It was a brave group who approached the stage in Abu Dhabi Mall yesterday, completely ignoring one of the most important tenets of comedy: leave it to the professionals. At 19, Farah Kulaih, an Abu Dhabi resident, battled nerves as she tried to make a panel of her comedy idols giggle and earn a spot opening for them at the Beach Rotana hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday. "I always wanted to be a stand-up comedian but I'm really nervous," Ms Kulaih said, after telling a joke about American/Arab accents. "I am very proud that I have gone in front of two of my idols, Ahmed Ahmed and Sebastian, because I am a huge fan of these men. I knew they were coming before the receptionist at the Beach Rotana knew."
Ms Kulaih's dreams came true when each panellist complimented her, but that did little to calm her. "I was really nervous, I was shaking on stage," she said. "My favourite comic is Ellen DeGeneres. I love her show because she is a woman. I consider myself a feminist. I love her jokes, she is classy." Despite raising more than a chuckle, Ms Kulaih said while she would love to be a stand-up comedian, she prefers watching.
"I'm not funny," she said. "I enjoy watching stand-up, it's my favourite thing to do." Manjeet Singh, 30, an Indian businessman who has lived in Abu Dhabi for more than 14 years, said he had to censor his jokes for a family audience. "I was a bit afraid," said Mr Singh. "I don't know why I went up on stage but I wanted to expose my jokes. ''Then I realised it's a Muslim country and there are so many different religions and there were ladies and children. I suddenly realised I couldn't expose this joke for my performance. I was thinking of so many things in my mind when I was telling the joke: Was it good or not good? Will anyone understand my joke?"
An American teacher in Abu Dhabi, Bill Phalin, poked fun at his Arab students during his short act, mocking one for copying his English work from Google. "I like doing stand-up," said Mr Phalin. "I have done it some times, I just wish Abu Dhabi had more comedy." asafdar@thenational.ae
