This is not a joke: Albert Brooks got hit in the head while doing a video interview for his new movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." Really -- by a light stand, of all things. A few hours after a local doctor visit, Brooks is back to speak to the non-TV press, who are much more dangerous anyway. Most of Brooks' characters in films such as "Lost in America" and "Defending Your Life" have been overly neurotic, so the irony that he has suffered an injury in the tranquil environment of the Four Seasons Hotel isn't lost on him.

"I've been all the way around the world and nothing happened," Brooks says. "India, no problems. Pakistan, no problems. Dubai, no problems. Four Seasons Hotel? [Makes crashing noise.]"

"Muslim" hasn't always been a laughing matter for Brooks. Independently financed by billionaire Steve Bing, "Muslim" finds Brooks on a U.S. government mission to India and Pakistan to discover what makes Muslims laugh. After surviving a tough shoot in India, Brooks finished his picture only to find out the distributor at the time, Sony Pictures, had gotten squeamish about the movie's title.

"They made the posters. They booked us at the Toronto Film Festival. Oct. 7 was our release day," Brooks says. "Four months later, about a week and a half after the Newsweek article...where they desecrated the Koran...Bing called me and said they didn't want to use the title. And I'm just sort of mad that they wasted our time."

Warner Independent Pictures (fresh off the success of "March of the Penguins") came in almost immediately to save the day. The indie studio had no problems with Brooks' preferred title or any possible resulting controversy. The bigger question is: Will people be confused when they find out the movie doesn't take place in a country most Americans traditionally think of as Muslim?

According to Brooks, "the Arab Muslim world is obviously a fabulous place, but one thing I wouldn't want to do is go to the few safest countries and call it Iran; then I might as well go shoot in Van Nuys. You can get the Fox News crew into Saudi Arabia, but you can't get a hundred Americans led by a Jewish director. I don't believe that's ever happened. When the head of Iran says on Wednesday 'Let's wipe Israel off the map,' he's not saying 'but Thursday, let that Jew director in here. We'll give him access to all the mosques.'"

Now, who wouldn't laugh at that?

"Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" is now playing in major U.S. markets.