Dean Obeidallah – is an award winning Arab-American comedian who has appeared on numerous US and international TV shows including Comedy Central’s “Axis of Evil” Comedy Tour, ABC’s “The View,” CNN’s “Inside the Middle East,” and Al Jazeera’s “Min Washington.” Dean, who was once a lawyer, has been featured in various publications including Time magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. He is the co-creator of Comedy Central’s Internet show “The Watch List” featuring a cast of all Middle Eastern-American comedians as well as executive producer of the annual NY Arab-American Comedy Festival and The Amman Stand up Comedy Festival. (www.deanofcomedy.com)

Blog Entries by Dean Obeidallah

The Muslims Are Coming!

12 Comments | Posted October 14, 2009 | 10:12 PM (EST)


Not only are Muslims coming -- but they want to take over America! At least that's what four Republican Members of Congress alleged today.

Representatives John Shadegg (Ariz.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Trent Franks (Ariz.) and Sue Myrick (N.C.) are alarmed because they found Muslims trying to lobby Congress. Can...

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Is Obama America's First Muslim President? I Wish!

8 Comments | Posted June 9, 2009 | 11:47 PM (EST)


Yes, I mean it -- I really do wish President Obama was America's first Muslim president! (For reasons I'll explain below.)

However, I don't think that was the response that uber conservative commentator Frank Gaffney was hoping for when I read his op-ed in The Washington Times on June 9,...

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The View of Obama from the Heart of the Arab (Comedy) World

6 Comments | Posted June 4, 2009 | 03:27 PM (EST)


I watched President Obama's Cairo speech today in a place not usually traveled to by American tourists - Muscat, Oman - a beautiful country (technically a sultanate) which borders Saudi Arabia. I'm here to perform stand up comedy this week and tomorrow is the last of our 3 sold out...

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Pirates??!!

Posted April 8, 2009 | 12:23 PM (EST)


Pirates!!! That's right, there are friggin' pirates!! What year is this?! What's next -- a scurvy outbreak? Witches? Man, I can't wait for the Industrial revolution to finally get here.

When I read the headline today: "US ship hijacked by Pirates" -- I thought I was reading "The Onion." But...

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"If China Calls, Tell Them I'm Not Home."

Posted March 15, 2009 | 11:28 AM (EST)


Times just got even tougher for President Obama -- if that's even possible. Not only does he have to deal with the horrific economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and pirates, he now has to give China assurances that its $1 trillion investment in American bonds is safe. But...

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An Open Letter to President Obama on Future Appearances on Arab TV

Posted January 27, 2009 | 12:24 PM (EST)


Dear President Obama:

I just watched portions of the interview you gave to the Arabic cable network Al Arabiya.
It was truly a great step towards rehabilitating our nation's image in the Arab world - but I must say - respectfully - your interview could have been better....

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Harry and the Chamber of Ragheads

Posted January 12, 2009 | 10:51 AM (EST)


Britain's lovable "Harry" is back with a new adventure! Not "Harry Potter," however, but Prince Harry who has followed up his previous tale "Harry and the Nazi Uniform" with his newest escapade: "Harry and the Chamber of Ragheads."

In this story, we find a young Harry serving in the military...

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Dress Arab -- Make $

Posted January 6, 2009 | 01:33 PM (EST)


Last week I wrote about Airtran officials throwing a Muslim family off a flight because they looked "suspicious" a/k/a Muslim in a blog entitled "(Not) Flying While Muslim."

In an effort to assist my fellow Middle Eastern and Muslim-Americans, I offered them this advice to ease their problems...

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(Not) Flying While Muslim

Posted January 2, 2009 | 03:35 PM (EST)


The Irfan family was removed from an Airtran flight heading to Orlando, Florida on Thursday. Why?

A. Airtran thought they looked more like train people;
B. They are Muslim;
C. Airtran thought the family could use some more exercise.

We all know the answer. We...

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"Shoe Tossing" - An Arab Perspective

Posted December 15, 2008 | 11:41 AM (EST)


When something big happens in the Arab world, all Arab-Americans suddenly become "experts" having to answer questions from our non-Arab friends about what is going on. Consequently, since the news broke yesterday about Iraqi reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at President Bush during the press conference, I have been...

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Middle East Sees "Explosion" Of Comedy, First Stand Up Festival In Arab World

Posted December 4, 2008 | 09:24 AM (EST)


1. Do Arabs actually laugh? 2. Do Arabs understand jokes? 3. Don't they hate you because you are American?

Those are just a few of the actual questions I have heard when I tell people in the US that I'm performing stand up comedy in the Arab world. This...

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