What started as an occasional Saturday night of comedy in a tiny henna salon has become a multicultural, three-day, stand-up festival 鈥� with each day taking on a different geographical or cultural area from the Middle East to South Asia.
The will present local comics such as , who鈥檚 opened for Jeff Ross, as well as touring talent like Kiki Young, who founded . And the festival features more than just jokes. It鈥檒l offer short films, food, live music, dance and a marketplace inside the , 919 Morrell Avenue.
is the festival鈥檚 founder. A Palestinian-American who wanted to be 鈥渁 non-starving artist,鈥� she opened a salon, the Haus of Henna, in Oak Lawn. But performing was her real drive; she鈥檇 started doing stand-up in 2018.
Once a month or so, Riyad transforms her salon into a stand-up showcase. The comics have not been solely Middle Eastern (she鈥檚 sometimes the only one on the bill who is). She鈥檚 presented Latino, Black and Asian comics as well as gay and nonbinary artists. Her purpose, she says, is 鈥渢o bring comedy and community together for under-represented people.鈥�
Friday, the Kufiiya Festival focuses on South Asian comics and material (Desi), Saturday is Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) and Sunday is Southeast Asian. People can attend via daytime passes, nighttime passes, all-day passes, even a three-day pass to the entire festival.
- , May 10-12 at the , 919 Morrell Avenue, Dallas. Tickets available online at .
Got a tip? Email Jerome Weeks at jweeks@kera.org. You can follow him on X (Twitter) @dazeandweex.
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