One laugh at a time

When politics is the source of your bread and butter,Kader says that the greatest hit his profession took was not during the global recession but after the Obama election. “Bush was the most generous president to comedians globally. He gave so much and took so little. With Obama at the helm,we’re out of material.” And what does he feel about being tagged by The Wall Street Journal as a Palestinian-Mormon Gary Cooper look-alike? “Really?” he laughs. “Personally,I think I’m more of a Patrick Dempsey look-alike.”

Sammy describes his humour as edgy,unfiltered and realistic. “The new trend in comedy is to make it more interactive. I

imagine myself as exchanging stories with 2,000 friends in my living room.” He says that the butt of most of his jokes is westerners. “White people have such stereotypical views of other ethnic groups that it’s easy to make fun of them.”

Both Kader and Sammy rely on life for inspiration. “It might be something I observe during my travels or read in the newspaper,” says Sammy. “Recently,I read about Shah Rukh Khan being stopped at the airport. I immediately took a pen and wrote a joke about it.”

But ultimately,what makes their humour work is the lining of truth coating it. “Underneath all the horsing around,we’re also spreading awareness and understanding,” says Kader.

“After 9/11,every Arab in America was viewed as the enemy. We put a face and a voice to the enemy.”