“If you judge a book by its cover, you miss out on the story.”

That’s a favorite phrase of comic Sofie Khan that she uses when meeting strangers from around the world. Khan grew up with a Mexican Catholic mother and a Pakistani Muslim father in a predominantly Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chicago. As such, issues with identity played a large role in her formative years. That experience is at the heart of her fun yet poignant solo show MexiStani!, performing at Studio/Stage in June as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

In MexiStani! Khan, a 2017 Fringe scholarship winner, journeys through her unusual life with tales about everything, from the constant pull between her Mexican and Pakistani sides, to the pressures of both Catholic and Muslim influences, to celebrating identity triumphs with family members, to encounters with TSA agents, gas station cashiers and White House personnel. Strikingly honest, Khan explores the issue of identity and societal feelings about interracial and mixed faith couples…while also having fun talking about the importance of hip hop, the LGBTQ community and Trader Joe’s tamales. Expect things to get thought-provoking, emotional and hysterical!

“The production aims to shed light on my multi-faceted narrative as well as to enrich the audience experience through comic relief from the heavy weight of our current socio-political climate,” Khan said. “I’m hoping to create a safe space and understanding for all, especially Muslim LGBTQ individuals to feel a part of a greater community and have a sense of belonging and acceptance. Since the nightclub shooting by a gay Muslim man in Orlando, I’ve felt a strong responsibility to use my talents to produce this show and ultimately leave the audience enlightened with hope that we are closer to unity and peace than we are to the fears and hateful rhetoric that attempt to divide us.

Mexistani! also utilizes Khan’s comedic background as a sketch and improv performer to balance out the heavier issues, much like her previous solo show Excuse Me Waiter, There’s Tandoori Chicken in My Tortilla Soup! In Mexistani!, directed by solo show pro Jessica Lynn Johnson, Khan attempts a rap in Spanish (it is not her first language!), offers the audience a choice of where the show goes next, and plays a Pakistani drag queen by the name of Lahora Glitz.

As a scholarship winner, Khan received festival registration, theater rental, marketing opportunities and the opportunity to work with a Fringe mentors – Greg and Jenn Scuderi Crafts. It was a lift she needed after a scary encounter with an Islamophobic Trump supporter who tried to get backstage at her last show that almost kept her away from performing at Fringe. The support of the Fringe community convinced her otherwise.

“MexiStani! came from sharing so many stories with strangers I’ve met around the world and just answering questions about my ethnic background,” she said. “Ultimately, these strangers-turned-friends, as well as my mentors Tanya Saracho and Josefina Lopez, encouraged me to write, perform and document my experiences to share with others to help shed some light on those who are different in my own special way.”