Meet Fahad Albutairi, Saudi Arabia’s first stand-up comedianUntil recently, comedy in Sau
Meet Fahad Albutairi, Saudi Arabia’s first stand-up comedianUntil recently, comedy in Saudi Arabia had been limited to imported American sitcoms like Seinfeld, Friends, and Frasier. “As far as stand-up comedy, I had no exposure whatsoever until I went to the U.S. and actually started seeing stand-up specials on Comedy Central,” he says. He quickly became obsessed, estimating that he watched more than a hundred specials before eventually deciding to try his own hand. He describes his first attempts as “complete failures,” but in time he began to draw from his unique position “as a Saudi student in the U.S., post 9/11, in Texas, and going through culture shock. And that’s when audiences started relating more.” He chuckles, recalling his early attempts at jokes, like the story of explaining the “that’s what she said” joke to his father. “That was fun. And then he ended up asking me, ‘Who is she and what did she say?’”As a GOOD 100 honoree, he’s one of 100 people featured in our latest issue who are tackling global issues in innovative ways. -- source link
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