Winnipeg ComedyFestival -- what a hilarious BLAST!
Current mood: voluminous

I was privileged to perform with a crew of some of the best Comedians in Canada at the Winnipeg ComedyFestival this week. What a blast! I participated in THE DEBATERS which had Simon Rakoff, a hilarious comedian from Toronto, face-off with me in a humorous tackle of the controversial topic: "Should Canada be more supportive of the Palestinians?" ... a hypothetical proposition that the packed house loved.

Simon was great and I learned much from -- he's a professional comedian and I have only been doing standup comedyt for about six years and I am still learning much ... and although I got enthusiastic appaluse from the audience that brought the house down, Simon WON!

Check out their web page at www.WinnipegComedyFestival.com ... and also don't forget to visit my comedy web page at www.hanania.com/humor/humor.htm ...

Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

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Performing in Dublin for Amnesty International
Current mood: Blarney-ish

I’m in Dublin, Ireland at the Leeson Hotel on Lower Leeson Street ready to perform standup comedy Tuesday night at Trinity College for the student chapter of Amnesty International with the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. We’ve been having a blast and stepping up our performances ... my latest video of my show from B’nai Yehuda Beth Shalom (Saturday March 22, 2008) is on Google ... just go to my web site at www.Hanania.com to view the video online.

Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

PS ... go to iTunes and download my comedy audio from the show or at the Radio Chicagoland web site above.

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Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour, new US shows and media
Current mood: voluminous

We have two new tours of the US starting February 9 -19; March 10-27, and a show in Dublin April 1... Check out the details at www.IPComedyTour.com.

Also, check out the Los Angeles Times feature on our performance at Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-comics22jan22,0,6491851.story?coll=la-home-center

And also the "Backstage at the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour" documentary also on the www.IPComedyTour.com web site.

Plus, a mini-documentary that should air on Current TV soon filmmed by Israeli filmmaker Harvey Stein on the page also.

The best place to catch me is on FaceBook. More activity. More networking. Growing fast. Too bad MySpace is so slow to adapt.

Ray Hanania

www.hanania.com

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NAAJA announces Arab Journalism Contest 2008

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Chicago Jan. 12, 2008 Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Show

The Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour is coming to Chicago, Jan. 12, 2008 at Spertus College. It's 90 minutes of non-stop laughter. We just returned from our 3rd tour of Israel-Palestine and I also just finished two shows in London (with audiences of more than 25,000 people -- amazing to see so many people who respond to conflict with the power of humor to change how we see each other.)

What was really fascinating about Israel and Palestine is that while Israelis/Jews and Palestinians/Arabs in Chicago and the US seem a little resistant to coming together and being with each other, in Israel and Palestine they are longing for this and want more ... we should take an example from the people there and even learn from them. The response from Israelis and Palestinians living in Israel and Palestine was so encouraging and so different from what we face here in the US that it really moved me ... seeing them come together after the show and share a desire for peace is very moving.

If you are interested in attending the Spertus University Show, here is the info on the Spertus Concerts in Downtown Chicago ... I hope you can make it:

US Comedy Tour Premiere: Jan. 12, Spertus College, Chicago. Tickets: $25, $30 and $35 RSVP Required. Advance tickets recommended as this show will be SOLD OUT Call 312.322.1773 http://spertus.edu/programs/arts/Israeli_Palestinian_comedy.php

The web site for the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour is www.IPComedyTour.com

Please share this email with others in Chicago who you think might be interested in laughing :)

Thanks EVERYONE for your support ...

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Hawkins massacre at Omaha mall rasies issues of hypocrisy on how Americans view violence

When Robert A. Hawkins entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, I was entering the Malha Mall in West Jerusalem in Israel. My first reaction ot the massacre was to asked myself, "Was the killer an Arab or a Muslim?" I think many Americans asked the same thing.

Read the full column at http://www.ArabWritersGroup.com

Ray Hanania

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Palestinian and Israeli journalists come together at Jerusalem conference
Current mood: aware

It wasn't easy but it happened. Palestinian and Israeli journalists came together in East Jerusalem at the Ambassador Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah on Monday Dec. 3 to share their views and experiences regarding mainstream media and the rising influence of the Internet media.It brought together Palestinian and Israeli journalists, something that happens but doesn't happen often enough.

Here's a link to observations on the Society of Professional Journalists Arab-Journalism web site: http://spj.org/blog/blogs/aaj/ ... and here is another link to a detailed report on the very popular Internet Media Panel discussion that took place (with photographs) http://www.NAAJA-US.com/Con2007.html

Ray Hanania
www.NAAJA-US.com

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FInal show at Ambassador rocks
Current mood: energetic

We had a blast tonight riffing on Annapolis, Arab-Israeli politics and our individual experiences with another great audience at the Ambassador East Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem. This time, the audience was predominantly Israeli, although having Sam Bahour attend the show (again) with his booming laughter and his inspiring life made up for all those who could not make it.

Here are some pictures I hope you enjoy:

Group Shot, Yisrael Campbell, Sherif Hedayat, Ray Hanania and Charley Warady.

Aaron Freeman, one of the founders of the original two Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour shows in January and June 2007 was unable to join us for this tour, but he is missed!

Charley Warady

Sherif Hedayat

Yisrael Campbell, who launched an off-Broadway show recently (Mazol Tv, and Mabruk!) and who hopefully will be breaking legs all over Broadway.

Also, if you get a chance, check out Israelisms.com for an interview that Carol, Samantha and Charley did on their podcast with myself and Sherif.

-- Ray Hanania
www.IPComedyTour.com

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First night of Israeli Palestinian New Comedians Night
Current mood: ecstatic

Tonight, we made history again. We attracted five new comedians, four Israelis and one Palestinian. The Israelis included journalist Gil Yaron, MC Deuce (who performed with us during our first tour in Jan. 2007) Benji, and Luke, and the Palestinian comedian was Fadi, whow as from Jerusalem. We gave the comics more than 45 minutes at the start of the show to perform for the audience Friday night.

A first. MC Deuce has experience but the others were budding comedians and they all did well. Fadi was the first up, which was tough, but he did well. All of them did great.

And, this was also the first time ever that an Egyptian comedian performed with an Israeli and a Palestinian together on stage. Sherif Hedayat related the funny side of being harrassed at Ben Gurion Airport. The security guards actually looked up his web site and watched several of his online YouTube comedy videos before releasing him.

And Charley Warady, my co-founder with the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour, and I performed.

Gil Kwezer gave us a great story tonight in the Jerusalem Post and we're moving towards another show Saturday night Dec. 1 at the Ambassador Hotel. The Ambassador has been great. The truth is Palestinians living under occupation are not extremists, at least not as extreme as many Palestinians who live in the United States. They want comedy. They want humor. They want to live normal lives. And they want the conflict ended. They don't want to be held hostage by arrogant diaspora Palestinian "leaders" nor by the activist community that exploits their suffering.

Ray Hanania

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Performed at Jerusalem’s only Comedy Club
Current mood: mischievous
Category: News and Politics

One of the nice things about what I do is that I do "firsts." It's fun and very important. And this "first" was to be the first Palestinian ever to perform at an Israeli comedy club in jerusalem. The club, "Off the Wall Comedy" located at the intersection of Ben Yehuda Street and King George V Street is owned by David Kilimnick, a comedian and friend.

David invited me and another comedian, Egyptian Sherif Hedayat, to do a guest set at the club on Thursday night. Sherif and I are in Jerusalem performing for Palestinians and Israelis in the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. We have shows tonight and tomorrow at the Ambassador Hotel (in Sheikh Jarrah near the American Colony Hotel) and on Thursday in Haifa.

www.IPComedyTour.com

(Photo: David Kilimnick and Ray Hanania at Off the Wall Comedy Club, Jerusalem, Thursday Nov. 29, 2007)

The audience was all Israeli. This show is in English and David has a second show in Hebrew. They were very receptive to all the jokes, including the ones that poke fun at the absurdity of Israeli politics ... and the absurdity of Palestinian and Arab politics.  It was a blast ... in a good way.

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