The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour is a stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 tour featuring Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

ern comedians Ahmed Ahmed

Ahmed Ahmed

-Early life:Ahmed Ahmed was born in Helwan, Egypt. His family came to the United States when he was one month old and he grew up in Riverside, California.-Career:...

, Aron Kader

Aron Kader

Aron Kader is a comedian of Palestinian and American heritage. He is one of four members of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He has performed in the New York Arab American Comedy Festival, started by fellow tour member Dean Obeidallah. Comedians from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour such as Ahmed Ahmed...

 and Maz Jobrani

Maz Jobrani

Maziar “Maz” Jobrani is an Iranian-born American comedian who is part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio and in comedy clubs...

, with special guests Dean Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah is a Palestinian-American/Italian-American comedian, who was born in Lodi, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Paramus. His father was born in Battir, Palestine- a small village near Bethlehem; his mother's parents were born in Sicily...

, Won Ho Chung

Won Ho Chung

Wonho Chung is a Middle Eastern comedian and TV personality, born to a Korean father and Vietnamese mother in Saudi Arabia, then raised in Jordan...

, and Nick Youssef. The tour's name is derived from a speech by US President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 which designated Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, and North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 as the "Axis of Evil

Axis of evil

"Axis of evil" is a term initially used by the former United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 and often repeated throughout his presidency, describing governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction...

".

The Tour started in November 2005. The group jokes about terrorist

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 groups along with being Middle-Eastern in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Kader and Obeidallah are Palestinian American

Palestinian American

Palestinian Americans are Americans of Palestinian ancestry. It is difficult to say when the first Palestinian immigrants arrived at the United States; however, many of the first immigrants to arrive were Christians escaping persecution from the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century...

s, Ahmed is Egyptian American

Egyptian American

Egyptian Americans are Americans of Egyptian ancestry, first-generation Egyptian immigrants, or descendants of Egyptians who immigrated to the United States. In the 2007 U.S. census, the number of people with Egyptian ancestry was estimated at 195,000, although some estimates range from several...

, Jobrani is Iranian American, and Chung is a Korean raised in Jordan

Koreans in the Arab world

Koreans in the Arab world used to form a major part of the worldwide Korean diaspora. Koreans started coming to the Arab world in large numbers in 1974 as migrant labourers; between 1975 and 1985, 1.1 million Koreans came for work, which made it the third-most popular destination for Korean emigrants...

. On March 10, 2007 they were given their own Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 Special.

The group's current events sense of humor has attracted media attention. They have been interviewed by CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, NPR

NPR

NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

, and Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

among others. They toured in several Mid-East countries with Showtime Arabia

Showtime Arabia

Showtime Arabia, as it was called to distinguish itself from its U.S. counterpart , was a subscription television service in the Middle East and North Africa. It was a joint venture between KIPCO and CBS Corporation , CBS Corp being a minor partner...

. King Abdullah II of Jordan has attended their show in Jordan and has conveyed his appreciation of their work.

External links

• Official website
• Stand-up Diplomacy!, Forward Magazine, February 2008
• "'Axis of Evil' inspires laughs", CNN.com
• "Stand-Up Diplomacy", Time
• Interview at NPR's All Things Considered
• NPR article
• Axis of Evil at MySpace
  MySpace
  Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
  
  
• Video of CNN's interview with Axis of Evil