DUBAI: Misha’l Eskander always wears his white thobe whenever he goes on stage. “It’s part of the routine,” he says — a deliberate performance element, as he tries to use comedy to shatter stereotypes about being a Saudi.
“I want people to see that I am from Saudi Arabia, that I am from that culture, but I’m still down with the comedy,” the 28-year-old Dubai-based comic tells Arab News, adding that his comedy gives him a platform to “educate people” about his country.
“I know that some of the audience will not have any knowledge about Saudi Arabia, and I use that to my advantage,” he says. “They don’t know what to expect: They see me on stage, I’m wearing my official thobe, and then I start with a joke about a Saudi stereotype.”
For example, one of Eskander’s jokes involves an encounter with a Chinese woman who was making judgemental comments about the treatment of women in the Kingdom, particularly by their male relatives.
She asks Eskander: “Do you even allow your sister to work? Does she drive?”
“No,” Eskander replies. “She doesn’t work because she doesn’t need to. And she doesn’t drive because she doesn’t need to.”
“That’s very Saudi of you,” says the woman. “Not allowing her to drive or work.”
A pause.
“My sister is nine years old.”
As the audience laugh, Eskander continues, switching stereotypes on his protagonist.
Misha’l Eskander always wears his white thobe whenever he goes on stage.
“You want my nine-year-old sister to work? That sounds like child labor to me. That’s very Chinese of you!”It’s important to address stereotypes of Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world, Eskander says, particularly because, often, the view people get of Arabs from mainstream media is usually a “problematic portrayal.”“I think, for some, their only (exposure to) other (nationalities) is (mainstream) media. In reality, there’s a huge comedy scene in Saudi Arabia. There are people doing really great things,” he says.
Eskander, who performs mostly in English, believes that stand-up comedians — especially those who have already built an audience — have a responsibility not just to entertain, but to use their jokes in a meaningful way. And his strategy seems to be working.
“After a show, a guy approached me to tell me that it was the first time he’d seen a Saudi comedian, and that it cleared all misconceptions that he had,” Eskander says. “I can’t tell you the amount of times that I have gotten this feedback from people after a performance.” Saudis are “hilarious people,” Eskander says, suggesting that Saudis “have pioneered comedy in the region. They have the Jeddah Comedy Club, which has produced comedians who perform internationally.”He adds that stereotypes and preconceptions of the Kingdom and its people prevail because of people’s “lack of interaction with Saudis,” and he’s happy to see that changing because of the Kingdom’s new policies, and the growing popularity of Saudi comedians and artists.
“To see you there, making jokes, really changes their perspective,” he says.
Eskander was born in Saudi Arabia and spent ten years there. He says his family are on board with his desire to perform.
“It helps when you have parents who understand your pursuits and what you want to do,” he says. “I’m quite close with my parents. They live in Sharjah and I see them every weekend. My dad is more of a friend than a dad — in a good way. He’s very supportive.”
Before Eskander even knew what stand-up comedy was, he says he knew he wanted “to make people happy.”
“When I was younger, I always used to do characters. We’d make little home videos — we still have them at home — when I was like six or seven years old. We had camcorders and we used to do fake commercials. I liked the fact that it was making me happy and making other people around me happy. I was usually the guy in the group who was making the jokes. That was usually my role, and that ignited something in me,” he says. “I didn’t know that I wanted to be a comedian at that point, but I knew that I really enjoyed it.”
While he was studying engineering in Sharjah, Eskander attended a formal comedy class at Dubai-based comedy school. “I knew I had to start somewhere and I ended up reaching out to Dubomedy,” he says. “That was one of the moments that changed my life. I loved it.”
After that, Eskander — who cites US comedians John Mulaney and Jerry Seinfeld as inspirations — began performing as often as he could at open-mic nights in Dubai, first performing in 2013. That experience made him realize just how important formal training had been.
Jerry Seinfeld was Misha’l Eskander’s inspiration. (AFP)
“It’s like music — you can learn by yourself, try to pick up and instrument and play it, but if you learn the proper notes, how the instrument works, you’ll just save time to get to your destination,” he says. “If you respect the craft enough, you just have to learn the basics of it. Then you can go mess with it and break the rules.
“If you’re going to perform for someone,” he continues, “you owe it to them that you put the effort in to make it concise and well-written.”
In 2017, Eskander was chosen to participate in Comedy Central Arabia’s “Comedia 3al Wagef,” which immediately gave him a different level of exposure. But he says his biggest break so far was his first comedy special, which he performed at Dubai World Trade Center earlier this year.
“It was 30 minutes of me blabbing non-stop while people are listening. It took a lot of time to write and test. It’s the biggest thing I’ve done comedy-wise,” he says, adding that he hopes it will open doors to bigger and better things in the future.
“I have plans to apply for comedy festivals abroad. My first milestone was doing a proper 30-minute performance, because I now have material,” he says. “My next step is to perform to an international audience.”
