To Joke in a Man's World

CAIRO - 4 December 2018: The art of stand up comedy is not only a male dominated field but also not widely recognized in the Arab region before 2011.


The art of stand up comedy is not only a male dominated field but also not widely recognised in the arab region pre 2011.

In fact if you try to search for stand up comedians in the arab world you won't find a single female – at least not one who is based in the region.

The only notable female figure is Maysoon Zayid; American - Palestinian comedian, who is known as one of America's first Muslim women comedians and the first person ever to perform stand-up in Palestine and Jordan. But being based in the US has no doubt opened far more opportunities for her than other arab female comedians.

But that is all set to change with the emergence of Reem Nabil; Egypt first female stand up comedian. Egypt Today caught up with Nabil for an exclusive interview to learn more about her and what its like to be a lone female voice in a predominately male field.

Reem Nabil, graduated from the faculty of mass communication , department of journalism but from a very young age, Nabil was notorious for the way she impersonated and imitated her friends and teachers at school, and at family gatherings she was the source of entertainment as she imitated everyone, back then she was not aware it was a talent or even a path she could follow.

But as she got older she discovered the field of stand up comedy via the then new political satirist Bassem Youssef , whose popularity soared after 2011, he inspired many through his innovative approach to challenging social orders and it is because him, Nabil started to search seeking to understand this 'new form of art' which was slowly emerging and it is then that she found her 'call' though she had no idea how to break into a field that is not only dominated by men but one that is not given a chance to develop in the arab region.


Nabil recalls how “when I grew up I was introduced to the standup comedy and found my self in it, at that point people reaction was unbelievable and everyone was surprised with my performances.

All thanks to Allah.” Nabil soon joined a stand up comedy workshop so she can learn how to perform and understand the basics of comedy writings, and developed herself from the notes and reviews that she received throughout the workshop.

Step by step she gained self confidence and learned from her mistakes. But the only practice or chances that are available in Egypt are through performing a short gig at what is called culture centre where people can introduce their talents to the audience.

Unfortunately arab community in general still do not understand or accept the idea of this art, and for female comedians they are restricted and limited to what materials they can cover or speak about ,unlike males.

Topics that would seem indecent for a woman to discuss such as boyfriends, adultery and going out at night are off limits. Nabil is slowly trying to break barriers via her lone female voice her materials focus on social behaviour and human relationships, challenging old traditional customs and putting pressure on the old social structure that needs to be changed, such as wedding customs or funeral traditions.

There are people who appreciate this kind of art, they might be a minority and of the younger generation but do support it and support Nabil as well, according to Nabil she says that they “appreciate that I am capable of doing that, so I think it just needs some time..”

When asked what has been the weirdest or most difficult gigs that Nabil performed at she told us that it “was a concert for me and some of my comedian friends and guess what? The audience was just about 20 people, they didn’t even laugh, they were just smiling... of course that made me feel bad and I began to doubt my talent. But after that, according to my experience I knew that the audience differs from one to another.”

Nabil believes that arabs have changed and opened up to the world due to the internet and technology, “so it became easy for them to accept a new idea or accept seeing a girl being unique in anything she does, so it all depends on where and to whom you perform.”

She goes on to add that “the community views have been changed toward women, yet women in the Middle East still facing some challenges in certain areas to prove themselves, especially if she is providing something different like am doing with the stand- up comedy. They can't comprehend that it is a talent, so it will take extra effort so she can prove her self.”

Earlier this year, Nabil was the only female Egyptian to appear on the Arabic version of the American programme Comedy Central in Dubai.

Which Nabil describes as being the closest show to her heart, it was organized by the tv program “ Comedy Ala el Wakef” which was shown on (comedy central channel),she was scared then because she was going to see a different country, “a different audience and different nationalities, but let me say that I was surprised by their reaction, and even surprised by their love for the Egyptian comedy precisely. Most probably that was the best audience that I have stood in front of , and that experience was really fun.”

Nabil's job is to make people laugh so naturally we had to find out who makes her laugh and they are; Kevin Hart, Fluffy, and Bassem Youssef. “Generally any comedian who says a good joke makes me laugh of course” Nabil said.

While you may find female comedians who act in films, theatre and TV, they are classified as mainstream actresses who support male-led production – they are not expected to have their own stand-up show.

So we asked Nabil what advice would she give her fellow female performers to which she confidently replied “you should believe in yourself and your dream, and shouldn’t wait for anyone to believe in you. Don’t ever care about what people say, work on yourself, make progress, and always be confident that your dream will come true one day.... you’ll reach it and you’ll succeed.”

As for her future plan Nabil said that she wants “to prove myself as an Egyptian female comedian and be popular in the Middle East, after that, I want to perform in English to make my voice and point of view reach all the people around the world.”

At a personal level, she hopes to find the person who will support and love her dream “even more than I love it myself because I won’t settle for anything less than that.”

More women like Nabil are needed in all areas of the arts – but especially in comedy – to break the boundaries of what is expected of Arab women and continue to challenge the status quo. Nabil's final message to our readers is that they “must try to understand this kind of art and appreciate the funny creative jokes.