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Only strange days such as these could have made possible The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, a showcase for four Arab-American comedians telling jokes about life for people of Middle Eastern descent in the United States in the aftermath of 9/11. A mostly Arab-American audience thoroughly enjoys Dean Obeidallah's monologue, in which he describes his homeland as Eastern Palestine, i.e., New Jersey. He also says "Obeidallah" translates as "Servant of Allah," which does not sit well with airport security. In general, he has a few choice things to say about such extreme safety measures as the Patriot Act: "Are the guys in Al Qaeda really going to libraries and reading books? Maybe Chicken Soup for the Terrorist Soul?" Dapper comic Ahmed Ahmed talks about his own travails trying to fly with a name like his: "I Googled my name and it matches a known terrorist in the Middle East. Right now I think he's Googling me--'Hey, there's an American comedian with my name.'" Ahmed talks about the modern life of a Muslim: "You know you're a Muslim when you drink and have sex but don't eat pork." Aron Kader has fun describing his mixed background as the son of a Palestinian dad and a Mormon mom: "When I turned 19, the Mormons asked me if I wanted to go on a mission. I said, 'Is that different from a Palestinian mission? Because you don't come back from those.'" Kader also recalls his trip to Jordan shortly after 9/11: "I was driving with my cousin, who was cursing the U.S. but asking if I wanted to grab some lunch at Burger King or McDonald's." Finally, Maz Jobrani is very funny explaining that Iranians are not actually Arab at all but ethnically white, and that while Arabs speak swfitly and aggressively, Iranians speak slowly and cheerfully, "like they're on heroin." Jobrani describes his nightmare with Hotmail after writing a terrorist joke to a friend via email: "I called Microsoft, and they transferred my call to an operator in Iraq, who reminded me there's a war on and asked me what I wanted." All four entertainers have excellent sets, and each carries the same serious message layered between gags, i.e., anti-Muslim prejudice in America is really hurting millions of innocent people. --Tom Keogh
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