Jo Koy show at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai to 'proceed as scheduled'

A comedy event at the Coca-Cola Arena featuring Filipino-American stand-up Jo Koy will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday. The show is one of the highlights of the 11-day Dubai Comedy Festival, which began on Thursday with a show by Canadian comedian Russell Peters.

"The Jo Koy comedy show will proceed as per scheduled on Saturday, May 14 2022," Coca-Cola Arena said in a message to The National.

While a show by Indian comic Vir Das on Friday was postponed, following the death of Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, all other Dubai Comedy Festival shows including Comedy Bizarre and The Laughter Factory, will continue as scheduled from May 17, organisers said.

The postponement is in line with an announcement by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, stating that there will be an official mourning period of 40 days with flags to fly at half-staff, as well as three days of closure of ministries and official entities at the federal and local levels, and the private sector.

"Stay tuned for the new schedule along with the ticketing procedure for the postponed events," read a statement from festival organisers. "From all of us at The Dubai Comedy Festival, our thoughts and prayers are with the family of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan at this difficult time."

Koy returns to Coca-Cola Arena with his Funny is Funny tour after performing at the venue in 2020. He is known for his impersonations and stand-up, as well as references to Filipino culture thanks to his mum.

Peters, who sold out his previous show at the Coca-Cola Arena earlier this month, brought his Act Your Age World Tour to the new Dubai Media City venue, The Agenda, on Thursday, the opening night of the festival.

Updates on new dates and ticket information will be available soon at dubaicomedyfest.ae