AUB Students Chosen to Open Axis of Evil Show

During the auditions at West Hall, Bathish Auditorium

Two AUB students who auditioned December 5 on campus before the NewYork-based stand-up comedy group Axis of Evil-which is on tour in the region-were deemed talented comics by the group and Showtime Arabia, which sponsored the event.

The students, Arifi Waked, a graduate student in English, and Amir Haidar, a rising senior in math, opened the Axis of Evil show at the Casino du Liban on December 5. They also had an opportunity to work with Showtime Arabia on producing some original comedy pieces.

Axis of Evil, which is composed of Egyptian-American Ahmed Ahmed, Iranian-American Maz Jobrani, and Palestinian-American Aron Kader, performed in five shows in Lebanon from December 5 to December 8. At AUB, they had wooed the energetic audience with several provocative jokes, starting out with Ahmed's opening line: "It's so nice to be in Beirut, because we've been censored in all other countries... I really just want to say [swear words]!!"

Wearing a baseball cap that said "Dubai," Ahmed apologized, saying: "I don't have one that says Beirut. [pause] Well, at least it does not say Israel."

Organized by Showtime Arabia in collaboration with the AUB Student Career and Placement Services, the audition at AUB attracted a massive turnout that packed West Hall's Bathish Auditorium beyond capacity. More than forty students, mostly from AUB, signed up for the audition and about twenty made it. Amir Haidar and Arifi Waked were among them.

"I love performing, but I was nervous before going on stage, as it was my first time trying stand-up comedy," said Haidar. "And I became even more nervous, when the audience started acting mean and booed some students off stage. But when I went on stage and could feel the energy of the audience, it was great."

In contrast, Waked had already tried her hand at stand-up comedy, having performed a few times at one of the clubs in Lebanon. "I was not planning on auditioning, since I am really focused on applying for a PhD program now," she said. "But then my friends totally egged me on."

Waked, who wears the hijab, says she started doing stand-up comedy in order "to put a human face to the hijab, and invite people to lighten up on the many issues that plague the Middle East."