Arab-American comedians find the funny in time of fear

Photo: Maysoon Zayid, co-founder of the Arab-American Comedy Festival, in New York, Nov. 4, 2005.

Four years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a cadre of Arab-American actors and comedians is finding growing success mining personal experiences for material. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in New York, where the third annual Arab-American Comedy Festival begins this week. The show, which runs through Thursday, consists primarily of separate nights of standup comedy and theatrical pieces. Co-founder Dean Obeidallah says no topic is off limits, certainly not U.S. President George W. Bush or terrorism. But contributors this year are more willing to make fun of the Arab-American community and how it has been treated by others. "In the past, we may have been resistant to mock ourselves a little," said Obeidallah, 35, a lawyer-turned-comedian. Co-founder Maysoon Zayid, an actress and comedian, said the show essentially uses stereotypes to shatter them. "We're not scary, we're not the enemy," she said. "We're really funny." In many ways, Zayid said, the Arab-American entertainers are following the path blazed by black and Hispanic Americans who have channeled their communities' frustrations into success on stage. Arab Americans have certainly had no shortage of material since Sept. 11, even though it wasn't obvious to them at first. "Immediately after, I was concerned about talking about being Arab on stage in New York City," said Obeidallah, who is half-Sicilian, half-Palestinian. "The first time I went on stage I didn't even use my last name. A club owner said, 'Don't talk about being Arab for a while.'

That evolved over time to where I talk about it much, much more." Sometimes it's just too easy, especially now that the heightened sense of alert among Arab Americans has become an almost normal, often absurd state, he said. Obeidallah said he once listed the cell phone number of his friend Osama (not bin Laden) under "Osama cell" on his own phone. A friend expressed concern when he saw the reference. "I was like, are you kidding?" Obeidallah said. The festival attempts to carefully blend the political and the personal. References to Palestinian suicide bombers are in, as are jabs at nosy, matchmaking mothers.

There are jokes about Arabs worrying about Arab terrorists, and even a musical. "The fact that we are commenting on ourselves is important instead of other people commenting on us," said actor Waleed Zuaiter, an associate producer for the festival. Zayid, for instance, bills herself as "a 30-year-old Palestinian Muslim virgin from New Jersey with cerebral palsy." "I'm a virgin by choice," Zayid often says. "My father's choice." Zayid said she doesn't make fun of Jews, but she considers Zionism and Israel legitimate targets. One of her jokes involves Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, boxer Mike Tyson and a pink negligee. That's all she'll reveal. The performers come from a variety of religious and professional backgrounds, and many different countries. Organizers hope the show attracts an audience well beyond Arab Americans. "We respect where we live, we respect our community at large," said actress Jana Zenadeen. "We're here to bring people in and share our culture with them."-By N Toosi

Loving, affectionate, passionate, tender, electrifying or simply unforgettable -- a kiss can be many things.

Know that dizzy feeling, pounding heart and weak-in-the-knees sensation after a long kiss? An exhibition in Berlin now sheds light on the hormones at play in the body when two people lock in a passionate embrace.

But not too many people would think of serotonin, phenylethylamin or norepinephrine while locked in a passionate embrace. What may sound incredulously long and difficult to pronounce, are in fact the chemical substances which have the command over the emotions of passion and love in the human body. To find out more about these chemical substances, a trip to an exhibition in Berlin might be worthwhile. Called "The Kiss. Magic and Chemistry: Our Body, Health and Nutrition," the exhibition, which began Thursday, is part of the Germany-wide "Year of Chemistry" and will be moving to Leipzig and Stuttgart later. Visitors to the exhibition can dive into a simulated laboratory of the human body through a multimedia tunnel where they can see and hear the reactions that a kiss can trigger within seconds: the breathing rate quickens, the pulse races, arteries expand, and an improved blood flow stimulates circulation.

Good old lovin' around for ages: According to ethnologists, mankind has been cuddling and making out since ancient times. Even Salomon’s song in the Bible makes a passionate appeal for a kiss: "Come and kiss me! Your love intoxicates me even more than wine." More historical evidence can be found in Roman poet Ovid's detailed description of the correct way to smooch in his "Ars amatoria" (Art of Loving). But though kissing may date back to time immemorial, science has only turned its attention towards it some 30 years ago, when it began analyzing the chemistry of the kiss as a hormonal bombshell in the body. Scientists have discovered that kissing is much like an energy injection, strengthening the immune system and reducing stress. "We now know a lot about hormones and their effects, though we still don’t know all the functions of the brain," Klaus Hartmann, who conceived the exhibition for the German research ministry, said.

Blame it on the chemicals: One thing is clear: it’s not the heart that’s responsible for passion and love, but rather a 100 billion nerve cells and 1000 neurotransmitters. A wildly passionate kiss sends out signals to the brain which trigger the mood-boosting hormone serotonin. As a result, the person feels more relaxed and balanced. The best known love-related chemical phlenylethylamin or PEA as it is called then works much like Cupid’s arrow : it stimulates erotic sensations and contributes to that top-of-the-world feeling. Another euphoria-inducing chemical in the brain is norepinephrine, which stimulates the production of adrenaline and makes your blood pressure soar when you’re near the person you’re attracted to -- yet another explanation for the pounding heart and sweaty palms when meeting the person one fancies.

Go ahead and kiss! It's good for you! Surveys show that Germans dispense with two to three kisses a day. Going by that figure, by the time they turn 70, they’ve spent 76 days just kissing. But kissing is no waste of time, and it's healthy too. Just puckering your lips as you prepare to smooch, exercises all 34 facial muscles at the same time, endowing zealous kissers with smooth, wrinkle-free skin. Americans Eddi Leven and Delphine Orha can probably boast the smoothest skin as they set a world record for the longest kiss: 17 days and 9 hours. U.S. researchers are convinced that kissing is the elixir to a happy, healthier life. They discovered in studies that people who leave home in the morning with a smooch from their beloved, are more likely to be professionally successful, pay less visits to the doctor and are less inclined to have accidents.  From a scientific point of view, a passionate kiss is supposed to provide the same kick that a 25 gram chocolate bar can -- with a crucial advantage: it doesn’t make you fat! No wonder there are signs all over the exhibition that say, "Necking allowed!"

Hollywood has a huge downer on women over 40. With Berry seemingly still in her prime, stunningly good looking and much in demand, perhaps she will prove an exception to the rule. But Hollywood is littered with tales of aging starlets who see their careers take a nosedive after they pass the big 4-0. "A perfect example would be Michelle Pfeiffer," says James Parish, a Hollywood historian and author of Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story. The 47-year old Scarface and Batman Returns actress has not had a leading movie role in years. "She does very few films - not because she's not talented, not because she's not pretty in a mature way, but just because there aren't many parts for women over 40," says Mr Parish. "Particularly when you're known for playing a sex kitten it's very hard to play that part when you're in your 40s."

Photo: "She deserves to work, she is a wonderful actress and Hollywood is pretty cruel with women that cross 40." Antonio Banderas on Melanie Griffith.

Working Girl star Melanie Griffith, 48, is in the same boat. "She deserves to work. She is a wonderful actress and Hollywood is pretty cruel with women that cross 40," says Griffith's husband, Antonio Banderas. "Sometimes here you feel Hollywood just goes for fresh flesh. I know it's the economy and financial things but I feel bad for her because I feel they are misusing an actress who still has a lot of things to say." Hollywood men tend to fare better although George Clooney, 44, has decided that his days in front of the camera are numbered. "An acting career usually has about a shelf life of ten years before people get sick of seeing you," he explains. "It's a good thing to have a job to fall back on and I really do enjoy directing." Val Kilmer, 45, has plenty of work although he recognises Hollywood's "unforgiving" approach to ageing stars. "It's a tough business, even if you're talented. I used to think it was full of hypocrisy but now I see it as a very honest town."

Photo: Michelle Pfeiffer has found it harder to get roles in recent years.

It is a town in the business of putting bums on seats. Young stars attract younger audiences and they appeal to advertisers. "Most of the movie audiences are under 30 because older people have been discouraged from going to films," says Mr Parish. "A lot of the films aren't very appetising to see. It's not very comfortable to go to the theatre with everyone screaming and yelling and it's just much more convenient with home entertainment becoming so much more sophisticated to remain at home." Hollywood has always been biased towards youth. Ever since the early 1900s, with advancing years, A-list celebrities have seen their star power wane. "Before the film stock that they used in cameras and lighting were very sophisticated people looked much older on screen than they were and so an actress, literally by the time she was in her mid 20s, was considered nearly a has been," says Mr Parish. "Eventually it worked out that by the 1930s a woman could be a star into her mid 30s or even her mid-40s. As we progressed past World War II and up to the present time it got to be a pretty standard rule of thumb that once a movie actress got to be over 40 then supposedly, psychologically, America's young kids didn't want to see her playing leading roles so they wrote fewer parts for them."

There are exceptions to the rule. At 59 Susan Sarandon's career does not appear to have been jinxed by being of a certain age. Four out of her five Oscar nominations came after the age of 40. She was named best actress for Dead Man Walking in 1996. "She still plays leading roles, she plays mature women and she's able to find enough quirky roles and dramatic roles so that she's not reduced to guest starring or fifth billing," says Mr Parish. Katharine Hepburn is also an example of an actress that bucked the trend. "Up to the end she had a very strong physical stamina. And she happened to be possessed with great cheekbones so even though when she got into her 50s and 60s, she was not spring chicken anymore, she certainly looked very striking and appealing and she had this great vitality," says Mr Parish. -By Peter Bows.