Palestine Comedy Club | Review of documentary film of comedians working under occupation

Palestine Comedy Club

Review of documentary film of comedians working under occupation

You might have thought the people of Palestine had greater problems to address than the lack of a viable comedy scene. Yet for the aspiring comedians in this eye-opening documentary, to be able to go on stage and talk of the grim realities of living under occupation is not just cathartic, but fundamental. To not only acknowledge the shared experience but to laugh about it appears to be a human need that cannot be crushed.

This film shows how much Palestinian culture is built upon laughter, yet the fact that it has not distilled into stand-up as a form of entertainment is what the six members of the titular Palestine Comedy Club and their British director and tutor Sam Beale are trying to address.

They put together a touring show, which, from what extracts we see, has its own identity separate from British or American stand-up. There’s more music, dancing and storytelling than simply hammering the gags, but the importance of humour to bond, and sometimes challenge, the room is obvious.

The six comics – Alaa Shehada, Hanna Shammas, Ebaa Monther, Diana Sweity, Khalil Al-Batran and Raed Al-Shyoukhi – all have different approaches and backgrounds too.

Palestinian comedians

Sweity comes from Hebron and has a sardonic, dark take the effects of the wall dividing her city; Monther, a Syrian from Golan, is a revolutionary force of nature, fiery and funny in equal measure; Al-Shyoukhi is the clown of the group, but dogged by guilt of living in Israel, enjoying freedoms his comrades do not.

The show plays differently in different towns – some places markedly more conservative than cosmopolitan Ramallah, where they begin. Yet if you’re resilient enough to embark on this venture, a tough crowd is the least of your worries.

Taking the show on the road brings home how difficult the Israeli government makes life for Palestinians, with checkpoints and bureaucracy limiting movement even in their own territory. Frustration is added to despair and anger at a land divided. Gaza is a walled-off enclave that the comedians cannot visit, and whose citizens cannot join their compatriots in this theatrical endeavour, though many want to.

Yet the team remain as steadfast as they can and the fact every gig happens is a triumph in itself. Then a breakthrough: the Palestine Comedy Club is invited to play in London. Or at least those who could get out of the country are.

If the secret to comedy is timing, that applies to tragedy too. Their visit coincides with the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the devastating Israeli retaliation. To those living in the West Bank, the brutal attack on their communities certainly feels more like vengeance than a proportionate military response to terrorists from Gaza.

The film here takes an understandably bleaker tone, as the sadness bubbling as an undercurrent in the first half rises to the surface. The ruinous human consequences of the strikes are brought home hard, while the yearning and constant fear of those refugees living in exile is vividly expressed.

As a documentary, Palestine Comedy Club is somewhat uneven; the performer's stories not always told with focus and with a pacing that can dwell on relatively inconsequential moments while skimming over some big strands, not least in the creation and content of comedy shows in a hostile environment.

Directors Charlotte Knowles and Alaa Aliabdallah have instead used the comedy angle as something of a bait to lure viewers to their heart-rending portrait of life in Palestine and the defiant hope that still beats there despite every attempt to crush it.

• Palestine Comedy Club opens on Friday, with several screenings featuring Q&As with the directors and comedian Alaa Shehada. Screening schedule

Review date: 25 Feb 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett