First Arabic Stand-Up Special at L'Olympia
Lebanese comedian John Achkar is still slightly stunned by what his latest milestone represents for stand-up in the Arab world. His hour-long Arabic stand-up special, “Aam Jarrib” — or “Tryin’” — which began streaming on MBC Shahid on May 27, is, according to a press release, the first full-length Arabic stand-up show to be performed at Paris’ famed L’Olympia concert hall.
Streaming Success on Shahid
On Shahid, the special is part of the Movies section, and Achkar tells Arab News over Zoom from a busy restaurant in Beirut — where he’s just opened a new comedy club called Hidden Cellar — “It’s in the top 10 almost everywhere.” That, he says, “is actually way beyond what I expected. It’s the first time there’s been a one-hour stand-up comedy special on Shahid, and I’m so amazed they took this risk to introduce a new art form. Stand-up comedy is still very new to the region — there’s a lot to be done.”
Global Tour Shaped the Show
The special was the culmination of a long tour across 85 cities worldwide, including Beirut, Dubai, Riyadh, Cairo, London, New York and Sydney. All of the stops have sizeable Arab communities. “Touring actually helped me to understand the audience and different cities, because every audience is so different, and every audience is so unique. And even though we may consider all the Arab diaspora as one, actually it’s not one,” he says. “There’s a big difference between an Arab diaspora based in Eastern Europe and the Arab diaspora in Detroit, or in Montreal. It’s like three different audiences.”
Core Question: What Is Success?
At the core of the show is a question that Achkar believes haunts most people today: What does it actually mean to succeed? “It’s so difficult for us to understand what success is,” he explains. “It’s very subjective, and we’re all overwhelmed with a certain definition of success that society imposes on us. That’s a huge problem, because we keep ourselves in boxes instead of focusing on what we do best. We spend our whole life questioning if we’re on the right path.”
Purpose: Social and Political Change
Achkar himself deals with that anxiety by returning to his main goal. “I do stand-up for social and political change. And I try not to let anything distract me from that. Like, going viral on social media shouldn’t distract me,” he says. “What I should put my focus on is connecting with my audience in the room, making sure that they feel exactly what I want to say, and telling them a great story so that, when they leave the room, they will reflect on my soul.”
Arabic Language and Relatability
Although Achkar has long incorporated English and French into his comedy, this particular special is entirely in Arabic. “I prefer Arabic, because it’s my native language, and I think that I can express myself in the best way possible — explain myself, and make myself more relatable,” he says. “I really need Arabic, but, also, I use English because I want our story to be told.” For years, he thought his accent would hold him back when performing in English. “But then I realized that people want to listen to my story and my accent, because that’s what differentiates my story from another story: it’s personal, right?”
Edinburgh Festival and Craft Development
That’s why, this year, he will be performing, in English, at the famed Edinburgh Festival in Scotland throughout August. “This is how comedians get better, right? This is the craft, this is the essence, the connection, the trials, the failures, showing vulnerability, doing things that don’t work,” he says. “And then it’s: ‘OK, how can I adjust these things?’”
Intimate Spaces and Hidden Cellar
Despite the fact that “Tryin’” is filmed in a venue that seats around 2,000 people, Achkar remains convinced that the soul of stand-up lies in smaller, intimate spaces. That’s one of the reasons that he’s opened Hidden Cellar in Beirut. “Craft happens in small rooms and I really want people to understand the craft of comedy. I want comedians to be able to jump from one venue to another. Like comedians in New York, they do seven gigs per night, five minutes each, and then, by the end of the night, they have a tight five-minute set. I really want to see this. I opened Hidden Cellar … to (allow) this culture of failure; to fail more often, and fail faster,” he explains. “People can come and try something new. If it doesn’t work? OK, let it go. Go in another direction.”
Building Trust in Stand-Up
“My dream is to go back to the roots of stand-up. It’s not about going viral. It’s not about doing crowd work. And it’s not about bullying the crowd. Stand-up is about crafting an amazing story and telling it in the best way possible. We need to focus on this, so people can trust us. My whole purpose, with stand-up, is to build trust with the audience. I really need people to trust this art form, just as they trust dancing or singing,” he continues. “Stand-up is very new to the region, and people should understand that this is another very noble art form.”
