Friday, 07.04.2008, 11:40pm
Mizna Arab American Comedy Festival co-producers Mike Mosallam (R), Sonny Mandouh and short film director Mike Eshaq observe as locals audition for roles in theatrical sketches to be performed at the festival in August.
DEARBORN — Arab American comedy is still going strong. And it's not just about post-9/11 anymore.
Young people keep discovering jokes in their struggles, or appeal in their goofiness.
Actor Mike Mosallam, director of an upcoming Dearborn comedy festival, said he and other performers have moved past airport security humor, drawing on culture and everyday life for material.
"I'm done with talking about those things," he said about discrimination fodder from the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
"It's no longer time to talk about, to make excuses for, to try to make sense of those events… It's now time to humanize the Arab experience. It's really about the community."
Writers and comedians are focusing more on jokes about idiosyncrasies and everyday cultural struggles — the fears, mannerisms and wails of Arab mothers, the vulnerable stubbornness of Arab fathers, the accents that even those that are born in the U.S. seem to develop…
Characteristic Arab impatience, facial hair, racism — both being subjected to it and dishing it out — the tense closeness of Arab families and the awkwardness of young people trying to fit themselves into some sort of identity are all increasingly being put to use in standup routines and comedic sketches.
The humor has meant the world to many young Arab Americans as they cope during the worst of times as children of Middle Eastern immigrants in this country. They say it has helped them raise their heads high, take pride in their struggle, laugh at absurdity, and smile at the laughter of others — a sign of mutual recognition of the same absurdities, struggles and triumph.
"It teaches people about our culture, helps them see things in a different light," said Mosallam, 28.
The second annual Mizna Arab American Comedy Festival, inspired by the five year-old New York Arab American Comedy Festival, is scheduled for August 15 at Dearborn's Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
The event is set to feature four live theatrical sketches and two short films, with New York standup comic Meena Dimian as MC.
Auditions for various parts in the sketches were held last week in west Dearborn.
Steven Saleh, a Dearborn schoolteacher with some acting experience, read for the part of Doug, a white man married into an Arab family in one of the sketches.
When he first auditioned last year, he was taken aback by frequent use of stereotypes in the scripts.
"At first I felt offended by it," he said.
But he later warmed up to the idea of satirizing, overdoing the stereotypes to disarm them.
"If you're laughing at your own self, there's nothing. It's gone," said Saleh, 33.
He said it takes away the ability of others to use the stereotypes negatively.
"Say what you want, but we're laughing with you," he said.
Mosallam said the routines also serve to show Arabs "doing the things that everybody does."
"People in this community are not used to this method as an outlet of expression," he said about feelings of uncertainty that many have had when first exposed to Arab American comedy.
James Moussa Stevick, a drama student from Ann Arbor whose father is Palestinian, auditioned for the role of a self-centered Arab satellite newscaster.
He said the rise of Arab American comedy has helped unite a diverse community and create a true, distinct Arab American culture.
"It's kind of like theatrical pan-Arabism," he said.
"A lot of Arab comedy, when it started out, was about post-9-11 stuff. It's more reflective of the community… If you can make a joke about something, you can analyze it a lot better. When you parody it, you can examine it a lot better."
Another aspiring comedic actor, Ali Bulldog Abdallah, 25, of Dearborn, auditioned for the role of Samia, an impatient store clerk.
He said he could draw on his aunt Mariam to prepare for the role.
"That's exactly why we appeal to a community that's not used to this kind of thing," said director Mosallam.
He said last year's show got an overwhelming response from non-Arabs too.
"They laugh at the delivery," he said. "Even if they don't understand a certain reference, they understand what the reference is trying to do. They come along for the ride.
"They loved it. It was something so new and fun… You make more friends with honey than with vinegar."
The most popular part of last year's festival was a short film by local director Mike Eshaq. The film, a spoof of MTV cribs — Arab American style — won awards for best comedy and audience favorite last month at a Hamtramck film festival.
Eshaq has two more spoofs of MTV reality shows in production for this year's festival.
"We want to build excitement for this kind of event happening yearly," said Mosallam.
from: http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/index.php?mod=article&cat=Artamp;Culture&article=1239&page_order=1&act=print
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