So 2012
has clearly been a general boom year for comedy in the UAE, with the local
comedy scene positively exploding in a short span of time.
February
was an especially momentous month, with the birth of Hisham Wyne’s monthly
comedy night in TECOM’s 1UP, named One Night Standup (as its founder/host would
say, “Haha, see what I did there”). It bears the distinction of being the first
“populace-recruiting” comedy night to be held in a bar (a rather nice one too),
which provides comedians a venue more in line with international norms. Except
for the obligatory summer lull and December shutdown, there has been no interruption
of monthly regularity with this event, and it remains packed every time.
February
also saw the first Standup Showdown, a Dubomedy-run competitive event in the
style of X Factor, which has been taking place every quarter since then, at the
Wild Peeta shawarma place. They have been good fun, with a nice venue, judges analyzing
participants’ sets, and prizes being awarded for the best set, and the best and
worst jokes.
We had two new groups start up early in the year. After some
initial feeling-around, they have mostly settled into regular patterns at
partner venues. Comedy Dubai now has monthly open mics at the Pavilion and various
standup events around town. Dubai Laughing has found a niche in competitive
events at the Rock Bottoms, with the Beat the Gong! and Get, Set, Laugh!
events. I don't know where the other group, Jokers Wild, went after holding two
events, nor what happened to the UAE Comedy Forum - both seem rather quiet of
late.
Sadly, Dubai's original comedy night for the masses met its demise
after a year of regular activity. Our generation will remember Comedy Lab
fondly as a platform for amateurs and professionals alike to try out new
material for up to 10 whole minutes, and even try our hands at hosting. Since
it started in May 2011, Angela Hundal’s venture had been the sole outlet for
comedic talent in the city for several months, until other comedy nights began
springing up. Many thanks to her and Brent Jenkins, and then Omar Ismail, for keeping
it going all that time. I hope it returns someday.
In the
last season of the year, Mina Liccione and Ali al Sayed of Dubomedy revived the Monday Night Funnies series for a weekly run at Blends in the Address Marina. The series
featured a different theme for each week, ranging from improv to all-women to music,
with Dubomedy importing a few international headliners as well. And Jamil Abu
Wardeh brought in a number of international comedians to perform at the
Gramercy under his STANDUb.COM brand.
Finally, in
miscellaneous news, Abu Dhabi had its first standup comedy festival in February,
and another one in November. A Dubai delegation called “Big in Dubai!” performed
at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. And the Laughter Factory, otherwise a bastion
of Western Commonwealth humor, started to tap into the South Asian market with
a couple of special events featuring subcontinent comedians.
Personally
speaking, it has been a great year for me in comedy. I performed at the first One
Night Standup, the first Standup Showdown, the first Beat the Gong!, and the
first Get, Set, Laugh!. I did a set at a Get Up Standup open mic, hosted a
Comedy Lab show, won my first prize of sorts (a box of candy for Best Joke at a
Standup Showdown), and otherwise got around the circuit. I got an slot at the
inaugural Abu Dhabi Comedy Festival, and it was great performing on the same
stage as some of Dubai’s best comedians, and opening for Ron Josol. And, thanks
to my having traveled to a few English-speaking countries this year, I
performed abroad for the first time, with an opening act for international comedians in Singapore, and open mics in Boston and Chicago.
Happy new
year to all comedians and comedy fans. Let’s see what we can get up to this
year.
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