‘Toli’ Ibliz Bihib Allah’: Comedy to Cope"

The story starts with Ismail, played by Kaouk, trying to find an appropriate place to commit suicide. But he keeps failing, which causes him to literally wrestle with his inner thoughts by throwing himself across the room and hitting himself. He starts praying to God, asking him for either the ability to kill himself or an angel carrying money to fix his problems. A man then shows up carrying a briefcase, who Ismail at first suspects to be an angel but later believes him to be the devil. 

From there, mental, and sometimes physical, battles erupt. Ismail expresses his frustrations with being unable to provide for his mother and the pressure put on him by his community’s prevalent gossip culture, which are then reinforced by the devil’s replies. That gossip culture aims to force Ismail to conform to social norms, fueling his suicidal thoughts. His community judges his masculinity for not being a provider and shames his sexual desires. Whenever he feels attracted to someone as a single person, he is met with comments like “all your generation thinks about is your dicks.” He’s also scared of killing himself because of the slander his mother would face and to spare her from the “embarrassment” of finding a religious figure who would accept to pray on his soul. Religion, like gossip culture, still plays a huge role in the stigmatization of mental health and suicide.

Ismail also links these struggles to being poor in Lebanon’s current economy and to a government that favors the rich. These conditions are why Ismail asked God for money if He wouldn’t allow him to kill himself.

After all, his community’s gossip and outspoken opinions also serve to demotivate him. He says that during Lebanon’s failed October 17 revolution in 2019, the people in his village would watch him revolt and say: “You think you’re making a revolution? You think you’re gonna save us? You think you’re better than us? You think you’re Che Guevara?”

Consequently, Ismail is left in a position where he can neither provide, nor revolt, nor end his life, nor pleasure himself, perpetually frozen in his current state. All the while, Ismail knows that if he suddenly gets rich, his community would start regularly asking him for loans and favors to which if he refuses, they would again say: “You think you’re better than us?”

What adds to the connection between the audience and Ismail’s character is the vagueness of his religion. The ingenuity behind this is not that the creators avoided religious sayings or at least those unique to a certain religion or sect. Instead, they embraced them. Ismail frequently uses phrases and gestures from different religions to amplify his emotions.

They are also cleverly tied in current events. For example, in one scene, Ismail tells God: “Kids are dying everyday, and you don’t see them. I want to die, and you’re not answering.” In another scene, when the “angel” doesn’t recognize the name of a village in the South, Ismail looks up and asks God: “Even in heaven you don’t recognize the South?” Sadly, this question bears equally as much weight in the summer before Israel’s escalated war in Lebanon as it does after.

But not everyone wants to see these sensitive topics being openly discussed or to accept that these are real and common struggles. While this play has not faced any outcry, Kaouk was previously the victim of an online harassment and intimidation campaign back in 2021 for a skit in his show Shou el Wade’ (What’s Up). In it, he poked fun at those who get paid in dollars to participate in demonstrations staged by Hezbollah. Media outlets such as Al Akhbar attacked his skit and accused him of “demonization of the environment of the resistance,” in one of many examples of Hezbollah’s corrupt internal politics being excused because of its resistance against “Israel.” The campaign even included calls to physically assault Kaouk.

Additionally, in early 2024, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) received a lawsuit from the Ministry of Interior for a satirical episode by Kaouk and Dayekh in their show Marhaba Dawle (Hello Government/Country). The episode comedically presented the dire situation of members of the Internal Security Forces (ISF). The lawsuit claimed that it was a violation of moral and ethical sanctity, citing its mockery of the state and its institutions. In response, LBCI issued a statement condemning the Ministry of Interior for neglecting the many tragedies the Lebanese people have faced over the past 5 years, such as failing to arrest those who caused the August 4 Beirut Port Explosion and to protect the deposits of citizens after the economic crisis began, and instead attacking individuals whose purpose is to entertain those affected.

In early 2025, the second season of the show premiered. The first episode poked fun at the allegations made against the show by having the ISF harass a producer of Marhaba Dawle and shut down its production. This season also included a priest and a sheikh as part of its regular cast. Among its many storylines was the involvement of religious figures in governmental work, who categorized crimes as either Christian or Muslim depending on the perpetrator and the desire for equal retaliation. In other words, if one Muslim dies, then one Christian must die to level the field, which escalated into a small-scale civil war in one episode. Ironically, religious and political figures in Lebanon constantly use the argument of “civil unrest” or worries of a new civil war as a pretext for censoring artists who call out corruption. As a result, this season also received official complaints from the Catholic Information Center and Dar al-Fatwa.

In December 2024, shortly after the “ceasefire” agreement between “Israel” and Lebanon, Kaouk performed a new stand-up comedy Hadath Amni Saab (A Difficult Security Incident). Titled after the “Israeli” headlines following damages or attacks on their front, the show gave a comedic narrative to the experience of many Lebanese Shia who were forced to leave South Lebanon or Dahyeh. It criticized those who took advantage of their situation by driving up rent prices and the acts of sectarianism they faced in other territories. But the message was still a celebration of survival. This speaks to Kaouk’s ability to connect with his audience. The high number of attendees also demonstrates that many people look to him and other comedians to offer them a bit of hope, or even just a laugh, during times when it’s so easy to be glum.

However, Kaouk isn’t the only comedian to receive legal or physical threats. In August 2023, the Lebanese authorities arrested Nour Hajjar for a joke he made in his stand-up routine about Lebanese army soldiers needing to take up second jobs, like delivery drivers, due to the devaluation of their salaries amid the economic crisis. The joke was similar in theme to Kaouk and Dayekh’s episode about the ISF. After his release, he was arrested a second time due to a claim submitted against him by Dar al-Fatwa to the ISF Criminal Investigations Division. They claimed that Hajjar performed a joke in 2018 that insulted “Islam and Muslims, and endangers civil peace in the country.” He was released later that evening after protesters in Beirut gathered in front of the Ministry of Justice.

In May 2021, Shaden Fakih, one of Lebanon’s most prominent stand-up comedians, was interrogated by the Office of Cybercrime because of a prank call she made to the ISF hotline during the COVID-19 lockdown, which she filmed and later shared to social media. In the call, she asked the ISF if they would deliver sanitary pads during the restricted hours if she ran out of them. The call was made not only when the guidelines for going out were vague, but also when the government had announced the list of subsidized products in supermarkets and pharmacies that didn’t include any feminine hygiene products yet included items like razors. 

In 2024, Shaden took to social media to talk about the threats she was facing from followers of religious groups over a religious skit in her stand-up comedy show, which was recorded and shared without her consent. Many religious institutions filed complaints against her, which she had to fend off as well. Her mother and sister were also targeted in those threats. Ultimately, she was left with no choice but to immigrate from Lebanon due to this campaign’s negative effects on her mental health. She also felt that the Lebanese government had failed to protect her and others in similar situations. 

By focusing on censoring the voices of comedians and journalists instead of dealing with the urgent problems that the country is facing, the Lebanese government will only lead the people to look to those comedians for relief and journalists for answers. If the government seeks to achieve and maintain peace in Lebanon, it must address the underlying social, political, and economic problems that cause individuals to speak out in the first place. Until it takes action, people will continue to look to forms of entertainment such as plays or stand-up comedy to find relief for their woes.