879: A Christian and a Muslim Walk Into a Bar

About this episode

A group of Syrian comedians explores the limits of their newfound freedom in post-Assad Syria through their comedy tour.

When a joke could get you killed, should you say it anyway? A group of Syrian comedians test the limits of their newfound freedom, a year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, comedian Sharief Homsi knew which jokes were too dangerous to say on stage. Now that Syria is under the control of a new government, Sharief and the other comedians of “Styria” set out on a national tour to see how far their comedy can go in this new Syria. (6 minutes) Act One: The comedians test out risky material and get big laughs on early tour dates. It’s going smoothly until they find out that their show scheduled in the conservative city of Hama is in danger of being cancelled. (13 minutes) Act Two: The comedians go to battle with local officials. (18 minutes) Act Three: The comedians try everything they can think of to keep their shows from being cancelled. (20 minutes) Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org This American Life privacy policy. Learn more about sponsor message choices.

People in this episode

Host: This American Life

Guest: Sharief Homsi

Topics covered

• comedy
• freedom of speech
• Syria
• political change
• censorship

Keywords

• comedy
• Syria
• freedom of speech
• Bashar al-Assad
• Hama
• censorship
• political change

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Styria, Bashar al-Assad

Places: Syria, Hama

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