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

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 shows. Saudi got Obama, while Oman got Obeidallah. (I hope I got more laughs in Oman than Obama got in Saudi.)

I can report that the people of this region were greatly looking forward to President Obama's speech today and it appears that they viewed it very favorably. Not only did the audience in Cairo cheer Obama, but not one person threw a shoe at him. However, let's be honest, even if someone threw a shoe, I have no doubt that if former President Bush could dodge one (or two), President Obama could have dodged a shoe even more easily - in fact, I think Obama would have dodged the shoe in a graceful slow-motion style like "Neo" from "The Matrix" and he wouldn't have even missed a word from his speech while doing it.

What I particularly liked about President Obama's speech was that he clearly wants to end the philosophy of "us versus them" and he seeks to destroy the negative misconceptions that some Americans and Muslims hold against each other.

I can tell you as a comedian who has been increasingly performing stand up comedy in the Middle East (in English) over the last two years, the way the Arab world views America is changing. I'm happy to relay that since President Obama has been elected, the crowds I performed for in Cairo, Dubai, Oman and at the Amman Stand up Comedy Festival in Jordan have cheered when I have said Obama's name - I can assure you that President Bush's name elicited a different response from those same crowds. It truly appears that is an excellent time for a popular Barack Obama to be making overtures to the Arab world that will be viewed as sincere and trustworthy.

On the American side, I wish that more of my fellow Americans could see a side of the Arab world that they never do - namely seeing Arabs laughing. Yes, I said laughing! While it may be shocking to some, Arabs actually do know how to laugh and they laugh at the very same jokes American audiences do and at the very same places.

In fact, the Arab audiences laugh at the same range of topics that American comedy audiences do - everything from relationships, to pop culture to themselves. It's this last topic - Arabs laughing at themselves - which I truly want Americans to see. Arabs have a great sense of humor and have no problems being the butt of the joke. Of course, the goal of my jokes is not to demonize or demean Arabs, but to hold a mirror up to their customs just like I do to American culture when performing in the US. The Arab audiences have have laughed heartily at various aspects of Arab culture - from Arabs being notoriously late, to their obsession with smoking, to Arabs love of haggling over prices.

While the shows I perform in the Middle East are mostly attended by Arabs, there are always some Americans in the audience. And conversely, most of my shows in the US are attended by Americans, but there are at times Arabs in the audience as well. It's great to see Arabs and Americans sitting side-by-side laughing together at the very same jokes. It is my hope that Arabs and Americans will share this experience much more frequently during President Obama's administration and for many years to come.

Comments

[PlaceboStudman]

Dean

I hope you and other Arab comedians continue to come back to the USA and continue bringing light and laughter to this world. We need more men like you showing the real human side of the Arab world and really exposing the fact that many of us already know, that the Arab world and The West have much more in common than different

Keep on making people laugh! That is the best thing anyone can do for human relations

[BlackJAC]

Have you ever seen Maz Jobrani? The guy is hilarious.

[PlaceboStudman]

The name sounds vaguely familiar. Was he on the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour on Comedy Central? If so, then yes. I've seen that a few times

[dutch163]

Dean,
you may be the best diplomat! Humor is a great way to bring people together. As a retired foreign language teacher with friends in other countries, I am all for increasing understanding of each other.

[Muslimhumanist]

Dear Dean:

Salaams! A great and inspiring post. I show parts of your "Axis of Evil" video in my Islam in North America seminar at the college where I teach and my students love it. I firmly believe you and fellow Muslim and Arab comedians do more to end Islamophobia than almost anyone else out there. Obama's speech (and the reaction to it in the audience) are important steps towards the mutual recognition of the common humanity of Muslim and non-Muslim alike. And an essential aspect of that humanity is our ability to laugh at ourselves. Keep up the good work.

[IllinoisTexan43]

"...in fact, I think Obama would have dodged the shoe in a graceful slow-motion style like "Neo" from "The Matrix" and he wouldn't have even missed a word from his speech while doing it."
LOL! I can actually visualize that! Good commentary, though. We do have more commonalities than the powers that be lead us to believe.