Just for Laughs: An Interview with Eman El-Husseini!

Have you worked with Rick Mercer before this tour?

So I recorded a TV spot with him in the fall and  actually that was the first time that I met him, and now we’re really traveling together. You know, we’re on a tour bus together. I feel like we’re the Supremes and he’s Diana Ross, and we’re just like hitting all these stops in Canada…and we got Dave and Ivan too so it’s a really fun lineup.

The tour bus is also awesome. It’s not like a really big, like, you know, rock show, superstar, rock band, big tour bus. It’s a smaller, humble Canadian bus. A lot of jokes are going on and a lot of you know, getting on our phones and sitting in silence. A lot of talking about eating, what are we going to eat now? Are we going to stop now? Should we stop at A+W here? It’ my favorite topic of conversation. We’re just sending each other menus from restaurants all the time.

How did you and your wife Jess Solomon meet?

We were performing at the comedy club in Montreal. She used to be a war crimes lawyer for the United Nations and decided to do a career switch to comedy. I thought she was nuts. I thought she was a spy actually. I started getting paid spots on the weekend and I was like “Israel must’ve been notified and they sent this woman to seduce me.” She just wanted to do the switch. She wanted to take a year off from law and just write, and she worked in such a funny environment. Like no offense to us comedians, but her coworkers at the United Nations are the funniest people I’ve ever met and they have such a dark sense of humour and they’re so knowledgeable too. So she just wanted to take some time off from law and start writing about her workplace cause it was just so funny. Now here we are 12 years later…she never went back to law.

When did you both announce you were together?

So we were both doing stand up individually for a while. She came on the scene and we were friendly for a couple years before we hooked up, and even then we were in the closet for 4 years after that. When we came out we got engaged and the comedy community was the last group I came out to. I came out to my Muslim parents before comedy. I was so worried that it was going to shift my career and I wouldn’t get the paid gigs that I used to get…and that might have been something that I created in my head.

I never knew if I created the fear in my mind, or if I actually lost gigs cause of it. Certain people never hired me again. It’s still a scary time, and for me to come to terms with my sexuality was a whole thing for some reason. I was like “oh that means I’m a completely different person” but it doesn’t. You worry about coming out to certain people and think they’re going to see a completely different person but they’re not…you’re still the same person…it’s just “this is who I love.”

Do you and Jess ever collaborate?

Yeah we were co-headlining a show in LA and I wanted to introduce her and during the handoff we were going back and forth arguing and bickering (like couples do) and then we found out there was a reviewer there and they said that the best part of the show was that interaction. We both had our own 30 minute sets and the reviewer was like “that 5 minute banter between them was so funny” and people started seeing that and asking us to perform together. Now we have our special on Crave called The El Salamons: Marriage of Convenience and we have our BBC Podcast Comedians Versus the News and we still haven’t gotten divorced…so that’s nice.

Every single time we try to write together we get in a fight. We’re both always threatening to quit and make the other person go alone….every single time, but of course we accept every gig we’re offered and we work weekly on the podcast and this season we’re getting along more than ever. I still don’t recommend working with your partner, even if it pays you a lot of money because all that money is going to marriage counselling anyways.

What are some challenges you’ve faced in the comedy world?

I mean, when I first started doing stand up, it wasn’t easy. People hate female comedians and that’s North America. I grew up in the Middle East where, you know, misogyny and sexism are blatant and I’ve never heard anyone say women aren’t funny until I came here. It’s such a ridiculous concept that was so popular.

When I first started, other women would come up to me after a show and be like “I hate female comedians” and then it’s just repeating what they’ve heard someone say once! I don’t know which male comedian started this but as soon as I would get on stage I saw people rolling their eyes. To add to all that, being a women of colour…..but there’s something about that reaction and that negativity that really drew me in. I wanted these people to see me. I wanted to take the space. I wanted to take some of their time and just talk about what I want to talk about.

So it’s definitely hard. I mean, I’ve gotten heckled in terrible ways, by Israelis, because I’m Palestinian and both times, it was by Israelis. Actually one guy jumped and took the mic out of my hand and I was like “why’d you have to take everything?” I was new in New York. New York is already terrifying on its own. Another time I was in LA and I said “I’m Palestinian” and this woman is like “what is that? That doesn’t exist.” You have to be prepared for hecklers, thankfully nothing violent happened but it was violent for my soul and my heart.

Aside from the racism, the sexual assault and abuse women get in the industry…it really is a horrible career. I say that as a joke in my act, I tell people never to do stand-up, but I’m not just saying that to be funny….It’s a horrible career. 15 years ago I would always say the comedy industry was a safe haven for terrible cis-white men and to get our place took a really long time. Now it’s really progressive. In New York you have a comedy show for every group, including cis-white men if that’s your cup of tea…at least now you have the options.

Why is comedy so important in 2022?

Entertainment value is such a powerful tool to talk to people about all the things that are personal to you. You get to share authentic experiences, get a message across and create exposure. I’ve been to places where they’ve never even seen an Arab in real life…and their idea of what a Muslim woman looks like….I would hear “she’s not covered, what is she doing?” Even In my own community I would hear people say “she’s saying she’s gay? That’s crazy, how are her parents reacting” and all this stuff. So people are like drawn to these stories and the exposure is so important because otherwise other people will say what our story is, and it’s not going to be a positive…they’ll put us all in a box.

So now that everything’s opened back up, what are you looking forward to after this tour?

I haven’t changed that much since before the pandemic but the answer is always beach, put me on a beach! I want to be tanned year round, just hanging in the sun. I love the sun. I feel like that’s my favourite thing to do. I like exploring cities too….it’s all about the travel. Cause that’s another thing that broadens your horizons and you learn so so much and just by meeting different people, you realize it kind of keeps you humble too, you know? We get caught up in our worlds and we think we’re the center of the universe and then you go to different places and you’re like, “nobody actually cares.” You’re less important than you actually thought.