I love documentaries just like this. Movies which open an audience’s perspective to new ideas and cultures that they may never have been exposed to. Just Like Us brings comedy to the Middle East and by doing so, brings the Middle East to the rest of the world. Following Ahmed Ahmed, an Egyptian-American comedian, the movie takes you on a journey through lands that most Americans don’t know much about. The movie itself is really entertaining and I seemed to laugh more at the colorful people that they profiled more than the comedian’s stand up bits. They do a great job showing that Muslims, Arabs, Middle Easterners, or whatever you want to call them…are Just Like Us.
I don’t know if this was planned, but in the beginning of the movie, the hardest people to understand were a couple of blond girls and what you might call a redneck. They even threw on some subtitles which weren’t needed for many of the Middle Easterners in the rest of the film. This was a great way to start and show that you may not understand “them”, but “they” might not understand “you” too. The man on the street interviews are used to show how little Americans know about the Arab world and allows the movie to begin breaking the stereotypes by teaching everybody a new way to think about the Middle East. Then they state their mission: to bring comedy to a world that has no concept of stand up. They show some startled reactions of how this probably can’t be done but then really get you wondering what will happen when they mention the barriers they face: no cursing, no jokes about politics or religion…basically they can only do a set that they would do on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Ahmed Ahmed performing infront of a Middle Eastern crowd
The comedy tour takes a group of comedians from LA to Dubai, Beirut, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and then back to America via New York. Each city is different with its people and how receptive they are to comedy. It’s interesting to see how the comedians have to adapt their sets to each city they travel to. The first stop is the fairly new city of Dubai, the melting pot of the Middle East. Ahmed Ahmed was banned from Dubai for a year because of a joke he told so this time he played it safe. However, the second Whitney Cummings took the stage, you became afraid for her life. “Did she just say – yeah…yeah she did.” She was the first woman (and possibly last!) to perform live comedy in Dubai. But to her, that wasn’t the most amazing thing…the amazing thing was learning that the women who dress in burkas weren’t oppressed women but actually empowered women who are open-minded, well-educated and dress that way as a choice, not a requirement.
Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani with some ladies in hijabs
Next up is Beirut, Lebanon which looked like the Las Vegas of the Middle East. From such a conservative and strict environment to a place with hardly any rules. I had no intention to visiting Lebanon, but after seeing this movie and the way they shot the city, it’s on my short list of places I have to see! Just Like Us shot all of the cities beautifully, but it looked like they had such an amazing time there. Joining the group for this leg of the tour was popular African-American comedian Tommy Davidson. He explained that “Blacks are America’s conscience” and able to do comedy the way they do because of oppression over the years. He noted that the Middle East needs this comedic therapy to be able to cope with all the rough times they have had to go through. After Beirut, the tour continued to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where public entertainment is forbidden and they have fun police to enforce it. However, the majority of the population there is now under twenty-five and they have created a flourishing underground world of entertainment that is reshaping the way the area communicates with the rest of the world.
Ahmed Ahmed performing his routine
Until this point I was wondering if they invited local comedians to join them in each of the cities they went to. The movie has a great section on local talent and showed that they did try and reach out to the next generation. They had a few interviews with homegrown talent that revealed that these comedians and shows are inspiration, hope and does help heal serious situations. The structure of the film gives you everything you want from this type of movie and then some. The only complaint I had is that a lot of the filler looks like you’re watching a picture slide show on Facebook. The scope of the film begins very broad but then gets really personal. Ahmed Ahmed goes back home to Egypt which is apparently comedy central of the Middle East. He gets to visit his family who still live there and it allows the audience to peek into the world of Egypt outside the tourist regions of Cairo. They say that Egyptians have light blood and just love to laugh. It shows.
Finally we head back to America where Ahmed Ahmed performs a couple of gigs with up and coming Middle Eastern-American comedians at a small club. When you think this light-hearted film couldn’t switch any more gears, you’re introduced to a struggling Egyptian immigrant who has been laid off of two jobs. He worked morning and nights to support his family and was laid off of both. Ahmed Ahmed invites him to his show and afterwards you get a tear-jerking moment where Ahmed Ahmed compares the man to his own father and highlights the true difficulty of immigrating and fighting for a better life. The movie ends in the most perfect and beautiful way as Ahmed Ahmed’s father leaves us with the best gift anyone can give: a smile. Go see this movie, it might not change your world…but it will help you understand someone else’s.
Just Like Us has hit a few festivals but now it’s beginning its limited theatrical release. Click Here for Showtimes!
Tags: Ahmed Ahmed, Angelo Tsarouchas, Eman Morgan, Erik Griffin, Just Like Us, Maria Shehata, Maz Jobrani, Omid Djalili, Sebastian Maniscalco, Sherif Azab, Ted Alexandro, Tom Papa, Tommy Davidson, Whitney Cummings
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
