Muslims entertainers performing stand-up comedy is not a new concept, but a recently released documentary entitled “The Muslims are Coming,” aims to shake up the American comedy scene. Starting this week, a troupe of Muslim-American comedians will tour the United States, entertaining audiences with Islam-related jokes in a witty bid to combat Islamophobia and publicize their documentary.

“I quit my Job in Dubai two years ago and moved to Riyadh… May I rest in peace” Saudi comedian Mohammad Bazaid quipped in a Saudi-only stand-up show held on Friday in Dubai. The first Saudi-only comedy show in the region featured prominent names from the kingdom’s comedic community who performed in front of a diverse audience. Funny-men Yasser Baker, Mohammad Bazaid and Thamer al-Meshari hosted the show which was the last of a series held during August.

While the world watched the demise of Egypt’s political leadership last year, some Egyptians were tuning online to YouTube clips lampooning the Egyptian state channel’s fumbling version of the events. In early 2011, Bassem Youssef began filming clips in his laundry room to provide comic relief amid a crumbling political situation in his home countr

Humor represents a more oblique manner of communicating ideas, and therefore can be a powerful medium to conduct public diplomacy. The beauty of using humor as a means to transmit ideas is that the jovial nature of comedy can indirectly communicate weightier subjects in a lighthearted manner that can diffuse weighty realities.

Soft power and diplomacy, particularly in entertainment, is something that America excels at. One of America’s greatest talents is the ability create something universal, but that can also be adapted and accommodate different interests and cultures.9

"Diplomacy with a laugh," is how you might describe one of the U.S. State Department's latest efforts to promote American culture abroad. This week, three Indian-American comedians began a seven-city tour of India called Make Chai Not War. But apart from their shared Indian heritage, these three comedians have very different styles.

What do American comedy shows, such as South Park, an animated cartoon sitcom, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a parody of news broadcasts, have to do with public diplomacy? Well, more than you think.

When an Internet research group recently released a study concluding that the most influential person in the Twitter universe was Rafinha Bastos, a Brazilian comedian ...the English-speaking world was predictably baffled.