Maysoon Zayid is an American actress, comedian, writer, and disability advocate. She is of Palestinian descent and she is known as one of America's first Muslim women comedians.
Zayid was born in New Jersey in 1974. In a BBC interview in 2008, she described herself as "a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy, from New Jersey, who is an actress, comedian and activist". Zayid is a resident of Cliffside Park, New Jersey. She earned her BFA in acting from Arizona State University.
Zayid is the co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. She was a full-time On Air Contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and a columnist for The Daily Beast. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, ABC News, and Oprah Winfrey Networks. Zayid had the most viewed TED Talk of 2014 and was thrilled to collaborate with Huda Beauty.
As a professional comedian, Zayid has sold out top New York clubs and has toured extensively at home and abroad. She was a headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour and The Together Live Tour. She appeared alongside Adam Sandler in You Don't Mess with the Zohan and has written for Glamour magazine. She limped in New York Fashion Week and is a recurring character on General Hospital. She is the author of the best-selling memoir Find Another Dream and is collaborating with Scholastic on her debut comic book Shiny Misfits.
