>> before three years ago, there was no history of stand-up comedy in the region. and in the last three years, the young people there have not only come out to the shows, but do it more and more themselves. a lot of them now doing comedy in arabic. this year we have a comic from egypt, a female comic. >> of the first actually female arab to do stand-up comedy in arabic. some subjects maybe the people would not really like accept it from a woman, but other than that, i think they find it like intriguing. >> we have found out that the jokes we do that are more generic about relationships or world events, they get laughs, but jokes about arab culture get huge laughs way off the chart. >> you go to an arab college, it's like food everywhere you have to eat. your room, you don't eat. there's a very thin line between accommodating and accosting.