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From YourSITE.com Press Clips
At the 4th Annual New York Arab-American Comedy Festival, which kicked off Tuesday, everything from airport security measures to traditionally-minded parents provided material for jokes. "More people would rather fly with snakes on a plane than Middle Eastern people in this country," joked festival co-founder Dean Obeidallah, weaving in a pop culture reference to this summer's much joked about horror film "Snakes on a Plane" into his routine at the Gotham Comedy Club in Manhattan. When the festival began, the organizers had to go out and look for performers to fill the program, but now comedians and actors eagerly seek out spots in the six days of standup, sketch comedy and film presentations. Maysa Abouzeid, who is of mixed Italian-Egyptian descent, sent a DVD of one of her performances to organizers after finding out about the festival online. Her community in Melbourne, Australia, donated funds to help her get to the festival. "I'm a threat to national security?" quipped the young comedian who is legally blind and came on stage using a walking stick and wearing dark sunglasses as she recounted going through security checks and enduring a 20-hour flight to New York. The mostly Arab-American audience roared with laughter throughout Tuesday night's program. As the crowds have grown organizers say this year's festival is expected to draw one-third more people than the previous year so has the demand for better and more controversial material. "The audience has raised the bar ... they're coming back and they really want us to be funny," said festival co-founder Maysoon Zayid, a Palestinian-American actress and comedian from Cliffside, New Jersey. Obeidallah, a lawyer-turned-comedian of Italian-Palestinian descent, says the performers find that humor is helping to lift the shadow of misconceptions that have shrouded Arab-Americans post-Sept. 11. "The attitude among comedians onstage was 'don't be angry with us' in the festival's first year," he said. "Enough time has passed that now we can talk about things that bother us as Americans." Obeidallah, who lives in Manhattan, said that challenges do remain when performing before non-Arab audiences. "The minute you say you're Arab, the room usually goes silent. Here, I don't have to apologize for anything." © Copyright by YourSITE.com |
