The New York Arab-American Comedy Festival is seeking submissions from Arab-American artists for its 4th Annual Festival which will take place in New York City from November 14-19, 2006.

Last year’s Festival was a great success thanks to the tireless work of the talented Arab-American artists involved and the support of the entire Arab-American community. We sold out all five nights of events one week in advance. We also received positive media coverage nationally and internationally from numerous media outlets, including CNN, BBC World, NPR, Associated Press, AFP, Democracy Now, and literally in newspapers around the world! To view media coverage, please visit our Press Clips section.

In addition, we took the Festival on the road to Hollywood in January 2006 so that the entertainment industry could see our work. The three day LA Festival sold out in advance and we were fortunate enough to have a great turn out by the entertainment industry as well as receive more positive media coverage, including in the LA Times and a front page article in the LA Daily News.

It is our goal this fall to produce a Festival which will attract even more positive media coverage for the artists and the community as well as provide an excellent industry showcase for all the Arab-American artists who participate. We also hope to take the Festival to other cities in the upcoming year. To make this happen, we need more Arab-Americans to get involved in the Festival. Even if you have never written comedy before but have wanted to, this is your chance to have your work read and possibly produced in our Festival. Plus we are looking for new performers, comics and actors/actresses, as well as filmmakers. The submission details are below. The deadline is August 15, 2006.

The Festival is divided into three parts: Comedic theater, stand up comedy and comedic films. The details for the submissions in each area are as follows:

Comedic theater: We are seeking comedic theater pieces not to exceed 30 minutes in length. The works can be one acts or excerpts from a longer work. The pieces do not have to be Arab themed. Please included with your submission, contact information and short bio, script, with character breakdown, and a one paragraph blurb about the play. If the play has been staged already, you can submit a videotape of the play.

Stand up comedy: Please submit a VHS or DVD of 8-10 minutes of your stand up comedy. The comedy does not have to be Arab themed.

Comedic Films: We are seeking any length, from shorts to features, of comedic films that have been made by Arab-Americans. You can submit the film on VHS or DVD. The films do not have to be Arab themed. Please include contact information, short bio and a one paragraph blurb about the film.

All submissions must be RECEIVED by August 15, 2006. Due to time constraints, any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered for this year's Festival. Submissions of scripts should be sent via email to submissions@arabcomedy.org. All other submissions should be sent to: New York Arab-American Comedy Festival, attention: Dean Obeidallah, 338 E.70th Street, Suite 3A, New York, NY 10021. If you would like your submission returned, please include a self-addressed stamped return envelope.

We will be informing artists about the Festival's selections by September 1, 2006. If you have any questions, please contact either Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid, or Waleed Zuiater via our Contact page.

Please check our website www.arabcomedy.org for periodic updates.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!