With summer getting into full-swing and most fun activities moving indoors, a laughter therapy is in order. This weekend, the longest-running comedy night of Middle East is bringing a fresh line-up of international comics to town at two locations, promising nights full of giggle, one after the other.
The Laughter Factory that has been “making the GCC laugh since 1997 through a longstanding partnership with the UK’s Comedy Store” hosts a fresh bill of three different professional comedians every month, many already stars of the screen on UK TV shows.
Three comedians Sean Collins, Ola and Michael Fabbri will be holding shows at the familiar locations of Rose & Thistle and Grand Hyatt Doha on July 18 (today) and 19 (tomorrow), respectively.
With a 25 year career stretching behind him, Sean Collins is a consummate pro who has crossed off most of the high-points of any A-list comedian. He has done a live appearance at the Apollo appearance and has hosted own solo, hour-long TV special.
Known for a calm, steady, authoritative style, Collins lets the material speak for itself, without resorting to gimmicks or melodrama. 
Collins has received the best male stand up award besides a slot on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow. The Canadian comic has enjoyed continued success on both sides of the Atlantic. At home, he was invited to perform at Montreal’s prestigious Just for Laughs gala and won the top gong at the Canadian Comedy Awards. 
Collins has also stopped by Comedy Central’s The World Stands Up, and is a repeat guest on Paramount’s The Comedy Store TV show. Now resident in the UK, this extensive telly work also helped Collins bag a slot on The Real Variety Showcase.
Shaking up the cliché that all British comics are ageing, balding men nursing paunches, London comic Ola is still in his twenties, but already nearing the top of the comedic tree, having bagged TV slots on Comedy Central, London Live, ITV4 and MTV Base. 
Not that Ola is slowing his pace a step, his modest goal is simply to be the “best comedian in the world”. He has got the material. Raised in one of the less glamorous parts of London, Ola’s work takes a closer look at the mundanities of city life and taps into the irrationalities of 21st century culture. 
But it’s not just abstract musings; at Ola’s core is a big, blooming, beating heart. His five-star hit Edinburgh Fringe show and DVD, The Comedian and his Future Wife, digs deep into the neurosis haunting many a young man in love, to hilarious effect. 
Ola was finalist in the FHM Search for A Stand Up Hero, broadcast on ITV4, and a winner of Montreux Comedy’s JokeNation 2015. He was also a core cast member and writer of the Sniggers With Attitude pilot, for London Live, and performed on The Comedy Store for Comedy Central.
Before he was a comedian, Michael Fabbri spent eight years working in a Job Centre. But Fabbri is getting his own back, not one day of that work was wasted. The comedic possibilities of such an opportunity were exploited richly in Fabbri’s hit, second Edinburgh Fringe show. 
With a classic observational approach, Fabbri made a fast impact with his refreshing, ever-so-slightly twisted take on the everyday world, going on to author a further five hit Edinburgh solo shows, with telling titles including Dumbing Up, Fabrications, Buffering and Oversharing.
Since breaking out as a finalist on the 2003 edition of Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny?, Fabbri has gigged at all the UK’s top clubs including The Comedy Store, Jongleurs, Komedia, Glee Clubs, The Stand, and many more, supported Micky Flanagan and Lucy Porter on international tours. He has also written for Channel 4 show Stand Up for the Week. His BBC Radio 4 comedy series on dyslexia, Dyslexicon, began earlier this year.
With a reputation for quality and a sharp eye for talent, The Laughter Factory has showcased reams of A-list comics on their way to superstardom, including Michael McIntyre, Russell Peters, Ed Byrne, Dara O’Brien, Ross Noble, Jason Manford, Sean Hughes, Kevin Bridges and Frankie Boyle.
The Laughter Factory’s commitment to comedy has been recognised by numerous publications, winning several accolades over its two-decade history, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Time Out Dubai in 2013.