Where Comedy Meets the Footnotes
Origin Story
Political comedy has been a lifelong observation and passion. In Egypt, Mona has spent decades watching how people use humour to process, resist and survive power. During the so-called Arab Spring, jokes, satirical cartoons, slogans and street art flourished. Faced with a choice between despair and laughter, Egyptians chose laughter. Mona took notes. Those field observations informed several lectures and academic blog posts for The New Middle East Blog (2012), all making the same radical argument: political humour is not a distraction from serious analysis — it is serious analysis, in a different register. That argument has never left her work. It runs from the streets of Cairo through her chapter on ISIS parody and political satire, through Le eller Dø — the world's first live event on humour, fear and religion — and straight onto the stage as Dr Daffodil. The through-line was never comedy versus academia. It was always both, simultaneously, on purpose.
Le Eller Dø (Laugh or Die)
Mona conceived, produced and served as artistic director of Le eller Dø (Laugh or Die) — billed as the world's first genre-bending live event on humour, fear and religion. Performed in Norwegian, it brought together some of Norway's sharpest comedians — including Are Kalvø and Jonis Josef — alongside leading researchers, all attacking the same theme from their respective corners. Every element of the production, from the logo to the animations to the performances, was soaked in comedy. Mona hosted as MC. The point was not just to make academia more entertaining. It was also to prove that comedy and scholarship were already having the same conversation — and that a room full of people laughing was a perfectly valid place to have it.
Get in touch
To book shows, workshops, or other inquiries:
Email: info@drdaffodil.com
© 2026 Dr. Daffodil Comedy. All rights reserved.