No, the other Axis of Evil

The Axis of Evil -- a stand-up comedy team made of three Americans of Middle Eastern descent -- passed through Beirut this week, just in time to coincide with the political farce playing out in Lebanon's parliament, which is still unable to agree upon a candidate to for the presidency, empty since last month. "Who need's a president?" said Maz, an Iranian-American, as he mocked the jaded Lebanese audience. "You've got the sea. You've got the mountains. You've got Miss Lebanon! A president would just mess things up. Tonight we party!"

Axis of Evil is known in the States for playing with the often paranoid stereotypes that Americans have about Arabs and Muslims. Ahmed Ahmed, the MC, bemoans the fact that he has such a hard time at airport security because a well-known terrorist shares the same name. But then he wonders how pissed off the the other Ahmed must be when people think he's a comedian and ask him to tell a joke. "I'm a terrorist, goddamit!"

The group's Middle Eastern tour is also getting a lot of laughs out of local foibles. Some of the funnier ones I remember include: "When Arabs hook up they never say 'Your place or mine?' They say, 'Where are your parents, and how big is your car?'" Or on how an Arab version of the TV game show "The Price Is Right!" should be called, "This Price Is Not Right!" Or how everyone in Jordan had already seen the Axis of Evil DVD when the group doesn't have a distributor in Jordan. "It's the Middle Eastern distribution system," said Ahmed Ahmed, who is Egyptian-American. "One person buys it, and everyone else copies it."

The team is hoping that by supporting emerging Middle Eastern stand-up acts, and by heaping scorn equally on all sects and creeds, they'll do their part for peace in the region. "Is there any religious group that doesn't actually think it's superior to everyone else," said Aron, the Palestinian-American. "'No, were not the Chosen People, but we do come highly recommended.'"

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut