<\/p>\n
Leading Middle East streamer MBC Shahid has picked up Lebanese comedian John Achkar\u2019s stand-up comedy special \u201cTryin\u2019\u201d (\u201cAam Jarrib\u201d) filmed at Paris\u2019 legendary L\u2019Olympia concert hall in what is being touted as a milestone for Arabic stand-up comedy.<\/p>\n
Achkar\u2019s performance of \u201cTryin\u2019,\u201d filmed in Paris on Oct. 23, marked the first-ever Arabic-language performance by a comedian on the iconic L\u2019Olympia stage that has hosted world comedy greats such as Chris Rock, Gad Elmaleh, and Eddie Izzard.<\/p>\n
More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Achkar\u2019s live stand-up comedy tour featuring sold-out shows across 85 cities around the world was produced by Dubai-based distributor and producer Front Row Filmed Entertainment that announced the deal with MBC on Monday.<\/p>\n MBC Shahid will be dropping the John Achkar special across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region exclusively starting from May 27. The \u201cTryin\u201d special is the first of a planned six-title Arabic stand-up slate that Front Row currently has in development with other artists\u2019 names yet-to-be revealed.<\/p>\n In \u201cTryin\u201d Achkar uses an \u201cunfiltered, fast-paced\u201d approach and \u201cdives headfirst into the hilarity and heartbreak of modern Arab life,\u201d according to a statement. It noted that the show, performed in Arabic around the world, \u201cspeaks to both those who stayed and those who left; the Lebanese and Arab diaspora scattered everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, this special is bigger than comedy,\u201d said Achkar in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s about proving that Arab stories, Arab humor, and Arabic stand-up deserve to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world\u2019s biggest productions and performances,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ve spent years building this community around the world, and seeing an Arabic special reach streaming platforms like MBC Shahid feels like a huge step forward for the industry as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n Commented Front Row CEO Gianluca Chakra: \u201cJohn managed to do something incredibly rare: create comedy that feels deeply personal to Arabs everywhere, while still being universally relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis agreement with MBC\u2019s Shahid is not only a milestone for John, but a milestone for Arabic stand-up comedy entering the streaming era at scale. MBC\u2019s Shahid is the leading home for Arab content, and the fact that they believe in this vision, and are backing it properly, is a huge positive sign for comedic talent across the region and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leading Middle East streamer MBC Shahid has picked up Lebanese comedian John Achkar\u2019s stand-up comedy special \u201cTryin\u2019\u201d (\u201cAam Jarrib\u201d) filmed at Paris\u2019 legendary L\u2019Olympia concert hall in what is being touted as a milestone for Arabic stand-up comedy. Achkar\u2019s performance of \u201cTryin\u2019,\u201d filmed in Paris on Oct. 23, marked the first-ever Arabic-language performance by a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2431472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[477009,477008,477011,477010,428311],"class_list":["post-2431471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-front-row-filmed-entertainment","tag-gad-elmaleh","tag-john-achkar","tag-john-achkars","tag-shahid"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Lebanese-Comic-John-Achkars-Special-at-LOlympia-Hall-Acquired-by.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2431471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431473,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431471\/revisions\/2431473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2431471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2431471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2431471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}