Saddam Hussein

Note: Future updates at discretion of Ayad Allawi.

The transition from dictator to stand-up comedian isn't for everybody, but for the Mother of All Comics, it was a snap. "You know how it is -- you're at a party, sitting around, telling jokes. A few people don't laugh so you have their stomachs ripped out through their mouths with steel hooks. Next thing you know, you're a laugh riot! I just had to be on stage."

After gigging around at open mic nights in Tikrit, Saddam hit the big time in Baghdad, opening up the Death to the Zionist Entity and Grand Benevolent Leader Virility Pavilion, built by political slaves for the occasion. Since then he's been taking the comedy world by desert storm -- except for the Kurdish Comedy Store, where his lookalike doubles do most of the performing.

But at heart, he's still just a simple guy, trying to get used to the changes around him and the problems of aging. "The other day, I'm looking at this 50-foot statue of myself, and it's like, damn, is my ass really that big? We've all been there, right? I had the sculptor flayed alive and forced his youngest son to wear the skin as a suit, but man, I gotta get to the gym!"

Upcoming Shows

Saddam will be appearing 300 feet beneath the earth's surface in the bunker under Palace 42 for the next two weeks -- $10 cover, two item minimum.

He'll be at the smoldering remains of the Baghdad Improv on April 3. And Saddam will be in Hell April 9, opening for Lenny Bruce.

READING ROOM: On occasion we get humor pieces from comedians -- you can find them all archived in our Reading Room.