Joe Haddad's solo show PalesTEENian at Riverside Studios in London is a self-referential standup set that traces his journey into comedy while negotiating his dual identity as a Palestinian south Londoner. Born in Croydon to Arab Christian parents from Jerusalem, Haddad faced prejudice at his Catholic school, including taunts of 'Jew-boy,' due to widespread ignorance about Palestine and its history of occupation. The show follows him into adulthood, where he adopted the Anglicised stage name Joe Adams for fear of being cancelled—even his mother advised him not to mention Palestine during gigs.
Comedy and Identity
Haddad makes clear that the show is not all gloom and doom. He avoids the 'P-word' (Palestine) in a confrontational sense and never utters the 'I-word' (Israel). Instead, he leads with heartiness and humour, exuberantly portraying extended family members on visits to Jerusalem and nodding to his love of Chelsea FC. There are good lines—'Tonight I’m occupying the stage'—and an effervescent presence, but none of it quite hangs together or builds a dramatic trajectory.
Haddad himself flags the hodge-podge nature of the show: if it feels jumbled, that is because his life is too, he tells the audience at the outset. It is not exactly a jumble, but it hops too much in tone, from comic to dramatic, not quite nailing either. He waxes lyrical about za'atar, discusses Arab hospitality, and gives affectionately cartoonish takes on his imperious Palestinian mother.
Cultural Expectations and Football
He speaks of the cultural expectation to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, and his departure from that path into comedy. The show is cute in its humour but soft and over-familiar. Football jerseys hang around him, but this set seems like a red herring—football is only mentioned in cosmetic ways, never deeply integrated.
Haddad also touches on 7 October 2023, from hearing about Hamas's attacks to the horrific images of death coming out of Gaza. But this part comes in short, impressionistic sentences, not grappled with fully enough. Too many topics are touched on in 80 minutes, and ironically the show feels slight and unfocused as a result—a précis that does not manage to unpack the immense potential of its subject matter.
PalesTEENian runs at Riverside Studios, London, until 2 August.
