"Of course, physically, you have this expectation when you hear Johan's name," Dickey said.
"We have this expectation, left over from the Victorian era, that everything has to be green," Mr. Simmons said.
"People have this expectation that theater and art are inherently generous," Mr. Johnson said, "that they're there to cater to them rather than to produce problems.
"Oftentimes, marketers know there's going to be some backlash by a vocal minority, and some are fearful of that, but the majority of advertisers have this expectation in advance and aren't bothered too much by it," Dr. Erlich said.
"People have this expectation that it'll be so foreign, but what's unusual for an American is to see that it's the same in Beirut as here," said Ms. Chehlaoui, who is also the artistic director of Nibras, an Arab-American cultural organization and a co-sponsor of the comedy festival.
"People have this expectation of sipping lemonade on the front porch and all the time in the world to chat about cheese and goats," Ms. Flanagan observed, adding that she draws the line at letting them try their hand at cheesemaking — a not infrequent request.
