Lebanese comedian Fady Kassab has recently won the RAW Comedy National Grand Final in Melbourne, Australia. He competed against more than a thousand participating entertainers in this contest that has launched the careers of some of Australia’s biggest comedians.
RAW Comedy is Australia’s biggest and most prestigious annual competition. It was established in 1996 for emerging stand-up comedians and is held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
With so many good contestants, the competition couldn’t be but fierce, which makes Fady Kassab’s success most admirable. He reached the last phase along with 14 other finalists, going head-to-head in this nationwide popular competition.
Fady topped them all, scoring the first place in the finals, and becoming the #1 in the largest comedy competition in Australia known as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
By winning, Kassab will now follow the steps of a series of impressive predecessors, like Hannah Gadsby and Josh Thomas, among other previous RAW Comedy champions.
He will also compete in the comedy contest “So You Think You’re Funny?” in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in Scotland.
So You Think You’re Funny? is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. It was launched in the United Kingdom in 1988 and the finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Fadi Kassab was born in the Lebanese town of Ain El Delb in the district of Sidon in 1976. He immigrated to Australia 17 years ago and settled in Sydney, where he currently works in web design. He is very successful in humor and mixes his Australian with his Lebanese origins and talks about Lebanon and war.
Kassab was under tremendous pressure during the final stage of the competition as his father, Ghassan Kassab, was undergoing surgery in Lebanon.
However, he managed to complete the competition and win despite his concerns about his father and his belief that he would not be able to perform well and win under that emotional stress.
This talented Lebanese comedian, who is very attached to the land of his birth, will be visiting Lebanon from June 19th until July 9th. We wish him all the best of success and a most enjoyable sojourn in the homeland.
