Comedian Rola Z Is Inviting You to Party With Her Habibis

We spoke with Rola about what to expect at her upcoming Habibis In The City music and comedy show on June 2.

When Rola Z first dipped her toes in the world of stand-up, she was at the lowest point in her life. In search of a way to cope, her only hope was comedy. Beginning to turn personal trauma into punchlines, she found that comedy had the power to heal not just herself, but others. For the past three years, uniting people through laughter has been Rola’s mission, hosting comedy shows all around the D.C. area.

Organizing her newest show in partnership with District Fray, Habibis In The City on June 2, Rola decided to make it her most all-encompassing and inclusive event yet. Fusing live music and comedy, Habibis In The City aims to bring together a massive celebration of heritage by highlighting Arab, African American, and Indian artists and comedians.

Ahead of Habibis In The City, we spoke with Rola about getting into comedy, event planning, and what to expect June 2.

District Fray: Why did you initially start doing comedy?
Rola Z: A few years ago, basically, my life fell apart, and I realized there’s so much that you can’t change. I figured if you can’t change it, then laugh about it. so I decided to become a comedian. My preferred brand of comedy is “traumedy,” as in turning tragedy into comedy. I realized that when I turned my pain into punchlines and laughed about my pain, others laugh too and then they heal.

What got you into entertainment and comedy event planning?
I’ve been in corporate communications for over 15 years. In my corporate job, I used to organize huge events like VIP gala dinners, executive events, and so on, so forth. I’m used to event planning and event production and coming up with creative concepts. Those kinds of event production and corporate skills really came in handy when I got into comedy show production. It just seemed logical, like “Why would I not do this?”

What gave you the idea for Habibis in The City?
“Habibi” means “my love” so Habibis in the City is like a term of endearment. One thing I wanted to do was to have an event that would embed Arabic music as part of other more mainstream music. I also saw a link between Arabic culture and African American culture. I always say that we are united in trauma and rhythm. So I’ve got an African American hip hop band and I also have other BIPOC performers from India. I’m really just trying to blend the different cultures and showcase our heritage.

From your perspective, what is the importance of having an entertaining event centered around BIPOC comedians and Arabic musicians like this, especially in D.C.?
I think D.C. is such an exciting place. A lot of people have this misconception that D.C. is boring or it’s all government workers. But D.C. is thriving in terms of the diversity of the art. When you put together something like this, which is BIPOC, it includes everybody in a range of diversity. Hopefully, this event will blend all of that and really showcase just how the nuances within the D.C. art scene.

What should we look forward to the most June 2 for Habibis in the City?
I’m really excited that it’s taking place like in the heart of DC. The live band has not performed in DC before, so I’m very excited to bring them in. I’m also very excited to bring in non-Arabs and just the community at large to enjoy our music, shake with us, dance with us, again—belly dancing is mainstream! Music is an international language, right?  You don’t have to know how to dance, you can just come in and enjoy yourself with us.

You can buy tickets to Habibis In The City on June 2 at 7 p.m. at Provision No. 14 here.

Provision No. 14: 2100 14th St NW, DC; @provision_dc

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Jenna Schwartz