'If you can do stand-up and you can speak Arabic, you can join the Emirati Comedy Club'

The truth can be stark, can be frightening, can be uncomfortable, can be explosive. But swaddled in the blanket of comedy, it can be liberating and easy to accept. And that’s where the Emirati Comedy Club’s co-founder Bin Swelah has found his niche. The Emirati actor, social media star and funnyman specialises in highlighting social issues by lacing his thoughts with humour.

His group, the Emirati Club, in partnership with Vox Cinemas launched a three-part comedy series for aspiring comedians and fans earlier this month.

Now, while it’s great to find your place in the world, a sense of humour is quite subjective. No one knows this more than comics, which is why they need more than just a routine to take the stand and deliver punchlines, they need someone in their corner. Enter the Emirati Comedy Cub, the brainchild of Swelah and his friend, Ahmed Saif.

“We launched this comedy club because there were no local stand-up comedians,” says Swelah in an interview with City Times. “We were a few local comedians that were doing stand-up comedy, but we didn’t have a club that [gave us a sense of unity]. So we launched the comedy club to invite local talent and to make stand-up comedy stronger and bigger in the UAE. We want to reach the level where we can compete with the other comedy clubs in the Gulf or in Middle East.”

Membership rule

Contrary to the name, however, it’s not just Emiratis who can join this club. “If you can do stand-up and you can speak Arabic, you are welcome to join us,” he adds. English routines are on the agenda too, but for now the focus is on drawing out the Arabic pranksters.

And one of the best ways of doing that, thought the founders of the club, was through an ‘irregular casting call’.

On August 11, the group gave comedians a chance to test their comic timing at VOX Cinemas City Centre Mirdif, where they were allowed to perform a five-to-10 minute skit. The winners got a mentorship and an invite to perform in round two, during Open Mic Night on August 23. This was a bit scarier for some, for they had to take their performance up a notch and do it in front of a live audience. Failure then was not an option.

This event was an important step in the comedy circuit, insists Swelah. “It’s very important, because in UAE the people who they are doing stand-up in Arabic, you can count them on your fingers. This opportunity with Vox cinema and the casting call can help us to see more Arabic talents, more Arabic stand-up comedians. We reached more than 40 people [with the initiative]. We can make [the scene] bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The comedy circuit has come a long way in the UAE. “Five years ago, it was really weak. There were not a lot of people doing stand-up before 2020; there were only the English comedians [doing gigs in] small restaurants, small lounges. But now it’s getting more bigger, and there [are more solo acts]. In the next five years, it will [only get] bigger,” he adds.

He also points to an uptick in opportunities for people to showcase their skills. “There’s Abu Dhabi community week, Dubai comedy festivals [and so on]. It shows that in the next five years, there will be bigger talents who can compete with the big comedians,” says Swelah with confidence.

Swelah, who was raised in Al Ain, may be a comedian with a penchant for truth telling, but he is also a social media star; he has more than a million followers across Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. “Before I entered the social media life, I was a comedian and a theatre actor. I was doing a lot of shows. But there weren’t a lot of people coming [to see these shows]. This was in 2013-14. I was one of the first local comedians. So I chose to try social media because when I did acting in theatre or comedy, I used a sketch and these also work on the social media platforms. The target was to go to social media… to build a big audience. I use my acting skills and my theatre acting skills and social media to bring more audiences to the shows,” he explains.

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