Jess and Eman El-Salomon are Defying Stereotypes in Love and Comedy

Jess and Eman El-Salomons are a married, Jewish Palestinian duo that are changing the face of comedy.
 
“There’s still the feeling that I need to make this audience comfortable with me being a woman, with me being gay, with me being Muslim. And that’s a thing that, like, a straight, white guy doesn’t have to do,” explained Jess.

The couple’s set together as the El-Salomons centers around their story as a couple, which began nearly a decade ago in Montreal when they were both starting out in comedy.

Jess grew up in a Jewish family in Montreal. Eman grew up in a Palestinian family in Kuwait and moved to Canada in 1990 during the first Gulf War.

Four years after their first kiss, the couple got engaged in 2011 and El-Husseini’s parents chose not to attend their wedding.

The comedians have since turned their personal experiences into stand-up to break stereotypes. They moved to New York City in 2016 and perform both individually and together.

Though the business can be difficult for them as women, and a same-sex couple, they’re continuing to subvert the public’s typical expectations of comedy through their sets as well as comedic cartoons. They hope to one day make their art into an animated sitcom.  

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