View source for Axis of Evil Comedy Tour

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<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:Axis of evil comedy tour.jpg|right|300px|Axis of Evil Members]] -->
The '''Axis of Evil Comedy Tour''' is a comedy tour featuring four [[Middle Eastern]] comedians and special guest comedians. The tour's name is derived from a speech by US President [[George W. Bush]] which designated [[History of Iraq under Ba'athist rule|Iraq]], [[Iran]], and [[North Korea]] as the "[[axis of evil]]".<ref name=Fuller>{{cite news|last=Fuller|first=Jaime|title=The 4th best State of the Union address: "Axis of evil"|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/01/25/the-4th-best-state-of-the-union-address-axis-of-evil/|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=28 April 2014|date=25 January 2014|archive-date=6 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506031846/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/01/25/the-4th-best-state-of-the-union-address-axis-of-evil/|url-status=live}}</ref> The tour started on 11 November 2005.<ref name=Dougherty>{{cite web|last=Dougherty|first=Jill|title='Axis of Evil' inspires laughs|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/30/axis.comedy/index.html|publisher=CNN|accessdate=28 April 2014|date=1 July 2007|archive-date=29 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429051138/http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/30/axis.comedy/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Lee>{{cite news|last=Lee|first=Felicia R.|title=Comedians as Activists, Challenging Prejudice|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/arts/television/10evil.html|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=28 April 2014|date=10 March 2007|archive-date=5 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605044400/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/arts/television/10evil.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The group jokes about their culture along with being Middle Eastern in America.<ref name=Dougherty /><ref name=Lee /> All of the comedians state that their lives changed considerably with [[9/11]], with one member, Egyptian American [[Ahmed Ahmed]], whose name matches the alias used by an [[Osama bin Laden]] henchman, noting that he is frequently stopped by airport immigration officials on suspicion of terrorism – including a 12-hour stint in a jail in Las Vegas.<ref name=Lee /> On 10 March 2007, they were given their own [[Comedy Central]] special.<ref name=Lee /> The group broke up in 2011.

The group's current-events sense of humor has attracted media attention. They have been interviewed by [[CNN]], [[NPR]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', and ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', among others. They toured in several Middle East countries with [[Showtime Arabia]]. [[King Abdullah II of Jordan]] has attended their show in Jordan and has conveyed his appreciation of their work.

==Background==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2020}}
The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour was founded by standup comedian [[Ahmed Ahmed]], to use jokes to combat post-9/11 prejudice in the United States. Along with Ahmed, [[Maz Jobrani]] and [[Aron Kader]] had their own personal accounts of racist experiences that they have undergone within the United States, and used these stories as material for the comedy tour. 
Ahmed Ahmed, the Egyptian American founder of the group, believed that post-9/11 standup material should be tested in the Middle East before traveling anywhere else. Before the group had even been formed, Ahmed had been hired to perform a private fundraiser in [[Dubai]] to benefit Palestinian medical students. This led to the tour he called the "Axis of Evil Tour", in which he along with comics Maz Jobrani and Aron Kader traveled the United States with the aim to stop stereotyping and prejudice towards Middle Easterners through a comedic approach.

[[Jamil Abu-Wardeh]], the producer of the Axis of Evil, brought the tour back to its origin, the Middle East. There, the comedy tour gained two additional members, [[Nemr Abou Nassar]] and [[Wonho Chung]]. Chung was known especially for his ability to present the material in [[Arabic]], despite having a Korean descent. His ability to speak in Arabic and other languages, as well as his charisma, made him a notable addition to the tour. Nassar performed in five sold-out shows, during each of which his performance received a standing ovation. The tour featured performances in Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Bahrain, and other Arab countries.
According to ''The New York Times'', the result was a success, beginning with the selling out of numerous performances from the first one at [[Lisner Auditorium]] at [[George Washington University]].

==Main members==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!National origin!!Name!!Nationality group
|-
|{{Flag|Egypt}}||[[Ahmed Ahmed]]||[[Egyptian American]]
|-
|{{Flag|Iran}}||[[Maz Jobrani]]||[[Iranian American]]
|-
|{{Flag|Palestine}}||[[Aron Kader]]||[[Palestinian American]]
|-
|{{Flag|Palestine}}||[[Dean Obeidallah]]||Palestinian American
|}

===Guest members===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!National origin!!Name!!Nationality group
|-
|{{Flag|Korea}}||[[Won Ho Chung]]||[[Koreans in the Arab world|Korean Jordanian]][http://www.wonhochung.com/]
|-
|{{Flag|Cuba}}||Carlos Leon||[[Cuban American]][https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502458/]
|-
|{{Flag|Lebanon}}||Nick Youssef||[[Lebanese American]][https://www.facebook.com/standupnick]
|-
|{{Flag|Syria}}||Helen Maalik||[[Syrian American]][http://helenmaalik.com/]
|}

==DVD release==
After airing on [[Comedy Central]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Davila |first1=Florangela |title=Florangela Davila's TV Picks |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003597563_tvpicks04.html |website=[[The Seattle Times]]|accessdate=29 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211150420/http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003597563_tvpicks04.html |archivedate=11 December 2014}}</ref> the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour was released on DVD as a studio special by [[Image Entertainment]] on 3 April 2007.<ref name=amazon>{{cite web|title=The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour|url=https://www.amazon.com/The-Axis-Evil-Comedy-Tour/dp/B000MRA588|publisher=Amazon.com|accessdate=29 October 2014|archive-date=6 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106123031/http://www.amazon.com/The-Axis-Evil-Comedy-Tour/dp/B000MRA588|url-status=live}}</ref> It was directed by [[Primetime Emmy Award|Primetime Emmy]] nominee Michael Simon<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Simon Awards|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800301/awards?ref_=nm_awd|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=29 October 2014}}</ref> and featured the tour's four main comedians: Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader, Maz Jobrani, and [[Dean Obeidallah]], as well as fellow actress and stand-up comedian [[Loni Love]] as Airport Security.<ref name=IMDb>{{cite web|title=The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour (2008)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018867/|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=29 October 2014|archive-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912195625/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018867/|url-status=live}}</ref> The unrated DVD has a run time of 86 minutes and includes special features such as [[outtakes]] and [[Making-of|behind-the-scenes footage]].<ref name=amazon /> The DVD was also released in [[Sweden]] on 15 November 2008.<ref name=IMDb />
 
Review aggregation website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gave the film a score of 83%, based on 490 reviews, averaging at 3.9/5.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour (2007)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/axis_of_evil_comedy_tour/|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate=29 October 2014|archive-date=29 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329043044/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/axis_of_evil_comedy_tour/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[IMDb]], another review aggregator that assigns a weighted mean rating, calculated an average score of 7.9/10, based on 397 reviews.<ref name=IMDb />
 
The special can be accessed through [[Amazon.com|Amazon]]<ref name=amazon /> and [[Netflix]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour|url=http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Axis-of-Evil-Comedy-Tour/70063285|website=Netflix|publisher=Netflix|accessdate=29 October 2014}}</ref>

==Media reports==
* In March 2007, ''Time'' featured an interview report praising the group's activity as "warfare by humorous means."<ref>
{{Cite news
  | last = Poniewozik
  | first = James
  | title = Culture Complex: Stand-Up Diplomacy
  | newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]
  | date = 2007-03-08
  | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1597524,00.html
  | quote = Stand-up is warfare by humorous means.
  | accessdate = 2012-05-22
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316083302/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1597524,00.html
  | archive-date=March 16, 2007}}</ref>
* In June 2007, CNN reported that the group's video on YouTube has recorded over 200,000 views and that it enjoyed a special slot on Comedy Central in March of the same year.<ref>
{{Cite news
 |last=Dougherty 
 |first=Jill 
 |title='Axis of Evil' inspires laughs 
 |publisher=CNN 
 |date=2007-06-30 
 |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2007-06-30/entertainment/axis.comedy_1_aron-kader-palestinian-american-dean-obeidallah?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ 
 |quote=The comics' videos on YouTube have been viewed more than 200,000 times, they recently had a one-hour special on Comedy Central and they currently are on a 15-city tour with packed crowds. 
 |accessdate=2012-05-22 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005122816/http://articles.cnn.com/2007-06-30/entertainment/axis.comedy_1_aron-kader-palestinian-american-dean-obeidallah?_s=PM%3ASHOWBIZ 
 |archivedate=5 October 2010
}}</ref>
* In February 2008, Syrian ''[[Forward (Syrian magazine)|Forward]]'' praised the group's effort with an article entitled "Stand-up Diplomacy" and reported that three major Arab networks have vied for broadcast rights of their performance at the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival.<ref>
{{Cite news
 |last=Salama 
 |first=Vivian 
 |title=Stand-up Diplomacy! 
 |newspaper=[[Forward (Syrian magazine)|Forward]]
 |date=2008-02-01 
 |url=http://www.forwardsyria.com/story/336 
 |quote=The tour was such a hit, in fact, that three major Arab networks have been vying for the rights to air excerpts from the festival. 
 |accessdate=2012-05-22 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311191625/http://www.forwardsyria.com/story/336 
 |archivedate=11 March 2012
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120311191625/http://www.forwardsyria.com/story/336 Stand-up Diplomacy!, ''Forward'', February 2008]
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5589877? Interview at NPR's ''All Things Considered'']
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5589877? NPR article]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071116185512/http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=65217599 Axis of Evil] at MySpace
*[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/05/08/dougherty.axis.evil.cnn?iref=videosearch? Video of CNN's interview with Axis of Evil]
*[http://manschoolshow.com/blog/2013/3/31/ec-3-baldness-with-ahmed-ahmed Ahmed Ahmed talks about racial profiling on Axis of Evil tour]
*[http://www.wonhochung.com/]
*[[Nemr Abou Nassar]]
*[http://blog.ted.com/2012/12/12/a-sampling-of-maz-jobranis-stand-up-sprinkled-with-the-work-of-his-axis-of-evil-comedy-tour-collaborators/]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour}}
[[Category:Comedy tours]]
[[Category:Muslim comedians|*]]