AMREEKA 2026: The Comedy Show

Suzie Afridi

Thirteen years ago, Suzie Afridi started doing stand up because no one read her blog.  Suzie mines her personal life as a mom to two only children and a wife of an artist who happens to be a pathetic aesthetic.  As a Palestinian who lives in a neighborhood where the only people who are not Jewish are Israelis, she spends too much time analyzing identity and not enough time working on her one woman show:  How I a Married a Muslim and no one died!  Her long term goal is be able to entertain from bed, she is available for any event, literally anything as long as you let her make everything about Palestine. @SuzieSaysSo

Majdy Fares

Majdy Fares is a Palestinian-American comedian fresh off a Middle East tour, who has performed at the Kennedy Center and DC Improv. His one man show has sold out every run. A two-time Moth GrandSlam storytelling champion featured on NPR, he blends fearless storytelling with sharp political jokes — and is slightly disappointed he hasn’t been arrested for any of them yet.

Lana Salah

Lana Salah is a Los Angeles–based Palestinian-American stand-up comedian celebrated for her razor-sharp wit, fearless political satire, and deeply personal storytelling. With a comedic voice shaped by influences like Bill Hicks and George Carlin, Lana’s material explores identity, culture, and the uncomfortable truths of modern life — balancing intelligence, audacity, and heart in equal measure.

Her performances have graced iconic stages including The Comedy Store and Hollywood Improv, where she’s shared lineups with Bassem Youssef, Tiffany Haddish, Tim Dillon, and Louis C.K. Audiences are drawn to her ability to transform tension into laughter, inviting them to question, reflect, and crack up in the same breath.

Rooted in Los Angeles’s vibrant comedy scene, Lana continues to challenge convention and celebrate resilience through humor. Whether she’s dissecting politics, family, or pop culture, she brings an unflinching honesty that leaves audiences laughing long after the lights go down.

Charles McBee

Charles McBee is a razor-sharp NYC stand-up comedian, writer, and unapologetic 80s/’90s baby from Toledo, Ohio, serving up nostalgia with a side of truth. Whether he’s breaking down the wild logic of gym class dodgeball or reminding you what it meant to record songs off the radio without your mom yelling in the background, Charles brings hilarious, heartfelt commentary about growing up in a pre-WiFi world straight to the stage.

He’s made three national appearances on Gotham Comedy Live, was a standout on FOX’s Laughs and Punchline (Seasons 1 & 2), and has written for everything from VH1’s Hip Hop Honors to the 2020 VMAs and the 2021 Golden Globes. He most recently served as Head Writer for Comedy Central’s Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God, earning a Writers Guild Award nomination, and was a creative consultant on Nick Cannon’s Wild’ N Out.

Charles has also built a dedicated social media following with his no-holds-barred takes on pop culture, politics, and the beautiful chaos of growing up in the analog era. If you’ve ever eaten a microwave dinner on a folding tray table, feared getting caught in a game of freeze tag, or lived through dial-up internet, Charles has a joke for you. Come see why his fans keep coming back.

Wafaa Bilal

Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal (he/him) is known internationally for his on-line performative and interactive works provoking dialogue about international and interpersonal politics. Bilal’s work explores tensions between the cultural spaces he occupies —his home in the comfort zone of the U.S. and his consciousness in the conflict zone in Iraq.

For his 2007 installation, Domestic Tension, Bilal spent a month in FlatFile Galleries where people could shoot him via a remote-access paintball gun. The Chicago Tribune called it “one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time”—naming him 2008 Artist of the Year. That year, City Lights published Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun about Bilal’s life and Domestic Tension. Using his own body as a medium, Bilal continued to challenge the public’s comfort zone with projects like 3rdi and and Counting…. Bilal’s work, Canto III, was included as part of the Iranian pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Bilal’s current work 168:01 brings awareness to cultural destruction and promotes the collective healing process through education and audience participation. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL; MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar; amongst others. He holds a BFA from the University of New Mexico, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was conferred an honorary PhD from DePauw University. Bilal is currently an Arts Professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

wafaabilal.com