The American Muslim comedian Ahmed Ahmed does lots of jokes about how he isn’t a terrorist. How odd: As I sat through his tepid act, I could have sworn he was bombing.
In this vanity documentary directed by and starring Ahmed, he and some friends go on a comedy tour of Dubai, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. We learn little about these lands, but a great deal about stale jokes.
One lady comic does a bit about the magazine Cosmopolitan that could have been written in 1976, and probably was. It gains nothing in freshness by being delivered in Dubai. An Iranian-British comic is so desperate he waggles his microphone in front of his crotch, despite having been told that dirty jokes are not allowed.
In between bad bits, we observe bland sightseeing footage. Blander is the chatter: “Comedy is bridging the world” and “laughter is the best medicine” are presented as insights. The Arab world gave us the number system — and this is how we repay them?