Funny business is on the forecast for Dubai this next week. The annual spectacle of giggles that is the Dubai Comedy Festival is back from October 2-12. This fifth edition boasts an explosive line-up of big comedy stars boasting specials, TV and movie appearances, as well as talented local comics who’ve wowed Dubai comedy club circuits with memorable punchlines. You can attend 50 shows at three venues – Dubai Opera, Coca-Cola Arena and New Covent Garden Theatre. With so much happening, it can be hard to decide which gig might be of interest to you. We break it down in this easy guide.
1. Dubai Comedy Festival – as seen on TV (or your smartphones)
International comedy heavyweights you’ve seen and loved on Netflix and Amazon Prime comedy specials, as well as viral internet comedians you’ve scrolled on Instagram and TikTok, will tickle your funny bone in person. Palestinian-American comic and actor Mo Amer of the critically acclaimed Netflix series Mo, Indian funnyman Zakir Khan (Haq Se Single), Irish podcaster and primetime TV fixture Joanne McNally (My Therapist Ghosted Me, The Jonathan Ross Show), and English comedian Omid Djalili (Mamma Mia 2) will leave you in stitches.
Dubai-based comics with a massive online fan following and viral sketches like Emirati Bin Swelah, Ahmed Saif, Lebanese-Canadian comic Shawn Chidiac (better known as eccentric online character ‘My Parents Are Divorced‘), and GCC’s first Filipina comic Imah Dumagay will reduce your screen time and for scream (ing with laughter) time. The satirical songs of musical comedian and YouTube sensation Morgan Jay are also part of the lineup.
2. Global guffaws with multilingual comedy
Laughter is a universal language, but some jokes are beyond subtitles. Celebrating Dubai’s multiculturalism, the festival has the funniest of the funny cracking jokes in Arabic, French, Hindi, Urdu, Russian and German. Comedy stars such as India’s Gaurav Kapoor, French wit Redouane Bougheraba, and Lebanese funnyman John Achkar will perform in their mother tongues. Germany’s biggest comics, Benaissa Lamroubal, Khalid Bounouar, and Salim Samatou, bring the Fatherland’s deadpan humour with the German Laugh Club show, while Ivan Abramov will deliver zingers in Russian.
3. Shows for kids and teens
New to the Dubai Comedy Festival, a special segment of family-friendly shows for kids and teens free of expletives and mature R-rated topics, has been added this year. Bring the roof down will be acts like America’s Got Talent finalist Tape Face, a quirky mime artist, puppeteer, and modern clown, as well as Melbourne’s interactive comedy experience Stuff! about two goofy brothers looking for their stolen stuff with the help of the audience. However, the show that’s really set to unleash some mischief is Matty Grey’s award-winning show ‘101 Ways to Annoy Your Parents and Other Really Old People’.
4. Diverse formats
The festival’s mixture of formats is great to expand your humour horizons. Besides routine stand-up comedy, try out satirical plays like Malik Al-Masrah (October 3 & 4), Laser Kiwi’s surreal sketch circus (October 11 & 12). On October 7, hit podcast Flagrant‘s creators Andrew Schulz, Akaash Singh, Mark Gagnon, and AlexxMedia will bring their unfiltered and edgy dissection of sports and culture to audiences with a live podcast taping. On October 6, geek out at a Harry Potter-themed improv night at Courtyard Playhouse.
🎟️Tickets start from AED 150 up to AED 595
👉🏽 For the full line-up of comedians, shows, and tickets, visit the Dubai Comedy Festival website