Getting along in the Middle East hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs for Israel, but working toward regional peace may benefit from a little shtick, say Scott Blakeman and Dean Obeidallah.
The New York–based comedians bring their “Standup for Peace” show to Congregation Beth Israel Judea in San Francisco on Sunday, April 21.
Blakeman, who is Jewish, and Obeidallah, a Muslim Arab American, each will perform a set of standup, then jointly answer questions. “We both poke fun at our own background,” Blakeman said. “We both are political comedians, too, so we talk about American politics and stuff. It’s not a comedic analysis of the Middle East, which wouldn’t be too funny.”
For example, Obeidallah jokes that Arab Americans may sometimes find life challenging, but they’re grateful that at least major storms aren’t named for Arabs.
“ ‘Hurricane Mahmoud is coming:’ That would be worse,” he quipped in a phone interview. “ ‘Look out for Mahmoud!’ This is not really helpful to my family.”
And here’s one from Blakeman: “President Obama had the first Passover seder ever in the White House. He’s had four or five now. You’d think that would be one thing the Republicans wouldn’t criticize him about. But they said there was no media coverage of the seder, so what was he hiding? I know what he was hiding: the afikomen.”
Blakeman said he’s found during more than 100 “Standup for Peace” shows since 2002 that “if you can laugh together, there’s hope you can get along together.” The duo performs mostly at colleges, but also JCCs, synagogues, mosques and once at an Arab American community center.
The college shows often are co-sponsored by Jewish, Arab and Muslim student organizations that “had never done a thing together” until then, Obeidallah added. “We unite them for an evening. Many other schools have us as part of ongoing dialogue. We’re one step toward conflict resolution. We can be a step in the right direction.”
On the other hand, at many campuses where he and Blakeman perform, “in general you find no issues between Jewish and Arab students,” Obeidallah pointed out.
The pair performed “Standup for Peace” at Stanford University in 2004. This is their first show in San Francisco.
Blakeman and Obeidallah were doing standup and living across the street from each other in Manhattan when they met in 2002. Independently, “We both had thought of doing this sort of show,” Blakeman said. “We did the first couple of shows as fundraisers for Seeds of Peace,” a nonprofit that teaches conflict resolution to young people from the Middle East and other unstable regions. Then, he said, “We got interest in the show from a JCC in New Jersey and colleges, and sort of went from there.”
Blakeman performs standup nationally and in Europe and has appeared on MSNBC, “FoxNews.com Live,” “The Young Turks” on Current TV, and Comedy Central. He twice performed at San Francisco’s Kung Pao Kosher Comedy show.
Obeidallah has done standup nationally, in Europe and the Middle East, including Israel. He is co-creator and co-producer of Comedy Central’s Internet series “The Watch List,” featuring American comedians of Middle Eastern origin. He has appeared on CNN’s “American Morning,” ABC’s “20/20,” Al Jazeera’s “Min Washington” (“From Washington”), and on BBC, NPR and Fox News Radio, among others.
He is co-star and co-director of the documentary film “The Muslims Are Coming!,” set for release in theaters and on the Internet Sept. 17. The film follows a 2011 tour of Muslim American comedians performing free comedy shows in the Deep South and West. It closes with commentary by non-Muslim comedians, including Jon Stewart.
“There are more Jewish comics in the end of it than Muslim comics in the film,” Obeidallah joked. “They talk about the parallels between us and their lives, or their parents’ and grandparents’ lives.”
Likewise with “Standup for Peace,” said Blakeman. “We see through our comedy our similarities. Jews come from a place of persecution. Arab American humor is very similar in that regard.”
“Standup for Peace,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 21 at Congregation Beth Israel Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way, S.F. $22. (415) 586-8833 or www.bij.org