Comedy Central's Open Mic Fight Round 2

On Tuesday July 17th, my birthday, I performed in the second round of Comedy Central's Open Mic Fight competition. I had what I consider to be a great show but it wasn't good enough that night. It was awesome to be selected but the fairytale ending will have to wait. It was a great experience and I'll never forget it. What a birthday present for a stand up comedian huh?

My first blog....

Well...I used to post a lot of blogs on Myspace but I don't think a lot of people really care about blogs on there. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Sherif and I am an Egyptian-American comedian. I started performing in College about 10 years ago. I don't know what posessed me to start. I just remember the first time I went on stage and it was the scariest moment of my life. It took me three years to get back on stage after that first performance. I have been performing for 10 years all together, but I think I've truly been performing about 4 of those years if you put all my shows together. It's been a long road. As a Middle Eastern comedian I stayed true to my roots. My comedy is about my life. I have plenty of material with that alone. There is a lot of talk about hack comics these days. I believe that if you talk about your life it can't be hack. I remember after 9/11 my family and friends said I should "ease up" on the Middle Eastern material. WHY? So I don't offend anyone? Come on! This is comedy. I've heard some very offensive things during my career and I think people need to know more about Middle Eastern culture. So what if I make fun of my own people while I'm doing it? I will post another blog about my latest video. I have been slammed with email from Muslims that feel I shouldn't make fun of our religion. Why not? Give me a valid reason. What, I don't get my 72 virgins if I'm not a good boy? Who cares! IT'S COMEDY! I get worked up over ignorant people. I always say "Think before you speak". People say some dumb things. As soon as the world realizes that comedy is just comedy then I think people will lighten up. I know it won't happen but hey...whatever.

This year is a monumental year for Middle Eastern comedy with the debut of the "AXIS OF EVIL COMEDY TOUR" on Comedy Central. Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader and Dean Obeidallah have worked long and hard to make this happen. I applaud them for paving the road for comics like myself to finally get some recognition. I have known them all for several years now and they have always helped me in any way they can. I will be opening for the Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday May 11, 2007. If you live in the area please come out. It'll be a great show!!


Ok....enough for this blog. More coming soon.

Until then,

Sherif
www.funnysherif.com
www.myspace.com/funnysherif