by Sara Mansour, The Daily Star, Lebanon - "I was in the airport in Beirut, and I knew I was in Lebanon because I could see a guy putting out his cigarette on the 'No Smoking' sign," says a straight-faced Mazen Abdullah. The audience chuckles in self-recognition. Abdullah was the opening act for Nemr Abou Nassar's stand-up show at Casino du Liban on Monday. Abdullah and Nassar are among an increasing number of Lebanon-based stand-up comedians who work locally.

Most Lebanese are familiar with stand-up comedy from exposure to American television and, most recently, from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour - an Arab- and Iranian-American troupe of comics that toured the Middle East at the end of 2007.