DAMASCUS: In a dimly lit Damascus cafe, Sharief Homsi kicked off comedy night with a quip about war-battered Syria’s modern-day prince charming: an eligible bachelor with attractive supplies of fuel and electricity.

“Marry me, I have a bright future: 100 litres of petrol, solar panels to generate electricity and three gas canisters,” he said, performing a mock proposal that had the audience howling.

Every week, members of Syria’s first stand-up comedy troupe crack jokes about daily struggles like power cuts and fuel shortages, lightening the mood for despondent Damascenes after 12 years of war.

The audience prefers “to laugh and forget the problems they cannot solve”, said Homsi, 31. “There is nothing else to do but laugh.” He and a few of his friends founded “Styria” — an Arabic mash-up of Syria and hysteria — four months ago, and put out a call on social media for others to join. The group has since swelled to 35 members and has become a success, regularly drawing crowds at the capital’s Deez cafe. “The country’s situation is hysterical,” Homsi said, and “filled with problems and gloom”. “We must face it with hysterical laughter.” The war in Syria, which broke out in 2011, has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country’s infrastructure and industry.

In government-held Damascus, religion and politics are off-limits for the comedians, deemed too risky to broach. Before performances, they meet at a troupe member’s home to brainstorm and try out new lines.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2023