If you are based or staying in Jeddah, you must have heard about the Jeddah Comedy Club. Launched late 2012, the JCC has made history! They are a registered official platform for local stand-up comedians to showcase their talent; not only that, they also nurture up and coming talents. Live entertainment in Saudi Arabia is very hard to find but that’s why Jeddah Comedy Club is quickly becoming a “must attend” event for locals and tourists who are visiting Jeddah.
Jeddah Comedy Club was created by Yaser Bakr, a Saudi blogger and comedian himself in association with other comedians. All JCC events are sold out from two to three days of putting the tickets on sale!
We sat down with Khaled Omar who is the creative architect in Jeddah Comedy Club and had this quick chat for Arab News:
How did the idea of Jeddah Comedy Club see the light? What inspired it?
The popularity of stand-up comedy in the recent years in Saudi Arabia is almost like no other form of entertainment has experienced; this fact inspired the founders to start the comedy club, which is the proper platform to nurture and develop stand-up comedians.
What are the difficulties that you faced, especially at the beginning?
Any new venture is usually faced with many difficulties, and we had our share of them; but the support and love we found from the people made it all worth it. I would say that the legalization and proper documentation were challenging at the beginning, we were enrolled under SASCA who are our official partner and big supporter!
The feedback of what JCC have been doing is great! In your opinion, what made JCC what it is today?
The number one reason why we are doing well is our great fans and the people who supported the club by attending every show we host. In addition to that, we wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for our talented comedians who are constantly improving and always learning.
Tell us about the local comedians you guys have embraced and supported.
It has been great! Through the auditions that we host every other week; we have met 700 great applicants; 100 of them actually made it and performed in our shows; and now we have 30 active comedians performing nationally and internationally
What has been the best thing that happened to Jeddah Comedy Club?
It has to be the Balad historic event (Kunna-Kidda) in 2014 where we managed to produce what is considered the biggest stand-up comedy event in Saudi Arabia.
About 7,000 people attended 10 shows featuring 34 of the top comedians in the country. It was great to be part of this event as we were promoting new local talents and also supporting our heritage.
In one word how would you describe Yaser Bakr?
Bald
What are your future plans? Any stand-up in English?
Expanding into other cities and countries in addition to starting our own production arm, also nurturing the talents through representation services. As for the English stand-up, we currently have some English stand-up segments especially if the main act is an English speaker; but we haven’t had a full show yet; however it’s definitely on our radar.
How can people reach you through social media?
@jedcomedyclub on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Any last words for Arab News readers?
We really want to thank our fans! In the second version of “Kunna-Kidda” which occurred this year, we had over 3,000 people in just three days! We are constantly working on improving our shows and raising the entertainment value in Saudi Arabia.
Jeddah Comedy Club: A platform for comedians
Jeddah Comedy Club: A platform for comedians
Parrots rescued as landslide-hit Sicilian town saves pets
- Residents queued up at a fire service command point just outside the high-risk, evacuated “red zone” to be accompanied inside to rescue pets
- Some locals feed their animals but leave them where they are, because they have no place to take them
NISCEMI, Italy: Pino Terzo Di Dio was in tears as firefighters carried his beloved parrots out of his home, which has been cordoned off as his town teeters on a cliff edge.
They were the latest pets to be saved by firefighters from hundreds of homes that were evacuated in the Sicilian town of Niscemi after a four-kilometer (2.5-mile) long stretch of hillside collapsed.
“They are scared,” Di Dio told AFP, his voice breaking as the emergency workers carried the parrots — four cockatiels and a parakeet — out of his house in two cages, buffeted by the wind.
The town, built on unstable terrain, was battered by a powerful storm which hit southern Italy last week.
There were no deaths or injuries from Sunday’s landslide, but experts say the gulf could extend when it rains again.
- ‘Lost everything’ -
Residents queued up at a fire service command point just outside the high-risk, evacuated “red zone” to be accompanied inside to rescue pets or gather belongings from important documents to clean underwear.
Some locals feed their animals but leave them where they are, because they have no place to take them.
Di Dio said his bird feeders were full but one of the parrots “tends to knock the water onto the floor,” and feared they may have been without water for days.
The 53-year-old said he had been moving between friends’ houses since the disaster.
“It’s been four days that I’ve barely washed. I smell like a goat, but that’s fine,” he said.
All his attention was on the yellow and grey birds, aged between seven and 13, and where they will go now.
“Let’s hope that someone with a kind heart will take care of them. The important thing is that they treat them well,” he said.
“I don’t have a home, I’ve lost everything.”
- ‘Help us’ -
Firefighter Franco Turco said emergency workers had rescued “quite a few dogs, cats — and now parrots.”
The team was working out how to rescue horses in fields below the baroque town, where deep fissures caused by the landslide were complicating access.
In the meantime, some 24 firefighters have carried out 80 missions to recover belongings in the red zone, which extends 150 meters from the cliff face.
But not even they enter the 50 meters buffer zone before the edge.
Some residents “have cried, have hugged us,” he said.
In the same building as Di Dio’s parrots, a woman who did not want to be named pulled a shopping trolley and black plastic bags full of belongings out of the house and onto the street.
In her arms she carried a ceramic statue of the Madonna, which had once stood at the foot of her stairs.
“May the Madonna help us,” she said.
