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To nurture the still-fledgling stand-up scene in Bahrain, two of its top comics hope to build on their region-wide debut and see more comedic creatives rise from the kingdom.
Abdulla Nezar, 26, and Ahmed Almatrook, 25, have been featured on OSN’s first season of Stand Up! Ya Arab! – a crowning jewel in each of their repertoires, but they have no intention of just resting on their laurels.
“Every moment in stand-up is crazier than the next,” Abdulla told GulfWeekly.
“If you put in the work, one moment you are in an open mic, next moment you are opening for a world-class comedian, the next moment your set is being broadcast across the entire Arab world and after that, what can be humbling is that you are back to an open mic testing out new material.”
Abdulla began his journey in 2017 at an open mic at the now-closed Malja art space, where he was the only comedian.
“It would be an understatement to say I was scared, but the moment I got that first laugh, I was addicted!” he added.
“I mostly do social observational comedy and I use storytelling, one-liners, satire, acting, and more to get me out of my comfort zone and make me a stronger writer.
“I try to be personal because many comedians can have the same topics - airplane food, Covid-19, Bitcoin - that have been done to death and are getting staler. But what is always rich with material is yourself, so the more you talk about yourself, the better.”
Abdulla finds inspiration in experiences and conversations, citing travel as a fertile ground to draw comedic attention to cultural nuances, and close listening as a way of observing human behaviour, both going hand in hand.
“While experiences are important for depth of content, conversations provide quality content,” he added.
Abdulla’s set in episode 17 of Stand Up! Ya Arab! centres around quirks in the Bahraini dialect and his childhood.
Having performed in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Lebanon so far, the Bahrain Polytechnic graduate also works as a programmer and continues to organise comedy events, hoping to overcome his biggest challenge in Bahrain’s small stand-up scene - not enough testing grounds.
“In USA, you can take your material and perform five minutes at seven different places every night to polish the material, but in Bahrain, you’re lucky if you can get five minutes every couple of months,” he added.
“However, recently, Stand Up Society has started ‘closed mic’ sessions where comedians test material and give each other feedback on a weekly basis. Before this, I’d usually go into a show blind (not having tried out the jokes) or I’d travel to Riyadh just to test material.”
Meanwhile, his fellow funnyman Ahmed’s biggest challenge, recently, has been performing in Arabic, after having gotten used to the structure of an English-language set.
“I cannot use the same structure and mind-set when writing in Arabic, I must overhaul 85 per cent of my mentality and start thinking differently to come up with an Arabic set that is as good as my sets in English,” Ahmed explained.
The 25-year-old comedian and screenwriter, who is studying mechanical engineering at Bahrain Polytechnic, has been watching stand-up comedy since childhood, before taking the plunge at an open mic night at Raven’s Nest.
“Back then, I just thought it would be a cool medium to blow off some steam and nothing else,” he added.
“The idea that I would share the stage with Imran Al Aradi and Khalid Janahi a year after my first open mic was a silly thought and the idea that I would be featured on an OSN show five years after my first open mic was a pipe dream… but here we are.”
Like Abdulla, Ahmed also draws inspiration from his own life and trends he notices locally and globally, finding that comedy tends to come to him anytime and anywhere, as long as he has an awareness of it.
In episode 21 of Stand Up! Ya Arab!, Ahmed talks about the Kuwaiti dialect and his family’s WhatsApp antics.
“Over time your mind learns to find comedy in everything, and inspiration can hit you when you least expect it,” he explained.
“Most of the bits that I write come to me whilst I’m doing mundane tasks like driving, attending class, or sometimes even when I’m sleeping.”
Both Ahmed and Abdulla hope to elevate the kingdom’s comedic scene regionally and globally as their careers blossom. Abdulla has a show on May 5 in Oman, alongside other Khaleeji comedians and will also be opening on May 18 for Brazilian comedian Rafi Basto in Bahrain.
As Ahmed continues to add more Arabic to his stand-up set and write more scripts, he also hopes to embark on a tour of the GCC soon and potentially take his material to Europe.
Follow @aboodjay_ and aalmatrook57 to keep up with the comedians and those aspiring to try performing stand-up, can follow @standupsociety.bh on Instagram.
