Had I been asked about stand-up comedy a few years ago, I would have replied that I knew nothing about it. Today, however, my answer would be a whole lot different, surprisingly enough, this wild act has miraculously been taken to a new level of popularity amongst the people of Jordan and the Middle East.
After receiving a message last night informing me that a two hour stand-up comedy show was to be held at university the next day, performed by students and with free admittance, I was delighted. It was shear bad luck that I was persuaded by some friends to hang out for a while, and then continue to the show. Assuming that our fellow Arabs were most probably bad performers and you would be quite lucky if you even "smiled", we headed to the show after half an hour from it's starting, what awaited us left us in complete shock; not only were all the seats taken and the sounds of laughter earsplitting, but students were crammed all over, the doors were jammed and what's more, many of them had cameras!! It honestly was a memorable experience...
Now wait a minute here, you've probably heard that the de facto characteristic of Jordanians is that they always have that disturbing frown drawn on their faces, but hang on, to what extent can this well known trait be true; I mean I REALLY saw it with my own eyes, honestly, they were ACTUALLY laughing!!
Not a while back some global comedians were in town too... Russel Peters, the Canadian stand up comic and actor, as well as the Axis of Evil comedy tour including Aron Kader, Maz Jobrani, Ahmad Ahmad and Dean Obeidallah, all witnessed massive success amongst the Jordanian people. As a matter of fact Russel Peters even got punk'd by King Abdullah II of Jordan!! Not to mention the hilarious Lebanese comedian Nemr Abu Nassar or.. "The Tiger", who performed in the Cultural Palace in Amman a couple of weeks ago to 1,800 people, more or less the largest stand-up comedy event to take place in the Middle East yet!As a side note, I've always heard "laughter was good for the soul" and I can't but agree all the way; how bad is it really to laugh at one another? I sure do hope these events keep coming!
