FINDING MUSLIM HUMOR IN L.A. ARAB-AMERICAN COMICS TAKE DIRECT AIM AT FUNNY BONES TO CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

An Arab-American couple kisses on a train when they suddenly spot four suspicious Arabs - with odd luggage and argyle knit sweaters.

Should they report them as terrorists?

``Who has blueberry luggage?'' whispers Renee, clutching her fiance, George.

``Gay terrorists. Oh, my God ... There's just no safe way to travel.''

The joke, as told during the debut of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival in Los Angeles this week, is bold, edgy and self-effacing. And 100 percent Arab-American.

If Jewish director Albert Brooks drew blank faces during his droll shtick in ``Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World,'' Arab-American comics have them rolling in the aisles at home.

The festival has sold out all its performances over a three-day run ending today. With six comedic plays and a night of stand-up, performers poke fun at everything from Arab-American fears of terrorists to what it means to be a ``real Arab.''

And by tickling the heart of Hollywood, they hope to challenge stereotypes of Arabs often portrayed on television and the big screen as goofy sheiks or bomb-toting terrorists.

``It's comedy intifada - uprising, not suicide,'' joked festival co-founder Dean Obeidallah, an attorney-turned-funnyman from New York. ``It's a comedy uprising to change the world - to hopefully encourage people to see Arabs in a different light.''

And, for Americans of Arab descent, to chuckle at themselves.

For what could well be a cross between ``Saturday Night Live,'' ``My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and Borscht Belt shtick at the Hudson Main Stage drew howls from a mostly Arab-American audience, from tradition-bound immigrants to their next-gen offspring.

Arab-American comics plan to draw more laughter at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood tonight.

``I think it's fantastic, something I've looked forward to for a long time,'' said Rudy Salo, 28, of Redondo Beach, a municipal bond attorney and first-generation Arab-American who volunteered for the event. ``I think Americans see us as a shut society without a sense of humor. (But) we're like everybody else - we like to laugh.

``Bottom line: If you're an Arab in this country, you've gotta have a sense of humor, 'cause we're the butt of a lot of jokes. You can do two things: you can either get angry, or you can laugh.''

As in festival laughter Act One: When a Lebanese immigrant groom and his Lebanese-American, Las Vegas-stripper bride share secrets on their wedding night - that she's bearing a son by rapper Curtis ``50 Cent'' Jackson. And he's got a blow-up doll in his suitcase.

Or when the video self-help team of Mustafa and Marwan offer ``How to be an Arab in five easy lessons'' - open shirts, thick chest hair, gold chains and ``Shwarma Nights'' cologne, to name a few.

``Now you can smell like a real Arab,'' said the smarmy-looking duo who joked that everything bad in the world was borne by an Israeli-led conspiracy.

Or when two Arab-American actors audition for the only part available to Arab-looking actors - only to find out the most exaggerated performance wins the role of terrorist bomber.

``What you're doing is great - you don't have to be respectful,'' said a non-Arab casting agent. ``You're a walking time bomb, do you know what I'm saying?''

From the Palestinian woman from New Jersey accused of sending a bomb to her Christian grandmother in Bethlehem to the bossy Arab-immigrant mom concerned about a match for her hip Westernized daughter, Arab-American humor struck a universal chord.

The New York festival - headlined ``The Arabs are Coming!'' - was founded three years ago by stand-up comics Obeidallah and Maysoon Zayid, an actress who performed the first live comedy tour in Palestine. The nonprofit festival's seven comedians and 18 actors volunteered their time for the Los Angeles shows.

Obeidallah is also the co-founder of the ``Stand Up for Peace'' comic act with Jewish-American comedian Scott Blakeman.

``I enjoyed it,'' said Mitri Muna, 68, of Thousand Oaks, a native of Palestine, who drove down with his wife, Sylvia. ``We live in an atmosphere where Arabs are feared of doing something wrong. You can see we can laugh, have fun and aren't too serious - the lighter side of life. Humor can drive a point more than serious talk.''

``American people, they think when they hear Arab, that we are terrorists - it's all they know,'' added Jordan native Hiam Barsom of Moorpark, who attended with her husband, Saliba, who had never before seen Arab-American comedy.

``But we're not terrorists. We don't ride camels. We can be very funny.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Ramsey Faragallah, left, Hend Ayoub and Waleed Zuaiter give a hands-on lesson in ``How to act Arab'' at the Arab-American Comedy Festival at the Hudson Mainstage Theater. Key props: open shirt, chest tufts, a bit of bling and ``Shwarma Nights'' cologne.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer