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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvEunZlLq4A

This is the original video posted on Queen Rania’s Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JeDhV1RfWM

It all started in 1996 when I performed for the first time at Jokers Comedy Cafe. At the time comedian Gary Davis was running the show and he made me feel right at home even though I was stressed to all hell! This was the start of a great relationship with club owner Lisa Grigsby. Lisa became my second mother in the harsh world of stand up comedy. She also helped me through the rough times in my personal life.

When I first began performing it was only a hobby but quickly turned into a career. It’s amazing to look back on those days because many of the comedians I performed with went on to be famous. Guys like Vince Morris (BET’s Comic View, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, Comedy Central Presents, BET’s SOB and Sex In The City), Greg Warren (The Bob and Tom Show, The Late Late Show, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and BET’s Coming To The Stage), and Josh Sneed (Comedy Central’s Laff Riots and Comedy Central Presents).

After years of performing, mostly in Ohio, I quit stand up comedy out of frustration. It sucks when no one wants to book you because they fear you might “offend” their audiences. The problem is comedy clubs based their opinion on the stereotype of Middle Eastern people not on the content of my material.

I remember when I quit stand up comedy my friend and fellow stand up comedian Kris Shaw told me I was stupid for quitting. Even though I was out of the business we continued to keep in contact and he continued to remind me that I was stupid for leaving. After three years away from stand up I got a call from Ahmed Ahmed in October 2006. He told me that Comedy Central was going to air a new one hour special called “The Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour“. This would be the first all Middle Eastern comedy show on national television. This was the point where I realized I gave up and they didn’t. Now they were going to the next level while I was looking back on all the hard work I put into the business only to quit.

It was at this point that I made a life altering decision. I had a great job at Lexis-Nexis, a legal information company, making six figures a year. I loved my job but I felt like I still had unfinished business in the comedy world. I made the decision to leave Lexis-Nexis and return to comedy. I had no guarantees but I had a passion like never before.

When I told my parents I was doing this I expected a very negative response. My father was 80 years old and my mother 72. They had seen me jump from career to career so this was not an out of the ordinary decision for me. To my surprise, they fully supported my decision. They said they saw the passion in my eyes. On the other hand, Lisa Grigsby didn’t feel the same way. She saw me fall back on comedy every time I was unhappy with my career. After returning for a few months her confidence in me got stronger as she saw I wasn’t losing my drive.

I began looking for work immediately and once again my friend and comedian Kris Shaw was quick to help. He invited me to go to Michigan for a four day tour that helped me get comfortable on the stage again. Kris has always been by my side in and out of the business. He is someone I consider a true friend.

January 2007 was another major turning point for me. I went out to Los Angeles for a week on my way to Alaska because my friend comedian Tammy Pescatelli had given me an opportunity to do a show up there. I called another friend, comedian Mark Eddie, to let him know I was in town. He invited me over to stay at his home in Castaic, a beautiful city just outside of Los Angeles. We watched a movie called “The Secret“. This was an amazing motivational movie that changed the way I saw life. I became more positive about things that happened to me instead of looking at the negatives.

While in Los Angeles I got to hang out with Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed and Aron Kader from the Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour. They watched my new tapes and allowed me to open two tour dates in Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. By July 2007 I was selected for Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight. Only 72 comedians were selected. I was progressing at a pace beyond my expectations. In November 2007, comedian Ray Hanania asked me if I would like to go to Israel and Palestine for the Israeli Palestinian Comedy Tour. I gladly accepted and performed for the first time outside of the U.S.

Last week was the culmination of my year long return to comedy. The festival was in it’s fifth year and stronger then ever. I met several talented Arab American comedians and actors who were very hospitable and helpful during my trip. As not to ramble on about this adventure, I have broken up the trip into several blogs that will follow.

I hope you take the time to read them and hear about all the amazing things that happened.

Sherif Hedayat
www.funnysherif.com

Today, I woke up to a news story about the five-member Sugarcreek Twp. Board of Zoning Appeals. They voted unanimously Thursday against a conditional use zoning request by architects for the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton to build a Mosque on South Alpha-Bellbrook Road.

Everyone who knows me will tell you, I am not one to defend the Muslim community since they don’t seem to find my religious humor entertaining. On the other hand, I have to take a neutral position in this situation because I believe we have rights as Americans.

The Islamic Society of Greater Dayton submitted a zoning request to build a Mosque on property they own! In a statement posted on the township’s Web site, the board said it denied the request “due to an inadequate proposal for treatment of sanitary waste and effluent, traffic concerns, and other adverse impact on neighboring properties.”

The last part is what bothers me most “and other adverse impact on neighboring properties.”. What are they trying to say? Do they think a Mosque would create an environment where terrorists can plot future attacks? Maybe they fear suicide bombers will run rampant through the streets of Bellbrook scaring off all the business patrons! People need to wake up and realize that not every Muslim is a terrorist. Why is it Americans can separate from groups like the KKK and skinheads by grouping them as “extreme” people even though they are white Americans just like most people in this country? Why is it that when it comes to Muslims there is no difference and everyone is grouped as terrorists? I’m a Muslim stand up comedian. The only time I’ve ever bombed is when I was on stage. Am I a terrorist now?

The icing on the cake was the statement of an annonymous caller. She called the township explaining why the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton shouldn’t be able to build a Mosque. She identified herself as a member of the First Baptist Church or Kettering, and was quoted as saying “because of what it says in the Quran, and these are bad people,”

Interesting statement that was obviously made based on her religious beliefs. I wonder what would have happened if a Baptist Church wanted to build on that same property? I’m going to take a wild guess and say it would have been approved immediately.

I think this whole city needs a dose of reality and maybe a little anti-stupid medicine. If I was rich I would have bought all of these people plane tickets to New York for the 2008 Arab American Comedy Festival this weekend. Then they could laugh at our jokes and quickly realize…..they were about them.

THIS JUST IN…..Among the nation’s largest college campuses, Ohio State University reported the most forcible sex offenses and burglaries, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

(Sherif is a widely acclaimed standup comedian and satirist whose topics include family, education, religion, careers, dating, television, stereotypes, racism and growing up in the Middle East. Reach Sherif at www.FunnySherif.com. Copyright Arab Writers Group Syndicate, www.ArabWritersGroup.com.)

All I have to say is if you’re can’t accept OSU is a great team then don’t let me catch you at the store buying a new OSU shirt next January because you’re a front runner!

Always a Buckeye,

Sherif Hedayat

Why is it that OSU football has to continually prove themselves game after game, year after year? We deserve to be in the National Championship Game. If we sat here an analyzed which team beat who when and where then we could argue all day long. The reality is OSU is 73-15 under Tressel. They’ve won 1 National Championship and 3 Conference titles in 7 years! We have this thing called consistency.

This is for all you stat geeks out there. I don’t want to hear your number crunching crap explaining why OSU shouldn’t be in the title game. I just want people to respect the fact that OSU DESERVES to be in this game.

I’ll make this short and sweet. OSU WILL WIN…..if they lose I’ll buy an LSU shirt, take a picture wearing it and I’ll even put it on the cover of my website www.funnysherif.com for the next week.

It will probably ruin my career as a comedian in Ohio…but I know we’re going to win!

My prediction: OSU 38 – LSU 21

GO BUCKS!
Sherif Hedayat

In order to participate, you have to put together a one minute clip in the category you want to pursue. Once you upload your video then you will see how much your friends really like you. Each week the people with the top video in each category will be flown to L.A. to audition and get booked for a job in the same week!

Most people in entertaiment will tell you it takes years to make it in the business. This show will give you an opportunity to turn a one minute clip into a Hollywood career in just one week! Do you have what it takes?

If you don’t want to be famous you can also sign up as a fan.

Submissions will be accepted starting with the modeling category on January 28th at www.bigshotlive.com. Break a leg!

I will be submitting for the comedy category. Please check out my stand up videos at www.youtube.com/sherifh . If you like any of the clips please email me or post a comment here and I will let you know when I submit my video!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year!

Sherif Hedayat

So the show started off on the wrong foot with some kid named Dusty talking it up in the front row. It was my friend Janita Jae’s first time hosting a show so she was nervous. She was going through her routine and this numb nut decided he had to put in his two cents. I’m not sure if he was drunk or stupid but I’m going to go with both. He continued to talk through each comic’s set. He wasn’t being loud enough for the club to kick him out so he was there pretty much the whole show. After seven comics went up Gary finally took the stage. He was asking a couple how they met and once again this dipshit had to chime in with his opinion. Gary turned to him and said “Who the fuck are you?” Then it started.

My friend and comedian Jack Wilson was taping his own set then forgot to turn off he camcorder so he taped the first few minutes of Gary’s set. Gary went off on this kid. After Jack turned off the tape the kid kept talking and Gary went off on him for 45 minutes! That was the first time in my 11 year career that I saw a comedian tear up a heckler for 45 minutes!

The icing on the cake was when Dusty finally got kicked out about 10 minutes before the show was over and then one of Dusty’s friends decided to leave. Gary said “You leaving?” the guy responded “Ya.” Gary then asked where you from?” the guy responded by holding up his hand and yelling “Valley View….state baby!” That was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. The kid had to bring up that he had a high school state football ring on. What a douchebag. Gary finished his set with a montage of jokes about Dusty and the “state” guy. His last joke was “that kid’s Myspace page is www.mypsace.com/state!”

What a great show. I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend!

Here’s the video clip of the first 5 minutes of abuse: