The Laughter Lounge by 3albaraka 2026 in Dubai

The Laughter Lounge by 3albaraka brings an evening of fully improvised comedy to the Playhouse Studio at New Covent Garden Theatre in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates. Presented by New Covent Garden, the night features PEW! PEW!, an English-language improv show in which there is no script at all: the audience supplies the ideas and the performers build scenes, games and characters from them on the spot.

The show’s own summary is short and accurate: the audience brings the ideas, the performers make up the comedy. Nothing you see on the night has been rehearsed, and nothing will be repeated.

Who are 3albaraka?

3albaraka is an improv group based in Dubai, founded in 2024 by Ahmed Achrafi, an actor, improviser and acting coach who teaches at The Courtyard Playhouse and runs his own studio in the city. The group was set up as an Arabic-language improv company and brings together performers from across the Arab world, mixing their dialects and cultural viewpoints. Its shows now run in both Arabic and English.

The name comes from the Arabic expression “ala al baraka”, used when you go ahead with something and trust it will work out, which suits a company whose whole method is walking on stage with nothing prepared. Past productions have included titles such as We Seriously Haven’t Prepared Anything and Based on Improvised Events.

This is not the group’s first run at the venue. 3albaraka staged a series of improv comedy nights in the same Playhouse Studio earlier in the year, and New Covent Garden has made The Laughter Lounge a regular fixture there, with earlier editions in September and at the start of October. Audience reviews from the spring run described the shows as interactive, fun and clean enough to bring children to.

How PEW! PEW! works

An improv show can sound daunting if you have only ever watched stand-up, but the structure is easy to follow. The performers ask the room for suggestions, such as a place, a relationship or a situation, and use them as the starting point for a scene. Each scene is short, so the evening moves quickly and the energy stays up. If one idea does not land for you, another will be along within a few minutes.

Between scenes there are improv games, where the performers are set a challenge or a rule and have to make it work live. These are often where the biggest laughs come from, because you can see the performers solving the problem in real time.

Because the audience shapes everything, no two performances are alike. Even if you saw 3albaraka earlier in the year, the show on 30 October will be different.

Do you have to take part?

Only as much as you want to. Most of the participation is shouting out suggestions when the performers ask for them. If you would rather sit back and watch, others in the room will happily supply ideas. If you love the idea of seeing your suggestion turned into a scene, come with a couple of odd jobs, places or awkward situations in mind.

Who it suits

• Comedy fans who want something other than stand-up, with a group building scenes together rather than one person with a microphone.
• Friends looking for a Friday night plan in Mall of the Emirates that is more interactive than a film.
• Arab and Arabic-speaking audiences curious about a homegrown troupe, even though this particular show is in English.
• Anyone interested in improv classes who wants to see what the form looks like when done by a working company.

The organisers have not published an age policy for this date. Reviews of earlier 3albaraka shows called them family-friendly, but if you plan to bring children it is worth checking first.

The Playhouse Studio at New Covent Garden Theatre

The Playhouse Studio is part of New Covent Garden Theatre on Level 2 of Mall of the Emirates, Al Barsha First, on Sheikh Zayed Road. Tickets are general admission. Doors open at 7:30pm and the show starts at 8pm.

By car, head to Sheikh Zayed Road, merge onto the E11, take the Umm Suqeim Street exit and follow the signs for the Mall of the Emirates ramp; the venue recommends using GPS. By bus, route 84 stops at Mall of the Emirates 2-1, about five minutes’ walk away. By Metro, take the Red Line to Mall of the Emirates station and allow about 17 minutes to walk to the theatre. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are also available.

If you cannot make it, tickets can be exchanged with another fan.

More from The Laughter Lounge

The Laughter Lounge continues at the same venue the following Friday, 6 November, with a 3albaraka duet featuring Achrafi and Fadil. For other ideas, see our comedy shows in Dubai, the shows and theatre guide, things to do this weekend, and things to do in October for the rest of the month.