Born in the great State of New Jersey, Dean's unique background as the son of a Palestinian father and a Sicilian mother has greatly influenced his comedy. A former practicing attorney, Dean has won numerous awards for his work as a comedian and has appeared on various television programs, including ABC's "The View," Comedy Central's "Axis of Evil" Comedy special, and "The Watch List," a critically acclaimed Internet series he co-created and co-produced.
Dean has also made appearances on international and national programs such as CNN's "American Morning" and "The Situation Room," PBS' "Newshour with Jim Lehrer," Air America Radio, "Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen," ABC News, HD's "Dan Rather Reports," NPR, Fox News Radio, ABC's "20/20," "Al Jazeera," "Democracy Now with Amy Goodman," and CNN International's "Inside the Middle East." His work has also been featured in various publications, including Time magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.
Dean is the recipient of the first annual "Bill Hicks Spirit Award" for "thought provoking comedy" from the NY Underground Comedy Festival and the Hicks' Family. He has also co-created the comedy show "Stand up for Peace" with Jewish comic Scott Blakeman, which they perform at colleges across the country in support of peace in the Middle East and fostering understanding between Arab and Jewish-Americans.
Dean's one-man show, "I Come in Peace," was an official selection of the 2006 NY International Fringe Festival. He is also the co-founder and co-executive producer of the annual NY Arab-American Comedy Festival, which will be holding its fifth annual Festival in January 2008. In addition to performing comedy throughout the US, Dean has performed in the Middle East in Beirut, Haifa, Dubai, and Ramallah.
