One of my favourite French comedians is called Paul Mirabel. A young man who, if you randomly meet, will not seem like as a comedian. He has a soft voice and a calm personality, almost taken for an introvert. However, once this young man opens his mouth, I cannot stop laughing at his subtle jokes that touches every happy note in me. Mirabel’s jokes do not use abusive words, swearing and profanities used by many standup comedians today, so its a breath of fresh air to find a comedian who can be funny and at the same time is clean in his language.
In an interview, Mirabel talked about how he started comedy. Something was triggered in him when he saw his mother who was divorcing his father, became miserable. He thought by telling her jokes he would make her laugh, and she responded to his humour. This encouraged him to continue making others happy too, with his humour.
I have always admired comedians, as I am someone who does not laugh at every joke. I find people who can make others laugh quite remarkable, it is not an easy affair to stand in front of hundreds of people from different backgrounds and make them all laugh at the same time and to the same jokes. It is not only difficult, but it is an absolute art!
I searched Google to find out who are the most famous comedians are, and in both searches, Dave Chappelle, an American stand-up comedian and actor, came on top of the list. I have watched his shows several times, but it was never my cup of tea. A few minutes within the show, I found myself moving to the next reel. However, this is a matter of taste and he seems to have many followers who adore him. One of my favourite English-speaking comedians is Trevor Noah. He has a strange type of comedy that touches real life. Nonetheless, he formulates it in a way that makes you tell the difference between sarcasm and jokes, and that’s what makes his shows entertaining.
One of my friends who lives in Dubai, and who knows of my fascination with Trevor Noah, surprised me with tickets to see his live performance in Dubai, this was in October 2023, and it was the first time that I purchased an airplane ticket to attend a show, and it was all worth it. The show was held at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, we had a VIP balcony compartment and were joined by a few friends, we felt like celebrities sitting in secluded spaces with VIP service. It also had a bird’s-eye view of the Arena where we watched hundreds of seats slowly filling up; it was a full house and tickets were sold out.
The curtain raiser act was also good, but with the appearance of Noah, the Arena went into a frenzy of applause, and it ended with an even bigger round of applause, people hoped he may return the stage, but once off stage, it was over.
Lately, October weather in Dubai, is a mixture of Turkish bath and Sauna, thousands of people leaving the Arena at the same time, cars creating jams and long taxi queues. That night I almost fainted from high humidity, it was a heavy price to pay for a good laugh!