Qatar to host comedy show to promote mutual tolerance

Manama: A comedy show seeking to bring together Qatar’s different communities by breaking down cultural barriers through laughter will be staged in Doha next week.

Stand-Up Comedy Qatar’s Comedy Showdown, on November 8 at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, will be open to the public and will feature two teams of comedians — one comprises expatriates, the other Qataris, including Carnegie Mellon Qatar alum, and the first Qatari standup comedian Mohammad Fahad Kamal.

“It feels wonderful, I cannot wait to go on stage and perform for the community that I love so dearly,” Mohammad said. “I just hope that my professors can understand that I used my business degree from CMU to become a successful comedian,” said Mohammad who graduated from Carnegie Mellon in the spring.

Stand-Up Comedy Qatar (SUCQ) is a coalition of stand up comedians living in Qatar who promote stand-up comedy in the region by supporting and developing up-and-coming comedians and hosting regular events and tours, organisers said.

SUCQ started with six amateur comedians in 2010. It now includes 15 regulars and their long-term goal is to establish a successful and well-recognised annual regional comedy festival.

Doha Comedy Festival 2012 will start with the event at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. SUCQ will then host two other events in November, as well as a comedy workshop open to the public that will explain the structure of comedy and the science behind it.

Carnegie Mellon University joined Qatar’s Education City in 2004.