The New York Arab-American Comedy Festival wants to invite you to be a part of our fifth anniversary Festival which will be held in January 2008. We are currently seeking comedic sketches, comedic films and stand up comedians.

Our not for profit Festival has grown through the support of the Arab-American community from its humble beginnings in 2003 when it was only three nights and approximately 400 people attended to last year’s six night Festival which was attended by over 1000 people. This year, as with the last four Festivals, our goals are to showcase the talented Arab-American performers as well as create an event that will attract positive media coverage for our community. Over the past four years, our Festival has been fortunate enough to have received positive media coverage for the participants and our community in media outlets from CNN to Al Jaezzera, from the New York Times to the Beirut Daily Star (and numerous papers in between), and from NPR to the BBC.

We plan to make our 5th anniversary Festival the biggest and most visible to date. So, if you are Arab-American and have ever written – or even thought of writing comedy – this is your chance to be a part of the Festival. Many Arab-American writers had never written comedy before submitting to our past Festivals and have since had their material produced in other Festivals, theater productions and even on television. We also are seeking comedic films, and stand up comedians. (We will later be seeking actors and directors for this year’s Festival)

Here are the submission details:

The Festival is divided into three parts: Sketch comedy, stand up comedy and comedic films.

- Sketch Comedy: We are seeking sketch comedy pieces written (or co-written) by Arab-Americans not to exceed 30 minutes in length. The works can be one acts or excerpts from a longer work and do not necessarily need to be Arab in theme. Please include with your submission, contact information, a short bio, script with character breakdown, and a one-paragraph blurb describing the piece. If the play has been previously staged, you can submit a videotape/DVD of the play.

- Stand up comedy: We are seeking Arab-American comedians. Please submit a VHS or DVD of 8-10 minutes of your stand up comedy. Your material does not need to be Arab focused.

- Comedic Films: We are seeking any length, from shorts to features, of comedic films made by Arab-Americans (it can be co-written or directed by Arab-Americans to be eligible.) You can submit the film on VHS or DVD. The films do not have to be Arab themed. Please include contact information, short bio and a one-paragraph blurb about the film.

All submissions must be RECEIVED by November 1, 2007. Due to time constraints, any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered for this year's Festival. Submissions of scripts should be sent via email to submissions@arabcomedy.org.

All other submissions should be sent to: New York Arab-American Comedy Festival, attention: Dean Obeidallah, 338 E.70th Street, Suite 3A, New York, NY 10021. If you would like your submission returned, please include a self-addressed stamped return envelope.

We will be informing artists about the Festival's Picks by November 30, 2007. If you have any questions, please contact Dean, Maysoon or Waleed.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to our Festival or for Festival updates, please visit our website at www.arabcomedy.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!