February 2, 2012
They were an odd pair, but they were comfortable together, working off of each other to form a surprisingly powerful duo. They chortled through a few jokes, introducing their show and the fact that they were cooperatively to promote peace. They explained that they would focus on the Middle East, as their connection and the major issue they hoped to spread the word about was the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
Each comedian had his own respective repertoire. Blakeman focused more on American politics and the upcoming
election, which was great for some laughs, but a pitfall for others, as his jokes about the Republican primaries tended to stab past the point of innocent fun into more partisan territory. His politically scarring jokes tended to isolate the audience and, in some ways, contradicted his overall message for peace and acceptance. He did work to explain this later on as he explained that his jokes really needed the right audience. Unfortunately this audience wasn’t ideal for his routine. He filled the act with one too many questions to an increasingly unamused audience as he struggled to fill the allotted time.
Obeidallah took the stage and gave a performance that managed to avoid politics, taking on a purely lighthearted
spin. He too made some mistakes, ruining a few potentially good bits due to poor prior planning. A few students commented that his comedic repertoire was recycled from the last time he was here at Hamilton, but the newcomers seemed to thoroughly enjoy his style. His upbeat attitude and innocent jokes got the crowd laughing, and his college-related humor was easily relatable and specific to the audience he hoped to please.
At the end of the performance the two friends stood up together to speak to the audience about their main goal: the promotion of peace. They hoped that their display could instill an understanding of tolerance and acceptance, a message rightly preached. While they may have struggled to please an unforgiving audience, the duo ended their performance on a positive note; students filtered out of the Barn with jokes on the mind and good will in the heart.