The Stand Up Sketch Show Being Adapted in the Middle East

BBC Studios has signed a format deal with Different Productions to bring Spirit Studios’ comedy format The Stand Up Sketch Show to the Middle East.

A local adaptation of the stand-up series will be available on the Shahid VIP streaming platform. The 10×30-minute series, known locally as Stand UP سكتش, will be added to Shahid’s SVOD service this month.

The series takes well-known comedians’ best stand-up stories and brings them to life in sketch form. Local comedians featured on the show include Maz Jobrani, Mo Amer, Khaled Mansour and Shadi Alfons.

The Stand Up Sketch Show is created and produced by Spirit Studios for ITV2 in the U.K. This marks the second international market to license the format, after a successful debut in Sweden on public service broadcaster SVT.

Matt Campion, Spirit’s creative director and show creator, said: “It’s incredible to see how the show has become so popular across the world. It’s a testament to the format’s simplicity which allows the comedy to travel. I’m thrilled to now see it being produced in MENA and to see the region’s stories being brought to life. Different Productions have done an amazing job of producing the format, I wish it every success.”

Additionally, Dubai Media has relicensed the Astronauts: Toughest Job in the Universe format for a second season. The ten-part series follows 14 ordinary people as they take on a demanding training regime usually reserved for real-life astronaut candidates. It first aired on Dubai TV in 2019. Also Produced by Different Productions, the local format will air on the free-to-air Dubai TV later this month.

André Renaud, senior VP of global format sales at BBC Studios, said: “I can’t wait for audiences in MENA to enjoy the escapist and brilliantly funny tales from a host of local talent in The Stand Up Sketch Show. I’m confident that this original premise will resonate locally just as much as our earlier formats No Kitchen Required for Quest Arabiya and Astronauts, which has been renewed for a second series. With our large catalog of high-quality unscripted and scripted formats, we believe that there is great potential in MENA to bring even more of our strong stable of stories and ideas to new audiences in the region.”