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Maysoon Zayid |
By Kara Aiello
She also shared from her TEDTalk that her summer
vacations consisted of her father trying to heal her by having her drink deer’s
milk and being dunked in the Dead Sea where the water burned her eyes. In addition, her parents couldn't afford physical therapy, so she was sent
to dancing school where she learned how to dance in heels, which in turn
means she can walk in heels, she states. “And I’m from Jersey, and we are
really concerned with being chic, so if my friends wore heels, so did I.” In
addition to learning to walk by the aid of her father, Ms. Zayid jokes that if
that hadn’t worked, another tactic used was dangling a dollar bill in front of
her and having her chase it.
In her later years, Ms. Zayid
attended Arizona State University, where she earned her BFA in acting. Upon
moving back home, she obtained her first acting gig as an extra on the soap As the World Turns. But instead of advancing in her acting career, she states that she
felt she was a glorified piece of furniture that one could only recognize from
the back of her head. “It became clear
to me that casting directors didn’t hire fluffy, ethnic, disabled actors.” Only
those of a certain perfection, she would go on to say. But as with anything, there are always
exceptions to any rule. Growing up, she
was a fan of watching great female comedians such as Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne
Barr, and Ellen, and the one thing all of these women had in common; they were
comedians. “So I became a comic and have
been one now for sixteen years.” Her
first gig in the comedy world was driving famous comics from New York City to
shows in New Jersey. “I’ll never forget the face of the first comic I ever
drove, when he realized that he was speeding down the New Jersey Turnpike with a
chick with CP driving him.”
In her TEDTalk, Ms. Zayid goes on to say that her crooked journey has taken
her to some very spectacular places. “I
got to walk the red carpet flanked by soap opera diva Susan Lucci and the iconic
Loreen Arbus.” She also goes on to say that she has acted in a movie with Adam
Sandler and worked with her idol, the amazing Dave Matthews. “I toured the world as a headliner on Arabs
Gone Wild and was a delegate representing the great state of New Jersey at the
2008 DNC.
And her TEDTalk, which again aired in December of 2013, was an amazing and
intimate discussion of her life through comedy and heart. When going into it, she states that she had
no goals and did not understand the magnitude of it. “I had met with Pat Mitchell, who curates
TEDWomen at my friend Loreen Arbus’ home and she invited me to do a TEDTalk."
She approached it the way she would approach any other performance. “I am
sometimes embarrassed when people ask me what my TEDTalk is about because, for
me, it was just about making people laugh, nothing very deep.” She says that
often people hear the Talk they want to hear.
Muslims think it’s about Islam, her fellow disabled find it empowering
and others are mesmerized by her tank top.
“They hear and see what they want, not necessarily what I wanted them to
see, and I know this because so many people insist on calling my Talk
inspirational, when I clearly stated that was not my goal.” Meanwhile, so many people ignore the center piece
of the Talk, which is a call to ending able-bodied actors playing disabled on
screen. “People who swear they have seen
my Talk, act surprised when they find out I advocate for authentic casting.”
This important piece to Ms. Zayid’s
passion is why I wanted to do this interview:
her advocacy for authentic casting of people with disabilities playing
actual roles. But how does one go about
making change in an industry that has struggled with diversity as a whole? Ms.
Zayid states that actors who are not disabled must turn down such roles when
offered. As in the early part of film
when white actors would put on makeup to portray black actors, for example, Ms.
Zayid feels that this must also be understood when it comes to playing actors
with disabilities. “Too often we are desperate for representation, that we
accept the fact that not only are we shut out from disabled roles, but that we
are also shut out from being mainstream in Hollywood.” Ms. Zayid feels it is
time for shows like “Scandal” or “The Big Bang Theory” to be held to a higher
standard and have cast members with disabilities represented on their shows.
Another passion for Ms. Zayid is
standing up against bullying. “I fight
bullying because I know there are people who do not have the power to do
so.” During her talks, Ms. Zayid tells
her audience “don’t be a bully and don’t raise a bully” because bullying is a
learned behavior. “My advice to those
being bullied is ignore it, as these people have no effect on your life unless
you give them the power.” She also goes on to say that they are not friends,
nor will they ever be, so the best thing one can do is to ignore them because
it takes away their power. “If you let
them affect you, they win. Don’t let other people define you, as only you get
to define you. If you can’t find friends in real life, find a community
online that you identify with and that empowers you.” But although online communities can be
positive, she also offers caution to be aware of who is out there and to stick
with groups where members have verifiable public personae.
When it comes to performing, Ms.
Zayid packs a busy schedule. The number
of shows she does a week varies, but on average she does two to three per week,
and about ten per month. “It is a lot more than it sounds like, because I often
have to fly to do my shows.” And when it
comes to comedians who inspire her, big names such as Carol Burnett, Richard
Pryor, Jon Stewart, George Carlin and Margaret Cho come to mind. “And the
entire cast of General Hospital for the past three decades.”
And what advice does Ms. Zayid give
to up-and-coming comedians who live with disabilities? Simply stated, she
advises young comedians to be a comedian, and not to see themselves as a
comedian with a disability. She goes on
to say that people can joke about their disability, but if it is all that is
talked about, the audience will get bored quickly. Important advice to live by, from a comedian
who is a class act all her own.
Please check out two websites
relating to Maysoon Zayid:
Maysoon’s Kids which is a charity
for kids with physical disabilities to be mainstreamed into the Palestinian
Public School System. Go to http://www.maysoon.com/pages/maysoonskids
TedTalk from December 2013 www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_palsy_is_just_one
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