Ahmed Ahmed & Friends Comedy Review

Last night I attended the latest in the line-up of comedic performances held at the Crowne Plaza, 'Ahmed Ahmed & Friends', (the friends being Angelo Tsarouchas, Sherif Azab and Erik Griffin). I'm not very familiar with the comic scene but evidently they are pretty famous. Ahmed Ahmed plugged a film he has brought out recently called 'Just Like Us', which was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Azab is more of an up-and-comer but Griffin and Tsarouchas are both rather well established.
I have to say, for me the show was a mixture of enjoyment and disappointment. They did all make me laugh. However Tsarouchas in particular, who although seemed popular with the audience, gave me the feeling that he was using old and repetitive material and that he hadn't made a lot of effort to prepare to perform in Oman. Surely it wouldn't take too much effort for a skilled comedian to do a little research on the place they are performing and find something to joke about, in order to relate more personally to the audience, which is apparently just what Moz Jobrani did in his performance at the same venue last year.
Apart from this one bone of contention though, they all made great jokes and managed to relate to a very mixed audience. For me Griffin was the highlight of the show and his clever impressions and sound effects had me doubled up with laughter.
Oh, and on a slightly unrelated (though still comic) note, I think Ahmed Ahmed looks like a young Alan Sugar (from the British "The Apprentice").