Welcome to Season 7 of Savvy Talk, I am excited to bring you leading voices from those shaping Dubai's cultural scene. Today we are joined by Mohanad Al Hattab, one of the most prominent and talented comic influencers in the Arab world. He finds joy and fulfillment from making people laugh, including myself. I can't count how many times he made me laugh with his characters and stories. Let's learn with someone that mastered comic timing, cultural relevance, digital platforms and storytelling.

Mohanad is Syrian, but he was born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. He completed his undergraduate in marketing and management at American University of Sharjah. He then earned his master's in marketing at Brunel University. But was telling funny stories that captivated him.

He began on social media by making humorous short films in English, but once he published a video in Arabic and was culturally relevant to the Middle East region, his rapid growth started. Which helped him establish his brand. More than 747,000 followers on each of the platforms, Instagram and Tiktok, consume his innovative sketches. This success made him manage to land deals with big brands such as Lay's potato chips, Deliveroo, Chiclets gum and more. He develops identities and back stories for each character, and periodically releases highly-anticipated new updates in their individual sagas. 

You can follow Mohanad Al Hattab on Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:42 We meet at Beyonce concert

2:30 Mohanad Al Hattab`s story

4:45 When I did in Arabic I when viral

5:40 The creative process and inspiration comes from Being an Audience Member

7:43 Finding your voice

10:50 Importance of laugh in our lives

11:40 Have no expectatives, just create

13:00 Who inspires you as a comedian?

14:21 Comedian creative process

15:34 Deal with hate with logic

18:54 Rapid Fire Questions

23:47 Plans for 2023

28:20 Observations about Arabic culture

30:09 Outro