Arabs Are Not Funny

Established in 2010, Arts Canteen is an arts organisation that empowers artists from the Arab world and beyond to tell their own stories, change perceptions, and tackle the big issues in the world.

Sami Abu Wardeh (‘Rockstar voice of the Palestinian diaspora’ – Alexei Sayle) returns from the Edinburgh Fringe with his smash hit comedy show PALESTINE: PEACE DE RESISTANCE. After winning two awards this year alone he is now running out of space to display all the awards he’s won (three in total). He’s done telly (creator, producer and star of Channel 4’s THE SHEIKH), films and radio (loads of acting on Radio 4) and now he’s here to bring Britain to its knees (with laughter – not as a tyrant / great leader – unless you want that?). Expect politics, very silly faces and sentences that sound a lot like jokes.

**** ‘Defiantly Goofy’ The Guardian
**** ‘Full of charm’ Chortle
**** ‘Passionate, epic and very funny’ Jay Richardson, Fest **** ‘Devastatingly funny’ The Student
**** ‘The most vital show you could see’ The Comic’s Comic ‘A virtuoso display’ – Rolling Stone

STAND OUT SHOW OF 2025 – Rolling Stone WINNER – Bestie Awards, Edinburgh Fringe 2025 WINNER – Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe, 2025 TOP TEN SHOWS OF 2022 – The Guardian

Isabelle Farah is a British-Lebanese actor, comedian, and writer.
She has gigged across the UK and in Beirut, Lisbon, and New York City. She has had two successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, her first show, Ellipsis, had a sellout run in 2021 was in Chortle’s Top Ten shows of 2021, and transferred to the Soho Theatre and Pleasance London.
In 2022, the Evening Standard tipped her as a Next Big Thing, and Graham Norton said she was “a heat-beating” after watching irresponsabelle at the Fringe.
She has written for Radio 4 and has been part of the writers room for a new project for Channel 4. She is developing two further TV projects.
Her finest work is playing a glazed ham in a Walkers Christmas Crisps commercial.

Hasan Al-Habib

Winner: 2023 Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award. Nominee: 2025 Leicester Comedy Festival Awards Best Debut Show. Arab. Muslim. Brummy. 'Deliciously funny' (Guardian) Hasan Al-Habib's parents left Baghdad for the land of opportunity (Birmingham). But when Britain invaded Iraq, friends and teachers saw him as the enemy within. Featuring Big Tescos, why Saddam Hussein would've loved Drayton Manor and - amidst a search for those pesky weapons of mass destruction – finding self-acceptance. 'Al-Habib will be famous' (Rolling Stone). 'Edgy and silly in exactly the right balance' (Sara Pascoe). Directed by Jet Vevers.

Moroccan British Ily Hamdia is a London-based comedian making audiences laugh with his unique view on differing cultures, Ily's comedy hends sharp observations with a dash of absurdity.

British-born, Syrian-bred Talal Karkouti brings stand-up and music together in a gloriously furious and raucous way. Talal took to lockdown very well. You could say he’s been training all his life for it. But even he’s ready to get back on stage and bring all his songs, silliness and pent-up fury with him.

Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi After a lifetime of learned censorship /‘jes.mɪən/ /’aʊdiʃəʊ/ /’ʁrɑː.wiː/ of Baghdad emerges to share joy, pleasure, and hairy relics of wisdom and truth. They spend a lot of time alchemizing their rage, which is abundant, (check out that photo!) into humour and passionately facilitates spaces for others to meet their joy and lightness. Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi is lead facilitator of No Direction Home a comedy collective that platforms emerging stand comedians from a migrant/refugee background. They are also a performer, writer, and story maker working across theatre, film, live performance and protest.