ABU DHABI: Lebanese comedian John Achkar, who is on a world tour, touched down in the UAE capital on Sunday night as part of Abu Dhabi Comedy Season.
Achkar performed his latest special, “AAM JARRIB” (“Trying” in English), before upcoming stops in London, Paris and Sydney on a tour that wraps up in October.
“John has been trying new things for 34 years, and he’s still trying,” his grandmother sang in a video that opened the show.
At 34, Achkar claims he does not like trying new things — but as the show unfolds, it is clear he excels at turning the discomfort and quiet fulfillment of those rare efforts into comedy gold.
He paces the stage, piecing together absurd real-life misadventures — a botched sailing trip or an outrageously inappropriate skydiving incident — into hilarious anecdotes.
At one point, Achkar calls out what he jokingly dubs a modern epidemic — ADHD — which he says has become a socially accepted excuse to dodge plans. Fittingly, his performance is a whirlwind of energy: Fast-paced, delightfully chaotic and entirely on brand.
True to form, Achkar’s commentary on Lebanon is bold but affectionate. He jokes that almost every restaurant blasts the internet-famous patriotic anthem “Lebanon Will Return,” even as the country teeters on the edge of war. The satire is sharp, never cynical.
Behind him, a detailed sketch of the Lebanese coastline hangs throughout the performance — a quiet yet unmistakable tribute to his identity.
The show ended on the perfect note as the same anthem he mocked earlier blasted through the speakers, with the crowd bursting into applause and laughter — a full-circle moment.
In “AAM JARRIB,” John Achkar does not just try — he soars. And the audience, just as energized as he is, soars with him.
