Arab-American Comedy Festival Celebrates Five Year

January 10, 2008; New York, New York
Contact: New York Foreign Press Center
Telephone: 212-317-8325; Email: nyfpc@state.gov

The New York FPC organized a tour/briefing with the Arab-American Comedy Festival (AACF) planners - who are also stand-up entertainers - at a Westside theatre.  The three-person panel explained how the AACF came into being in a post-9/11 world, and why they felt it was necessary to ply their trade as comedians.  Dean Obeidalla, the group's co-founder expounded on the freedoms that are allowed in the U.S. when 'pushing the envelope' on topics that poke fun not only at American culture and taboos, but those in the Arab world as well.  In addition to its onstage success in New York, the group has performed on cable TV's Comedy Central, and in various locales throughout the Middle East to increasing acclaim.