Orange faced, TV bigot, Kilroy Silk once put forward the profoundly idiotic rhetoric, “what have the Arabs ever done for us?” The answer, of course, was several empire’s worth of inventions which pretty much amounted to everything. Yet, when it comes to listing popular Middle Eastern comics the region ranks alongside Germany as an empty barrel of laughs. This is something that comic, Dean Obeidallah wants to put straight with the forthcoming Amman Comedy Festival, the first event of its kind in the history of the Middle East.
 
Dazed Digital:  How did you get involved with the event?
Dean Obeidallah: I had performed in Amman, Jordan in August and was approached at that time by the Mayor of Amman, His Excellency Omar Maani, about working with the City to start a stand up comedy festival. They were familiar with my work as the co-creator/co-producer of the annual NY Arab-American Comedy Festival which recently celebrated its 5th anniversary.  

DD: So did the Mayor feel that the city needed light relief?
DO: It is my understanding from the Mayor that they wanted to present a comedy festival as a way of bridging the cultural divide between the West and Middle East, to encourage Jordanians to become involved in comedy, to enhance Amman's cultural movement and to hopefully attract tourists to the City.  Of course there is also the simple goal of just wanting to provide laughs to the people of Jordan.
 
DD: How did you choice the line up? Are they all people you've played with before?
DO: The lineup is almost all comedians I have worked with in the US or Middle East who I thought would do well in Jordan. However, all the decisions on talent were made by Mayor's Office.  It's a diverse group of comedian – not all of Middle Eastern heritage – but most are from Arab, Iranian, Indian and Pakistani backgrounds

DD: Why do you think there hasn't been something like this before?
DO: The main reason is that there has been no history of stand up comedy in the region before last year. There had been some isolated comedy shows over the years in the Middle East, but the "Axis of Evil" tour last fall across the Middle East showed everyone that the people in the Arab world not only understand our comedy (which is all in English) but actually loved it.
 
DD: Tell me about the Axis of Evil comedy show?
DO: The "Axis of Evil" was compromised of Ahmed Ahmed, Maz Jobrani and Aron Kader. I was the "special guest" on the Comedy Central TV special and DVD as well as the US tour. We toured across the US and did many shows in the Middle East .
 
DD: How has the scene developed since the shows?
DO: Actually there is a growing stand up comedy scene. As stand up comedy has begun to appear on TV more in the Middle East .Showtime Arabia aired the original "Axis of Evil" special that had been on Comedy Central in the US. Plus, with the growth of You tube, more people in the region are aware of stand up comedy and enjoy it.

DD: What are the highlights of the festival?
DO: I’m really looking forward to presenting this diverse group of talented comedians to Jordan. I truly hope that the Festival will inspire more Arabs across the region to get involved in comedy. The more of us in show business, the sooner we can produce and/or appear in movies and TV shows that present Arabs in a positive, accurate light.
 
DD: Do you think people's views of Arabs is changing in the Western media and popular culture?
DO: The big change in the US is that not ALL the Middle Eastern people in a movie or TV show are bad. There is usually one good "brown" guy who works with the authorities against all the other bad Arabs….but he usually gets killed.
 
The Amman Comedy Festival takes place 2nd - 5th December 2008 at Al-Hussein Cultural Centre.