Escritora, actriz, comediante de origen árabe con parálisis cerebral, co-fundadora del Festival árabe-estadounidense de Comedia de Nueva York 

Maysoon Zayed es una actriz y comediante standup (improvisación) profesional,  titulada en  actuación de la Universidad Estatal de Arizona. Co -fundadora y co -productora ejecutiva del  Festival de Comedio Árabe-Estadounidense de Nueva York. Ha aparecido en  diferentes Stand-ups y en la película de comedia junto a Adam Sandler’s, You No Mess With Zohan . En el otoño del 2006 , Maysoon estrenó su espectáculo  de comedia en el  centro de Los Ángeles , que fue producido y dirigido por el legendario Kathy Najimy . En 2008 , su  guión fue elegido para el Laboratorio de Guionistas del Festival de Sundance y ahora está programada para comenzar la producción con Maysoon como cabeza del proyecto.

Como comediante profesional, Maysoon ha realizado improvisaciones (Stand-ups) en los mejores clubes de Nueva York y ha realizado giras en los EE.UU, Europa , África y Oriente medio . Ella también ha aparecido en programas de televisión tales como As The World Turns , La Ley y el Orden , MTV , NBC Nightly News , CNN, ABC 20/20 ,  y en el  New York Times, y en el final de temporada de la BBC Los Debates de Doha. Maysoon es graduada de la Fundación Hala Salaam Maksoud para el Liderazgo árabe-estadounidense y delegada del gran Estado de Nueva Jersey, para la Convención Nacional Demócrata de 2008 . Ella pasa 3 meses al año en Palestina donde dirige Kids Maysoon, un programa de becas y  bienestar para niños con discapacidad, heridos y huérfanos refugiados.

Actualmente es codirectora del tour de comedia árabe: Arabs Gone Wild Tour producido por LiveNation . www.ArabsGoneWild.com

Comedian, activist and co-founder of the  New York Arab-American Comedy Festival

American actress, comedian and advocate who is of Palestinian descent. She was born in New Jersey in 1974. She described herself in a BBC interview as “a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy, from New Jersey, who is an actress, comedian and activist”. Zayid has been a resident of Cliffside Park, New Jersey. She is considered one of America’s first Muslim women comedians and the first person ever to perform standup in Palestine and Jordan.

Zayid earned her BFA in acting from Arizona State University. She started her acting career by appearing on the popular soap opera As the World Turns for two years, as well as guest appearances on Law & Order, NBC Nightly News and ABC’s 20/20. Zayid also had a role in the 2008 Adam Sandler film, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.
In the fall of 2006, Maysoon debuted her one-woman show Little American Whore (LAW) at Los Angeles’s Comedy Central stage; it was produced and directed by Kathy Najimy. In 2008, LAW’s screenplay was chosen for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Production began with Maysoon as the lead in the fall of 2009.

During her early acting experiences, she found her disability and ethnicity repeatedly limiting to her advancement. Zayid then turned to stand-up and began appearing at New York’s top clubs, including Caroline’s, Gotham, and Stand Up NY, where she takes on serious topics such as terrorism and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
She co-founded the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival in 2003 with comedian Dean Obeidallah.  This highly acclaimed, first-of-its-kind festival has received national and international media coverage. It is held annually in New York City and showcases Arab-American comics, actors, playwrights and filmmakers.
She usually tours by herself or as a special guest on the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. She also co-hosts the radio show “Fann Majnoon” (Arabic: فن مجنون‎) (Crazy Art) with Obeidallah.
Maysoon can also be seen in the upcoming documentary, The Muslims Are Coming!, which features a group of Muslim American stand up comedians touring the United States in an effort to counter Islamophobia. The film also features various celebrities including Jon Stewart, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Maddow and others.
She appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann several times and on the Melissa Harris-Perry end-of-2012 wrap-up show on December 30, as part of a panel of comedian commentators. She has also presented at the TED annual conference.

Zayid spends three months a year in the Palestinian territories, running an arts program for disabled and orphaned children in refugee camps. She helps the children use art to deal with trauma and bridge the gap between disabled and non-disabled children. Eighty percent of the funding for the camps comes from her comedy work

http://maysoon.liveeditaurora.com/