For Libyan comedian Mohanad Elshieky, there is almost no topic that is off-limits. The New York-based comedian, who made his national TV debut on Conan and is currently a digital producer on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, loves to make audiences laugh at seemingly un-laughable subjects.
Whether the jokes are about the Coronavirus, cultural differences, racism, police shootings, or ISIL, Elshieky likes to tackle all sorts of topics and sensitive subjects, too, to show audiences that we can find joy and comic relief even in daunting matters.
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Elshieky has spent the pandemic binge-watching TV, doing stand-up for his cats and writing jokes on the Coronavirus for Samantha Bee. For him, comedy is a great way for humans to connect and share positive experiences in times of fear, sadness and uncertainty.
Success for Mohanad Elshieky: when his parents find him funny
When people are not isolating and seeking entertainment in their homes, though, Elshieky prefers to be on stage and to share those experiences with live audiences. That’s what he has been doing since 2016, when he was still based in Portland, Oregon.
In 2019, he went to New York to work in TV. Before this, he spent his time writing jokes and booking stand-up shows while still working a full-time job. This tempo and hustle helped him break out of the Oregon scene, and take his talents to new places. It also helped him land an agent.
Not too long after gigs at open-mic events and Portland venues, he met Ian Karmel, a prominent name in Portland comedy. Though Karmel does not recall when he first saw Elshieky perform, he remembers the feeling of when he saw Mohanad: “…he was a f****** contender.” Impressed with Mohanad’s set, Karmel invited him to perform in L.A. in January 2017.
Following such extra gigs, Elshieky earned a spot in Conan O’Brien’s Comics to Watch showcase at the New York Comedy Festival. He eventually moved to New York. “…When you rise that fast, word of that gets around,” says Karmel, speaking on Elshieky’s success. But success for Elshieky also means that his parents “finally” think Mohanad is funny: “Now they actually believe I’m good. They know who Conan is. Him and Jimmy Fallon,” Elshieky says.
From turmoil in Libya to Portland State University
As he mentions in many of his sets, Elshieky was born in Libya. When he was a teenager, he watched a lot of stand-up on Youtube and dreamed of seeing it live. During his young-adulthood, with turmoil brewing in Libya, Mohanad and his friend started a radio program.
“There was a lot of media coverage, but we thought the coverage was either exaggerated or not true. So we started this radio show.” They broadcast it all around Benghazi, but also online, so people who were interested in what was happening could tune in. The show “didn’t have much structure to it,” Mohanad recalls.
“We’d take phone calls from the city or through Skype, and people could talk to us, ask us questions, give us hot takes” on the country’s future. Mohanad remembers how they were adamant about talking about whatever they wanted. “A lot of people didn’t really like that because they were very anti-change,” he says. And then, someone burned down the radio station. “That’s when we were like, yeah, we probably need to stop.”
Elshieky then moved to Portland in 2014 for an exchange program at Portland State University, where he studied supply management, because “it was the quickest way to get a degree.” There, he took a public speaking course out of curiosity. After his professor told him that he should try stand-up, he signed up for a course offered by Alex Falcone and tried open mics around the city. After his second open mic, he had booked his first gig.
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Mohanad Elshieky looks to pave new roads in comedy
Although his asylum request was approved while he was living in Oregon, Elshieky was accused of being “illegal” and forging his papers in 2019. During a bus ride from Washington to Portland, US Customs and Border Protection agents boarded the bus Mohanad was on, detaining and interrogating him, telling him that his papers were “fake.”
After suing the government over this incident, Mohanad reached a settlement on April 23. Now that the case is over, he wants to move on and look ahead, and to establish his place in the comedy world.
“I don’t want to be the next anyone,” he says. “I want to be the first Mohanad.”
