DHAHRAN: This past Eid was a different one for Fahad Al-Butairi and Rehman Akhtar, when they took to the stage for the Bahrain comedy show and tickled an audience of 4,000 over two nights — as standup comics.

“I love the notion and atmosphere of going out on stage in front of people and getting a vocal reaction,” said Akhtar, who by day is a communications team leader for Saudi Aramco. “That’s the biggest buzz.”

Akhtar, a Pakistani-born British national, grew up in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, when he first took to the stage.

“My first standup act was when I was 11, when I entered a talent contest in London,” said the 44-year-old. “I got 10 out of 10 from all six judges, so I must have done something right!”

Twenty-three-year-old Al-Butairi came across comedy by accident.

“At first, it started off by just being funny in class,” said the Saudi national. “Then it went on to being funny in big groups of friends; and then somebody suggested that maybe I could do something more — like a little sketch for a city comedy club.”

The sketch, the geophysicist’s first performance, was for a crowd of 30 at a comedy club in Austin, Texas, while completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas as part of a Saudi Aramco college degree program.

Since then, and before his performance with Akhtar in Bahrain, Al-Butairi had performed one other time, for a crowd of 20, in Austin — making his performance in Bahrain his largest.

“I was always the funny guy among my friends, but this was different,” he said. “I was funny in front of a crowd of 2,000 or more people.”

Akhtar, on the other hand, began performing in the United Kingdom in his mid-20s, for crowds as large as 500. He developed his sense of humor growing up there. “We didn’t have Play Stations or Game Boys,” he said. “In those days, the really popular guy was the person who could tell the meanest joke in the playground.”

Akhtar moved to Saudi Arabia when he joined the company seven years ago. He has performed about 30 times so far on a variety of occasions, from Dhahran Cricket Association annual dinners to the Dhahran LOL Cafe and Dental Fun Day — each having audience with its own taste for comedy.

“One day I’d be performing for the dental group, and there’s no way I’d use the same material that I give to the Pakistani/Indian crowd,” said Akhtar, who spends weeks preparing for a 30-minute act.

“That’s the challenge that I have — I have to literally write an entire act each time.” Al-Butairi agreed. “With standup comedy, it’s like a little play,” he said. “But you are the writer; you are the producer; you are the director, and you are the cast — all at the same time.”

Despite the challenges, stage fright has never stopped either performer.

“I don’t think I suffer from stage nerves in the traditional sense,” said Akhtar. “I have a lot of nervous energy inside me as I’m about to step on-stage, but that’s all channeled into my act.” “Technically, everybody gets stage fright,” Al-Butairi said. “It’s about how you react to stage fright. You can use it to get yourself excited, or you can use it to just collapse completely and shut down.”

Confidence isn’t the only key to their comedy routines; it is also the ability to add a twist of humor to their stories.

“It’s like one comedian said about a giraffe throwing up in a zoo in Utah and dying,” Al-Butairi explained. “It’s a sad story, but if you think about it, it’s funny. I mean, it must have taken him forever to throw up and die!”

Akhtar agreed. “That’s all that comedians do. They see the funny side of things.”