Arab American Comedy Festival 8/24/07

Michigan’s first annual Arab American Comedy Festival was held at the Ford Community and Performance Arts Center in Dearborn.  We arrived an hour before curtain and were greeted by Moose Scheib at the door.  Moose is the Chairman and General Counsel for the Dearborn chapter of Mizna, a multi-faceted professional services company.  We were able to sit down and get a few words from him before the show. 
            “We put on this festival as our way of giving back to the community.” He went on to explain that this comedy festival has as much to do with breaking down stereotypes as it does with laughter.  “Laughter is universal.  It can bring everyone together.”  The sketches illustrate that Arabs are no different than any other culture. 
            After the interview we had the opportunity to go backstage with the performers as they did last minute preparations.  Director, Mike Mosallam, gave a few words of last minute encouragement, and the show was on its way.  And despite a brief power outage due to severe weather, the place was packed.  The performance was outstanding and laughter was constant.  If you didn’t make it to the show this year, next years show is sure to be just as good.