A man called the police after finding a joke offensive at Naples comedy club

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Outside the entrance to Off The Hook comedy club in North Naples. (Credit: WINK News)
Outside the entrance to Off The Hook comedy club in North Naples. (Credit: WINK News)

How do you handle a joke you do not find appropriate? One man at a comedy club found it so out of line, he called 911.

Ahmed Ahmed said he told a joke over a thousand times at the North Naples comedy club and all over the world. But he never had someone pick up the phone and call 911 emergency services.

“I’m not trying to scare laughter into people,” Ahmed said. “But I’m trying to make people think a little bit don’t let the stereotypes hit you on the butt on the way out.”

An audience member in North Naples did not let a comedian off the hook. A day after going to the show, he dialed 911 to report how uncomfortable he felt after a joke.

“As the people raised their hands, they said I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran,” the caller said to a 911 dispatcher. “He said that’s great we should organize our own terrorist organization. I don’t think that’s right. That really bothered me.”

The owner of the comedy club said they do not censor their talent, or else they would lose business. In fact, with all the buzz, Ahmed Ahmed will be back at Off The Hook on May 22.

The comedian, Ahmed Ahmed, told WINK News that is not what he said. He did ask if there were middle eastern in the audience. A few people raised their hands.

“Then I looked at the audience and I said, ‘well hey, it only takes one of us,'” Ahmed Ahmed said. “That’s the joke – to tell a joke – it takes one middle eastern person to tell a joke.”

But the man in the crowd who dialed 911 did not think it was funny.

“And I yelled, ‘the paddy wagon is going to be outside to get all of you,'” the caller said to the 911 dispatcher.

Ahmed Ahmed said he never threatened anyone or used the word, “terrorist.” He said the Islamophobic climate could be partly to blame for the misunderstanding.

“He should, you know, maybe get a passport, travel a little bit, maybe not be so subject to what he’s being brainwashed,” Ahmed Ahmed said. “I feel bad for him that he’s kind of closed minded.”

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