Just Like Us

Camels, comedy and catharsis: three things that Egyptian-American comedian-turned-filmmaker Ahmed Ahmed's documentary seeks while following a roving band of Western stand-up comics (of differing ethnic backgrounds) through the Middle East. As they perform in Dubai, Lebanon and beyond, Ahmed has a difficult time reconciling his dual roles as the film's director and the touring show's producer. Thanks to an aggressive laugh track and various hand-holding moments---e.g., defining Arab versus Muslim---the result is not so much a doc as an engaging, if didactic, travelogue with embedded yuks. So what if the entertainment-starved audiences in Cairo are the only ones feeling emotional release? Camels and comedy...two out of three ain't bad.

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