Iranian comic Maz Jobrani tries to help
Americans think beyond the idiot box
SCHOOLING THE WEST ON THE EAST: Jobrani
by NARCEL X
Nursing a broken ankle and eagerly awaiting the birth of his son, Maz Jobrani, the Persian element of the Axis of Evil comedy quartet, is no stranger to multi-tasking. From starring alongside Sean Penn in The Interpreter to being a staple voice at the world famous Laugh Factory, Maz is at his best under pressure.
From making fun of his heritage by saying Iranians refuse to be called anything but Persian (like the cat, he says) to teaching the crowd how to pronounce the current president's name (Ahmed I'mma-need-a-job), Jobrani serves as a light-hearted diplomat in the ever-growing gap between the East and West. Hitting the stage for this year's Just for Laughs, he spoke to me from his Los Angeles home about future plans, political misconceptions and his knack for Iranian spiced humor.
Mirror: With all the rhetoric and finger pointing at Iran in the last couple of months, what do you feel your role as a comedian is?
Maz Jobrani: It's to educate and shed light on the origin of my people. A lot of Americans don't think beyond the idiot box. Iran has been demonized and definitely simplified—there are 75 million people there. I think it's important to humanize my people, and make the advocates of war realize the cost of war. Before war, there is diplomacy. That's what I do, a form of diplomacy. I try to make people laugh and leave with a different perspective on Iran.
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