A Briton who has been in the UAE for 22 years took advantage of an empty market with ample potential and launched the country's biggest comedy show.
DUBAI // It has been 22 years since Gail Clough arrived in what was back then a little-known emirate on the shores of the Arabian Gulf.
In the years that followed, as Dubai and its iconic landmarks have risen to global prominence, she has gone from a DJ with wanderlust to the boss of the country’s biggest comedy show, The Laughter Factory, which this year will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Ms Clough, now 50, ended up in Dubai after spending a year in Brunei.
“There was nothing here,” she said. “Because there was nothing it was easy to get work, so I started DJing and working in a CD shop, Music Master, while I built up my client base.”
For a music lover from Manchester in the north-west of England, Dubai held a rich tapestry of sounds.
“Dubai was a lot more musically eclectic back then. People were more tolerant of each other’s music. There was more Arabic and Hindi music. That’s what I really liked about it. I had always been a nightclub DJ so it was nice to be listening to different sounds.”
Within two years, she was bringing over comedians from the UK to perform for the growing expatriate population. Some of those acts still regularly play gigs in Dubai, as well as topping the bill at major venues in the UK. They included Lee Mack, Frankie Boyle and Russell Peters.
In 1999, she partnered with London’s Comedy Store, a world famous venue, to bring its star comedians to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The circuit was later extended to Doha.
“The acts loved coming here, and we were lucky it was a time when Dubai was becoming exciting so we could take advantage of that,” she said.
Never afraid to branch out into other fields, Ms Clough founded the Dubai Surgery Clinic, capitalising on the rise of cosmetic surgery and its decreasing stigma for both men and women.
“Dubai became glamorous and synonymous with style. It had its own style,” said Ms Clough, who has seen the emirate become a medical tourism hot spot.
“What I learnt from that experience is that how you look is irrelevant. It’s how you feel that’s important.”
After calling the UAE home for more than two decades, she has developed a love-hate relationship with the transient nature of life here.
“What’s good about this place is there’s always fresh creativity and ideas coming in, but you don’t have history with people. I just had my 50th birthday and of the 35 people who came, only around four have been here with me since the start,” she said.
“I do love always meeting new people and having new conversations.
“You’ve got to create friendships, not just a career.”
mswan@thenational.ae