Palestinian-Canadian comedian Eman El-Husseini offers a fresh perspective in the BBC World-produced podcast, “Comedians vs. the News.” She hosts alongside her wife, Jess Salomon. Together, they tackle difficult and topical issues with humor.
“Comedy is the best way to get through to people,” says Eman El-Husseini. “Because they listen to you when you make them laugh.”
The Kuwaiti-born comedian has always advocated for inclusivity in the stereotypically straight male comedy sphere.
“We’re very lucky that we got to fall in love with each other, considering how our identities are constantly a current event,” she says, explaining how she and her Jewish wife get a lot of their material.
Eman El-Husseini becomes a duo
El-Husseini started her career in Montreal. But she and her now wife, Jess Salomon, moved to the Big Apple in 2014. The strong comedy scene in New York helps weed out the weak and nurture the strong, according to El-Hesseini. “I’d just give up as soon as I found something slightly funny and I would hold onto it rather than trying to work out the best punch line possible,” admits El-Husseini.
Their success, especially as a duo act called “The El-Salomons”, has been called “brilliant.”
El-Husseini always knew that her calling was entertainment. However, it took her some time to find her niche in comedy. After a failed acting stint and a rocky start as a stand-up in 2008, El-Husseini’s first joke that landed was about her parents’ anniversary being on 9/11.
“I thought, ‘There’s something here – people want to hear something different, and it’s actually my story’,” she explains. Thus began her comedy career as an Arab, Muslim, lesbian woman.
You can hear that joke right here:
A marriage comedy
El-Husseini was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She moved to Montreal in 1990. “We had planned on moving in 1991, but ‘circumstances’ sped things up,” says El-Husseini, referring to the first Gulf War.
Knowing she wanted to go into comedy from an early age, she recalls her family as “always supportive.” She ended up leaving her political science studies behind to pursue her ideal career, and bartended for a while in Montreal until it became a full-time gig.
El-Husseini and her wife, Jess Salomon, married in 2015. At this point, they combined their last names to “El-Salomon,” which became the title of their duo comedy act. They met in 2009 in a comedy club in Montreal, when El-Husseini had already been in the comedy sphere for a few years, and Salomon was just beginning to tread comedy after her human rights law career at the Hague.
Despite initial backlash from their families, given also the fact that their wedding announcement corresponded with the last large conflict in Gaza, the couple has had many happy years together both personally and professionally.
Comedians vs The News: Eman El-Husseini tackles tough topics with humor
The El-Salomons latest project is a BBC-created podcast, “Comedians vs. The News”. At first, they hesitated to take on the task.
“A lot of us felt too guilty to joke about anything,” explains El-Husseini. However, the two felt that they had to keep using comedy as a tool. “The good thing about this show is that it addresses all of those things, the international stories and the big topics,” says Salomon. “It shows we’re all connected.”
On the podcast, El-Husseini and Salomon are joined by various guests, including Mexican comic Sofia Niño de Rivera and Indian stand-up Anuvab Pal.
“The beauty of comedy is how we can address serious issues lightly – and look for some levity and positivity in this crazy time we are living in,” says El-Husseini, “With this show we’ll be hoping to heal the world’s woes one joke at a time.” You can access the podcast here through the BBC, with the latest episode tackling Kamala Harris’s Indian roots and political scuffles.
Listen to the podcast here.
