In an effort to further spread awareness of the LMT in the U.S. and raise funds to support the Trail, the AFLMT organized and hosted two stand-up comedy shows in March 2013 for Lebanese and Arab communities in Northern Virginia and Michigan, with the amazingly talented Nemr Abou Nassar. Nemr is an acclaimed Lebanese-American stand-up comedian with credits that include headlining his own feature specials(“This is why I’m Hot”, “Eye of the Tiger”, “Made in theUSA”, “EPIC”, “Victorious Secret”), producing and starring in the sold-out Beirut Stand-Up Comedy Festival, and the Middle East’s first live comedy radio show “The Comedy Revolution” on Mix FM. Nemr’s unique brand of comedy is devoid of prejudice and dubbed “No Politics, No Religion, One Love.” He performs mainly in English mixing in Arabic at times when appropriate.
The first show took place on March23 at the Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale, Virginia and attracted an audience of nearly 300 people of all ages, with a strong showing by LebaneseAmerican youth. The AFLMT made a special effort to reach out to the latter by advertising the event to all major DC area universities and Lebanese and Arab clubs, as well as on its Facebook page. The evening was filled with laughter and Nemr’s performance was simply outstanding. This was the first time that a stand-up comedy event was organised for the DC area Lebanese-American community by a non-profit association and theAFLMT was thrilled to receive positive feedback from those who attended the show. The Virginia event was covered by TV channels Al-Hurra and Sky News Arabia.
The following day, on March 24,the AFLMT hosted another show with Nemr at La Pita lounge in Dearborn, Michigan,in partnership with the Lebanese Collegiate Network (LCN). LCN is a non-political, non-religious, and non-profitable organization aiming to connect and develop Lebanese collegiate clubs, students and alumni within the U.S. Over 250 guests laughed the night away with Nemr and learned more about the LMT and what it has to offer. AFLMT previously collaborated with LCN to host a professional mixer in Detroit, MI inJune 2012, which also was a great success.
At both shows,AFLMT presented the LMT documentary video and asked Lebanese communities in theU.S. to continue to support the LMT by walking the Trail then they visitLebanon and by telling their friends about it, as well as volunteering with and making donations to the AFLMT. AFLMT expand edits reach in the USA, with hundreds of new fans, and raised new funds that will go to support the LMT Association in Lebanon. The AFLMT page on Facebook, where the events were posted, hit record viewership with thousands of views in the three weeks that preceded the comedy shows. Make sure to check out this page for great photos from both the VA and MI events!
