| Aron Kader | |
|---|---|
 Aron Kader, Standup Comedian | |
| Born | July 24, 1974 Glendale, California, United States |
| Medium | Stand-up |
| Genres | Observational comedy, Satire |
| Subject(s) | Racism/Race relations, Islamophobia, Muslim-Americans, Religion, Politics, Arab culture |
| Notable works and roles | Axis of Evil Comedy Tour |
Aron Kader (born July 24, 1974) is an American comedian.
Kader was born to a Palestinian Muslim father and his Mormon mother. He spent his early years in Provo, Utah. His father, Omar Kader, was a professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University who went on to found a government contracting firm in Northern Virginia and his mother, Dr. Nancy Stowe Kader, a native of Ogden, Utah, is a bioethicist and management consultant with a nursing degree from BYU. [1]
Kader is one of four members of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He has performed in the New York Arab American Comedy Festival, started by fellow tour member Dean Obeidallah. [2] Comedians from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour such as Ahmed Ahmed were included on the DVD release of Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11. He also acted on the pilot Beverly Hills S.U.V. Aron can also be seen in the documentary, The Muslims are Coming!, which features a group of Muslim American comedians touring the United States in an effort to counter Islamophobia. The film also features various celebrities including Jon Stewart, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Maddow and many others. Kader has also been a member of the Sultans of Satire, a stand-up comedy show presented by the Levantine Cultural Center since 2005.
In February 2009, Kader organized the Comedy Cafe as part of Dubai Shopping Festival. Over a period of four weeks he offered workshops to aspiring Middle East comics and held headline shows each Saturday that brought together Axis of Evil comedians and other Arab, Middle Eastern, and Iranian comics. [3]
In March 2012, Kader returned to Dubai to host a special comedy workshop to find two opening acts for his comedy show 'Aron Kader of Axis of Evil: Live in Dubai' on April 1.
Kader can be seen performing regularly at his hometown club, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
The phrase "axis of evil" was first used by U.S. President George W. Bush and originally referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. It was used in Bush's State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, less than five months after the 9/11 attacks and almost a year before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and often repeated throughout his presidency. He used it to describe foreign governments that, during his administration, allegedly sponsored terrorism and sought weapons of mass destruction.
Dean Obeidallah is an American lawyer, comedian, and journalist. He is the host of SiriusXM Progress' The Dean Obeidallah Show and a frequent contributor to CNN, The Daily Beast, and MSNBC.
Maziyar Jobrani, better known as Maz Jobrani, is an American comedian and actor who was part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio, and in comedy clubs. His filmography includes roles in The Interpreter, Friday After Next, Dragonfly, and Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero. He appeared as a regular character on the 2017 CBS sitcom Superior Donuts. He had been an advisory board member of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
Ahmed Ahmed, is an Egyptian-American actor and comedian.
The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour is a comedy tour featuring four Middle Eastern comedians and special guest comedians. The tour's name is derived from a speech by US President George W. Bush which designated Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "axis of evil". The tour started on 11 November 2005. The group jokes about their culture along with being Middle Eastern in America. All of the comedians state that their lives changed considerably with 9/11, with one member, Egyptian American Ahmed Ahmed, whose name matches the alias used by an Osama bin Laden henchman, noting that he is frequently stopped by airport immigration officials on suspicion of terrorism – including a 12-hour stint in a jail in Las Vegas. On 10 March 2007, they were given their own Comedy Central special. The group broke up in 2011.
Play 99.5 previously known as Play 99.6 is an English-language music radio station in Jordan. Founded in 2004 the station is part of the Modern Media Company. The station plays English songs from around the world using the Top 40 model as well as broadcasting celebrity interviews. According to Ipsos, Play 99.5 has the widest reach of English radio in Jordan. Its listeners are between 15–30 years old. Play 99.5 is headquartered in Amman, Jordan.
Maysoon Zayid is an American actress and comedian. Of Palestinian descent, she is known as one of America's first Muslim women comedians.
Shaher "Ronnie" Khalil is an American stand-up comedian and actor of Egyptian descent. He has headlined across four continents, toured the United States as a guest performer with the “Axis of Evil”, performed with “Arabs Gone Wild” and taped two “Friday Night Live” Showtime Comedy specials in Dubai, including “Minorities Rule” and “New World Order”, both were shown across 14 countries in the Middle East. Ronnie has performed in sold-out shows across the Middle East and was part of the first-ever Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival in Jordan, as well as numerous other comedy festivals including the New York Underground, NY Arab-American, South Beach, Los Angeles and Boston Comedy Festivals. He was also twice invited to the Montreal Comedy Festival's "Just for Pitching." Ronnie has been featured on sketches for “Conan O'Brien”, ABC News, NPR, Air America, CNN and Al Jazeera, as well as in Comedy Central's online show "The Watch List", which was later picked up for a pilot, and A&E's "15 Films About Madonna."
Fahad al-Butairi is a Saudi stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. Albutairi became the first Saudi Arabian comedian to perform on stage professionally in Saudi Arabia and in the whole of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. He is also one of the most notable YouTube personalities from the country. In 2018, he was forcibly returned from Jordan to Saudi Arabia, due to his ex-wife Loujain al-Hathloul's activities as a women's rights activist.
Chung Won-hu is a South Korean comedian and television personality, born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and raised in Amman, Jordan, to a South Korean father and Vietnamese mother. Although raised in an East/Southeast Asian household, Wonho was given an Arab upbringing, acquiring proficiency in five languages, including native Arabic and fluent English.
Mohammed Mustafa Amer is a Palestinian American stand-up comedian. He is best known for his Netflix comedy special Mo Amer: The Vagabond, and his role as one third of the comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny. He also starred for two seasons, alongside comedian Ramy Youssef, in the Hulu sitcom Ramy as Ramy's cousin Mo, who owns a diner. He stars in the film Black Adam. He also created and stars in a Netflix TV show called Mo. The show is loosely based on his own experience growing up as a Palestinian refugee and was released in August 2022. Amer hosted the 2023 season of Doha Debates' flagship series, filmed before a live audience in Qatar's Education City.
Omar Ramzi is the first white Sudanese stand-up comedian and one of the first stand-up comedians to perform on stage professionally in Saudi Arabia and has opened for a number of accomplished stand-up comedians from the US and the UK.
The Muslims Are Coming! is a 2013 American comedy documentary film co-directed and co-starring Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah. It follows a team of Muslim-American comedians as they tour the American South and Southwest performing free stand-up comedy shows, and engaging in community activities, with an aim to "reach out to Middle America" and counter Islamophobia.
Ali Al Sayed is a comedian based in Dubai. Al Sayed was named "one of the most influential comedians in the world" by Toastmasters International Magazine and was recently dubbed the “King of Laughter” by a group of university students competing for an internship with Rolling Stone ME. Al Sayed is the founder of the local entertainment company Viva Arts and is the co-director of Dubomedy Arts, the first and only Comedy and Urban Arts School in the MENA region.
Mina Liccione is an American performing artist, comedian, tap dancer, choreographer, and arts educator.
Just Like Us is a 2010 documentary about a comedy tour of international comedians throughout the Middle East. Directed by Egyptian-American actor/comedian Ahmed Ahmed, the film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
Prince Abdi is a British stand-up comedian and actor.
Riaad Moosa is a South African comedian, actor and doctor.
Hisham Fageeh is a comedian and actor from Saudi Arabia.
Omar Hamdi is a British comedian and television host. He is one of the presenters of the BBC Wales consumer affairs programme X-Ray.
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