“I’m a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy from New Jersey,” says Maysoon Zayid. It’s all true, but don’t worry, she expects you to laugh. Now based in New York, she headlines a city-sponsored evening of ethnic jokes and political humor, “Global Giggles.” Hosted by Chicagoan Mickey O, it also includes four members of his Cultural Madness comedy team: south-siders Frank Townsend (Barbershop, BET’s Comicview) and Joey Villagomez; Kumail, a Pakistani-American from Uptown; and Wrigleyville Irish-American Sean Flannery. Zayid claims to be “the first comedian to perform stand-up live in Palestine” and spends three months a year running an art program for wounded children in refugee camps. Candid and caustic, she has a penchant for self-deprecation and a knack for combining the topical and the familial–“WMD” to her father, she says, means “wed my daughter.” Wed 3/15, 7 PM, Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall, 77 E. Randolph, 312-744-6630. Free.
