- Title: WEST BANK-COMEDY FESTIVAL Comedy festival opens in Ramallah
- Date: 11th August 2015
- Summary: ZAHR ON STAGE TELLING JOKE
- Embargoed: 26th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: West bank
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAERP0VK1EOAEN3X0YX2XV04T0L
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: For some comedians taking to the stage in Ramallah its their first time to perform to a Palestinian audience in the West Bank.
The stand up comedians are taking part in a comedy event called "1001 Laughs Ramallah Comedy Festival" and most of those taking part in the festival are Palestinian-Americans.
Amer Zahr, is the the show's producer.
"We've done some comedy shows in Palestine before, but to do it like this with this many comedians and this much is really great. And I think the crowd was like electric, they really loved it, they really had a good time and as comedians, you know when they respond to us, we love it and we give it back to them so it was really wonderful," said Zahr.
Zahr is based in Dearborn, Michigan and he hopes this festival will act as a launchpad for other annual events.
"We hope that with the success of this festival which so far has been very successful, we're selling out most of the shows, we will do it every year. We want to do this festival every year and bring more and more comedians to Palestine to come and perform, that's my dream as a Palestinian comedian I want to bring people here to perform because when you laugh it shows everybody in the world that we are just like everybody else and that's the biggest problem we have so if we can show everyone that we are human being just like everybody else, that's my main goal," Zahr added.
Rami Yusuf, a comedian and actor based in California is among those entertaining the audience here.
''I do comedy mostly in the States but I was really excited to get to come do comedy in the Middle East just because whether you're from Egypt, whether you're from Saudi, it doesn't matter, you have a connection to here Palestine of course," said Yusuf.
Most of the comedians were Palestinian-American apart from Raneen Bisharat-Iskandar, who is an Israeli Arab based in Haifa.
The topics of the show varied from poking fun at the Palestinian Israeli conflict to the economic situation in the Palestinian territory.
The Arab American comedians joked about what it means to be an Arab and Palestinian living in the United States.
Some of those attending the event said they were surprised about just how funny they found the acts to be.
"It was a very special show. The last comedian was hilarious. As someone living in the United States myself, I didn't expect Palestinian Americans can be that funny. They were very funny," said Abdel Rahman Abu Khudair.
"I support this because it brings people closer together. It's a beautiful (show) that makes people happy and changes the atmosphere of daily routine. It's a very good thing for society," added Nour Kiswani, who attended the show.
The festival lasts until August 13, with one show performed in the Hakawati Theatre in Jerusalem on Tuesday (August 11).
The event is sponsored by the American Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Movenpick Hotel in Ramallah. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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