A DEFINING CHAPTER

10YEARS
ON AIR

THE HEADLINES.
THE PEOPLE.
THE PUNCHLINE.

Tashweesh Wadeh — The studio double act — The studio double act

For ten years, I worked as a producer, director and performer on Tashweesh Wadeh. With Moath Al Bzour and the Fooq Al Sada ensemble, we turned Jordan’s headlines and everyday frustrations into topical commentary, recurring characters and sketches.

FROM A BROWSER WINDOW TO THE LIVING ROOM

START ONLINE.
STAY WITH PEOPLE.

Tashweesh Wadeh — The early television identity — The early television identity

A digital beginning. A weekly television habit.

The idea began with my twin brother Yousef and me. Tashweesh Wadeh started on YouTube in 2012 before moving to Roya, taking our online comedy into a weekly television format. [1]

As I described in a 2014 interview, the format grew from YouTube to a ten-minute television slot and then to half an hour. Each step gave us more room for characters, sketches and the week’s public conversation. [2]

Tashweesh Wadeh — An evening appointment / broadcast promotion — An evening appointment / broadcast promotion

JORDANIAN SOCIETY & TELEVISION MEMORY

RECOGNISE THE NEWS.
RECOGNISE YOURSELF.

Tashweesh Wadeh — Moath Al Bzour at the desk — Moath Al Bzour at the desk

01 / A LOCAL LANGUAGE

Politics, within reach.

The show’s cultural strength lay in translating public affairs into familiar speech, comic tension and recognisable behaviour. In a 2014 Al Ghad commentary, the writer praised the ensemble’s understanding of Jordanian culture and its ability to reshape the weekly political scene into engaging satire. [3]

Tashweesh Wadeh — The economy gets its own punchline — The economy gets its own punchline

02 / AN EVERYDAY RECORD

A country’s concerns.

Its episode archive moves from energy policy to parliamentary behaviour and pandemic pressures. These subjects make the programme a record of what people were arguing about, worrying about and trying to make sense of—not just a collection of jokes. [4] [5] [6]

Tashweesh Wadeh — A visitor interrupts the bulletin — A visitor interrupts the bulletin

03 / BEYOND BROADCAST

From TV to a syllabus.

CET’s Living Language: Jordanian Dialect in Popular Culture syllabus lists an episode of Tashweesh Wadeh directed by Naser. Its inclusion offers a concrete example of the show being used as cultural and language material beyond its original broadcast. [9]

The desk. The skyline. The interruption.

Familiar faces, the studio desk and unexpected interruptions became part of the show’s identity. The headlines changed. The audience knew where to find us.

THREE WINDOWS INTO THE PUBLIC CONVERSATION

WHAT MADE
THE WEEK?

Tashweesh Wadeh — The news, brought back into the frame — The news, brought back into the frame

2014 / ENERGY & PUBLIC DEBATE

“Qatar, we want gas.”

Roya’s December 2014 report describes an episode scrutinising the proposed gas agreement with Israel through officials’ statements, expert commentary and satire. It also identifies Naser as the performer behind the recurring character Shloot. [4]

Tashweesh Wadeh — Public affairs, in the studio — Public affairs, in the studio

2016 / PARLIAMENT

The return of the MPs.

A season-eight episode addressed the opening of parliament, the election of its speaker and MPs stumbling over their oaths—turning formal political ritual into comic material. [5]

Tashweesh Wadeh — The pandemic-era campaign — The pandemic-era campaign

2020 / THE PANDEMIC

The crisis at home.

Season thirteen covered rising COVID-19 cases, hospital beds, government restrictions and crowding at Al Bashir Hospital. The subjects locate its satire inside the pressures of daily life. [6]

NASER’S CONTRIBUTION

BEHIND IT.
IN FRONT OF IT.

Producer. Director. Performer.

I worked behind the camera and in front of it: directing, preparing episodes and performing characters, including Shloot. These interviews and programme credits document different chapters of that work. [2] [8] [4]

Moath Al Bzour presented the programme. The wider ensemble and production team are central to this shared body of work.

Tashweesh Wadeh poster featuring presenter Moath Al Bzour against newspaper headlines

THE VISUAL ARCHIVE

SAME INSTINCT.
CHANGING PICTURE.

Tashweesh Wadeh — Characters at the desk — Characters at the desk

Tashweesh Wadeh — The title sequence — The title sequence

Tashweesh Wadeh — Beyond the desk / a medical sketch — Beyond the desk / a medical sketch

Tashweesh Wadeh — A character enters the conversation — A character enters the conversation

Research & credits +

The ten-year on-air milestone, producer role and personal assessment are supplied by Naser. Published sources independently document the programme’s origins, selected credits, evening scheduling and subjects. Cultural-memory observations are editorial interpretation of these sources and the visual archive; no audience survey, national ranking or causal policy impact is claimed.

Posters and screenshots: Naser’s supplied archive. The date in screenshot filenames is not treated as an episode’s broadcast date.

A DEFINING CHAPTER

THE HEADLINES.THE PEOPLE.THE PUNCHLINE.

START ONLINE.STAY WITH PEOPLE.

RECOGNISE THE NEWS.RECOGNISE YOURSELF.