Comedy duo touches on Middle East issues

A Jewish and Palestinian-American odd couple may sound like the setup for a contentious joke, but last night in the HUB, comedy duo Standup for Peace united dozens of students from all viewpoints in laughter, despite political differences.

Jewish comedian Scott Blakeman and Palestinian-American comedian Dean Obeidallah of Standup for Peace performed as two separate acts before concluding with a joint question-and-answer session.

Blakeman and Obeidallah aimed to find the common ground between an otherwise opposing Palestinian and Israeli cultural divide and, in doing so, jokingly addressed many political and popular aspects of American and ethnic culture.

"It's nice to go up nine octaves for no apparent reason," an ill and raspy Blakeman joked.

A large portion of both acts humorously addressed the comedians' issues with the Bush Administration.

"One thing Seattle and New York have in common is that we always hate it when Bush comes," Blakeman said. "[Neither state] vote[d] for him, and traffic stops up when he's in town."

Obeidallah also joined in the light-hearted criticism.

"Herpes has a higher approval rating [than the President]," he said.

Both comedians also poked fun at their own culture. Obeidallah, who said his name translates to "servant of Allah," joked that a friend's suggestion of translating his last name to English wouldn't help get him through airport security.

Blakeman talked about aspects of his Jewish culture and upbringing, including circumcision rituals and marriage ceremonies.

In explaining the Jewish wedding tradition of breaking a glass in remembrance of the destruction of the Holy Temple, Blakeman joked that "only Jews can bring back that anxiety."

In addition to the Bush Administration, Obeidallah and Blakeman mentioned immigration, upcoming presidential elections and the U.S. Attorney firings.

Aside from politics, the duo made light of everything from Myspace to Seattle weather to Nascar to online dating services.

After both performances concluded, the comedians returned to the stage for a brief and more serious question-and-answer section, in which they addressed students' inquiries about theories for peace in the Middle East.

Both performers agreed that non-violence and a two-state solution were necessary recourses for peace.

"No one's leaving," Obeidallah said. "They have to realize they're all going to live together."

Sponsored by Hillel UW, the Arab Student Organization and several other campus groups, the event drew a relatively sizeable and approving audience.

"I think they're setting a good example for ways in which we can find common ground," said Hillel student and sophomore Lauren Wilner. "If it's gonna be laughter, so be it. They're very fair, not one-sided."

Sophomore Kadri Mufti agreed.

"I think it was pretty good," he said. "They had good intentions, and they were politically correct and pretty neutral. . . . You have to find some common ground."

After the question-and-answer session, Blakeman and Obeidallah welcomed one-on-one interviews and received praise from several members of the audience.

"It was amazing," said Hillel UW event coordinator Sarah Lawson. "It was a great way to just laugh for the night [HTML_REMOVED] and also an educational experience."

Reach reporter Jeff Tripoli at news@thedaily.washington.edu.