Top US comedian Tamer Kattan comes to Budapest

“I was performing to 150 people surrounded by tower blocks in the middle of Slovakia,” says Tamer Kattan, in his infectiously engaging way, before going off on yet another entertaining tangent involving wolves, backpacks and his love of Europe.

Having won over some of the toughest crowds on the most prestigious stages across the States, comedian Kattan now has his sights set firmly on his new-found European home. Or rather, homes, as he divides his time, as they say, between Lisbon and Berlin: “Lisbon is where I can be thoughtful, relax and get ideas, Berlin has its own urban buzz. It’s like having New York across two cities”.

In between, Kattan gigs relentlessly. Next week, after Tuesday’s show at the MANYI Cultural Workshop put on by Hot Paprika Comedy, he’s got a string of dates at the Edinburgh Fringe: “Europe’s such an education, going from country to country. Before, I was doing LA, New York, Texas, Arizona – now it’s Ljubljana, Prague, Budapest… I feel so lucky”.

The son of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, raised in a rough neighbourhood, Kattan is rarely phased by his surroundings. Having performed for UN troops in Afghanistan, at the American University in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution and at various hospices across America, not to mention on Netflix, Amazon and SkyTV in the UK, Kattan always makes sure to do his homework before he goes anywhere: “Not so much to use it as material in the show, more out of respect to the people I’m going to be performing to”.

Kattan discovered his gift in a previous life, one as a copywriter in advertising: “It’s a different kind of entertainment, if you will, short-form storytelling, using an economy of words but still getting the attention of an audience. One time I wrote some material for a comedian who was doing an audition. He told me that it was great and that I should think of being a comedian myself. That inspired me to start. Eight years later, I ran into him at a comedy festival and told him he had changed my life. He didn’t remember a thing about it!”

Kattan began to work, hard. “I was sometimes doing ten spots a night in New York, even more. You can do that in the Village, there’s the Comedy Cellar, Midtown, Queens, Brooklyn…”

At some point, Kattan took a left turn: “You find that certain comedians do their best work after a lifestyle change, Chris Rock after his divorce, Richard Pryor after setting fire to himself... Me, I decided I needed to come to Europe”.

Kattan’s destination of choice was Barcelona – or rather, it would have been but for Covid restrictions nearly forcing the authorities to throw him in jail. Having hooked up with a Swedish woman, now his wife, Kattan was reluctant to fester in a Spanish prison cell. “We opted for Gibraltar, just like John and Yoko. Two days became two weeks, and before you know it, we were married. It was just like the Beatles! We even had our wedding photo taken with the Rock of Gibraltar behind us... except that my wife has flaming red hair.”

There was more to the moment than just an odd pop time warp. “My father used to play in a Beatles tribute band, he once told me all about John and Yoko. Sadly he wasn’t around to see this, so it was a kind of bitter-sweet experience from that point of view.”

The couple since settled in Lisbon as Kattan began to work on the new solo show he’s now bringing to Budapest.

“I’m building a brand and staying independent. Europe is a kind of silver lining for comedians such as me. This is such a great time for comedy in Europe, like the beginning of a real scene. The road feels romantic and exciting. There’s a small army of us doing it. We’re building the road.”