It seems as though every culture or ethnicity has a signature comedian or group of comedians to represent them in America.

Comedians Sherif Hedayat, R, Joey “The Wacky Iraqi” Nibras, Amer Zahr and Mike Batayeh on stage at All Star Comedy Club in Allen Park on March 29. PHOTOS: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN

The Arab community, however, is different. But if comic Sherif Hedayat of Dayton, Ohio gets his wish, metro Detroit Arabs and others of all different backgrounds will have plenty of opportunities to laugh at the subtleties and other irreverent traits of Arab life at plenty of shows in the near future.
Hedayat brought his “Threat Level Funny” show to the All-Star Comedy Club in Allen Park last Sunday, featuring a lineup of four Arab comics as well as opening act Bali Bhan of India.

Jokes on a wide range of topics from the war in Iraq to overbearing parents all drew thunderous laughter from the packed, mixed-race crowd as Hedayat and fellow Arab comedians Mike Batayeh, Joey “The Wacky Iraqi” Nibras, and Amer Zahr went to work.

Together, the group has appeared in a wide range of projects ranging from specials on Comedy Central to Batayeh’s appearance in the Adam Sandler comedy “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.”

“These guys are all great talents,” said Hedayet, who put together the show with the goal of getting the comics more exposure and for the chance to satisfy each comic’s love of performing.

“But there’s a lot of greed in the entertainment industry. When I called the guys I told them I didn’t know what we’d make, but I said I’m going to be fair.”

Hedayet is a multi-talented business entrepreneur and comic with the ultimate goal of using the life experiences he gains in the comedy business to become a motivational speaker, but for now, he is focused on bringing Arab-style comedy to the theatre-sized venue level.

Fellow comedian Nibras shares Hedayet’s love of performing but is most concerned with taking his comedy career to the next level. He acknowledges that it might take a little luck, but remains happy with his current position.

“How many people can say they love their job? I love my job,” he said.

“But I know that in order to make it big I need to not just be set on one path.”

Hedayat knows that as well, which is why he has his fingerprints on a ton of different projects. He recently started the Web site www.arabcomedy.tv which features videos of Arab comedians and other skits and also uses his knowledge of the Web to promote other comedians.

Some of his humor poking fun at Arab issues hasn’t been well-received, however.

“There’s split support from the community. I’ve gotten nasty e-mails, death threats,” Hedayat said.

“People say it makes us look bad, but sometimes they don’t understand the self-deprecating humor.”

Hedayat believes that laughing at each other’s problems is a great way to put a human face on them, however.

Nibras also has had to battle critics of his style, as some of his colleagues originally thought he would need to tone down his “Wacky Iraqi” persona and accent to appeal to a mainstream audience.

“Joey went with the accent and we thought he might need to change direction, but he committed himself to the character and now it works,” said Hedayat of Nibras, who has landed multiple movie roles and also appeared on the MTV show “Doggy Fizzle Televizzle” with popular rapper Snoop Dogg.

Hedayat hopes to bring Nibras and other Arab comics back to Michigan for another show this summer as he continues to promote his talented friends in their search for true stardom.

“I want to show people that you don’t have to live in New York or LA to make it big in this business,” he said.