The Party's Over

There were 4 Saturday nights, 5 headliners, 11 open mic nights, and a Friday amateur show with 12 comics that fell on "Friday the 13th." The amateurs delivered their first time out putting on a great show for a big audience of around 150 people that were laughing and supporting there endeavor. The closing night was on Valentines day, I don't know if the cosmos planned this for us but we all felt something special was happening and I was just proud to see that the group did so well.

The group of twelve on the thirteenth promoted and drew a crowd and made the weeks spent working with them come together in a way that made us all feel worthy of the time we spent laboring the way it did. I was sick for three days this week and didn't attend two of the workshops but that didn't stop the group from meeting and helping each other punch up their acts and brush up for there showcase. I got sick Monday night and was in bed for the next 3 days. It wasn't until Friday that I felt good enough to show up and MC their show where these comics got an incredible response with big laughs from the large audience. For most, it was the biggest audience they have ever stood in front of, an achievement for all.

Last night was closing night and the last Saturday show of the Comedy Cafe. I was the only comic on the bill and I worried that it would be difficult since I'd have be the opener, middler, and headline all by myself. Luckily the amateurs were strong enough that I could grab two of them to do some stage time to warm up the crowd before I went on to do my hour.

The first was Abs Ali (Abdullah), a local Emirate about 18 years old who was really good. He did some jokes that only he could do about Emirate hair styles, Arab dads cussing in traffic, plus a few other general complaints about the world that were funny. He did 7 minutes then brought up an Indian comedian named Nitin Mitrani. This guy has the ability to do at least 30 minutes solid and I was impressed. He did his thing for only 17 minutes then brought me on and I was happy that I was able to sustain my energy for just over an hour. It wasn't my best of all time, I improvised a bit and messed around, but I was happy that I was able to close with a bit about relationships proper for Valentines Day where the last words out of my mouth were "I love you."

We'll do it again soon inshallah,.......

---ak

Dubai

Still here in Dubai with exactly 14 days to go before heading home to L.A. Sometimes a long trip can go by really fast and I would say this is one of those, unless these last 14 days begin to drag out.

I've been running an open mic, 3 nights a week on Mondays-Wednesdays and its turned more into a workshop sort of thing then a real open mic. The participants are really anxious to perform and begin writing a lot, but its hard to know what will happen if they go in front of an audience. One thing is true about comedians and the crowd that gathers at an open mic, we are all a bunch of lost souls limping around the world looking for an outlet. Here in Dubai there are around 7 regular people that attend every night trying to piece together an act on stage that will reflect their personalities, or at least the best part of it. They have a long ways to go from showing their best. I would say it's a lot of work to do what I'm doing. I've become their teacher, coach and comedy mentor. They look at me after every joke to see if I'm laughing, I just keep taking notes so I can at least remember what to say. It's fun to help them but I hope they will have other opportunities after I split town or this will just be a singular experience for them and that makes me feel bad and adds more pressure to get them to work faster.

A few phrases they say in Arabic fit this one...
"Allah Maak," and "Allah Waalam"(God be with you, and Only God knows)
Or as we say in America, God speed and peace out.

--ak