One of the most popular stand-up comedians from the region, Nitin Mirani will be joining hands with Qatar’ s very own The Qatari Guy, Hamad al-Mari for an evening of comedy, much to the delight of local comedy fans.
The two comedians will partner up on November 17 at Doha Marriot in what is going to be a perfect starter for the season.
“Mirani has come to Doha before and is well-known to the local audience. He is one the most promising emerging stars in the world of stand-up comedy from India and Middle East,” Jassim Mohamed, the organiser of the event, told Community.
An Indian Middle Eastern, Mirani has been on the comedy circuit for the last eight years with his own brand and is much loved in Dubai. He has travelled all over the globe, performing at various venues including the Funniest Person in the World finals. He has also performed in Chicago, at Laugh Factory Mumbai, Carolines on Broadway in New York, the Comedy Store in India, Yuk Yuk›s & Absolute Comedy in Canada, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with top acts such as Maz Jobrani, Max Amini, Azhar Usman, Mo Anwer, Ava Vidal, Patrick Monahan, and Vidur Kapur, to name a few. Mirani was handpicked to perform as the opening act for Eddie Griffin when he was in Dubai.
With a growing reputation as «the one to book,» Mirani has entertained crowds in London, USA, India, Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Maldives.
‘The Qatari Guy’ is the popular name for Qatari-Irish stand-up comedian Hamad al-Amari.
A Qatari-Irish comedian, as he himself says, is a rare commodity in this region or anywhere else. Having grown up in Qatar, Southern Ireland and the US, he has had unusual exposure to experience and diversity, which no doubt helped form his identity and approach to comedy.
Besides stand-up comedy gigs, you must have seen him hosting social gatherings and events, enlivening the audiences with his jokes. Al-Amari recently conducted workshops for inspiring stand-up comedians, helping them turn simple jokes into a set that they can perform anywhere.
Al-Amari once made headlines when he was spotted riding into a burger joint’s drive-in on the back of a camel and ordered a burger. He had left the staff and the people around stunned. During his shows, you may initially find it odd when you hear him speaking a thick Irish accent in his Arabic thobe and headgear that he prefers to wear at all performances.
In fact, it is one of his favourite tricks to surprise the audience. He would appear in a traditional dress and address the room in broken English with a heavy Gulf accent, before switching to his natural voice, leaving unwary audience members stunned.
Al-Amari says he prefers to perform in English as Qatar is a multi-cultural country with people from all over the world and English helps him communicate with a larger audience. However, as a Qatari, he speaks perfect Arabic. Brought up in Ireland, al-Amari returned to Qatar more than a decade ago.
The Qatari Guy, when on stage, connects with everyone in the audience. His jokes are not just one-directional and he does not only work around making fun of Qatari stereotypes, which is easy for him being a Qatari.
Realising that the audience comprises people from different parts of the world, the stand-up comedian makes full use of his wide repertoire in anecdotes to catch everyone’s interest. This is one of the reasons why he has been successful at this very young age.
He always has a broad range of jokes during his performances and he is good at engaging the audience in an interactive session of comedy with his spontaneous witty responses. He is also a very keen ambassador for charities and children, and does hosting for VIP corporate events and conferences and film festivals besides creating his own online shows such as Q-Tips and Kilmatraas.
Al-Amari is a perfect case for the world, particularly Western world, to see the funny side of the Arabs who are often portrayed as angry, stiff and dull characters. Besides being a comedian, he often displays an intense character with a very serious side and has shown a strong desire to teach, help, assist and educate others.