Maz Jobrani on Laughing Through Labels and Breaking Stereotypes
The Iranian-American comedian shares how he turned cultural misunderstandings into comedy gold.
by Stephan Boissonneault
- Published on
Partially stemming from an experience he had while he was coming up as a comedian in California, Maz Jobrani has always brought up topics like race and the misunderstanding of Middle Easterners in North America during his sets. He remembers being invited to perform during an open mic at the renowned venue The Comedy Store in front of the owner, Mitzi Shore, the mother of actor/comedian Pauly Shore.
“You got three minutes and if she liked you, you got six the next week and ten the next,” Jobrani says from a hotel room in Miami. “So once you were done that, Mitzi would decide if she liked you or not and if you’re in or out.”
Learning from other comedians in the scene and watching Shore’s selection process from afar, Jobrani knew that Mitzi needed to grab his arm—the signal that you would become a Comedy Store regular—as he walked off stage towards the exit sign.
“It was like being a made man in the mafia,” Jobrani says. “So there she is, eating her popcorn, and she grabs my arm and I freak out inside. She says ‘You’re very funny Maz, but have you ever thought about wearing the outfit?’ I go ‘Outfit?’ And she goes ‘You know, the hat and the gown.’”
That’s right. Mitzi Shore suggested that Maz Jobrani, a comedian of Iranian descent, wear a turban and Dishdasha or “thawb,” on stage. “Obviously, it was a different time and she had some crazy ideas,” he says. “I remember hearing that she told Marc Maron that he was the ‘thinking comedian,’ so he should wear a scarf on stage, so he tried that out. But I of course did not want to wear a turban.”
A few weeks later, Jobrani got out of wearing the traditional headwear and gown after he called The Comedy Store and told them he didn’t think it was a good idea to wear a turban on stage. “I said if the Islamic Republic finds out a comedian is wearing a turban on stage in LA, they might come after me, and they might blow up the club.”
Jobrani went on to become a regular at The Comedy Store, sharing the mic with big names like Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, and Norm MacDonald, and has since adapted that story and turned it into a joke for his latest YouTube special, The Birds & The Bees. It’s those kinds of personal background or ethnicity jokes that he knows people still expect from him. He has a whole Netflix special about it called Immigrant.
“When I took a comedy class, they told me to write about what you know,” Jobrani says. “So it would start off with a premise like ‘Growing up in America as an Iranian kid is hard because most parents don’t want their kids spending the night because they think we will take them hostage,’ which is funny, but a very real experience I’ve had.”
Jobrani is now in his early 50s and still has jokes about his Iranian heritage, but as a father, he also has jokes about kids—that and current events. “I feel like as a comedian, you can’t not have an opinion on the salute,” Jobrani says. He’s referring, of course, to Elon Musk’s salute at the Presidential inauguration, which looked strikingly like the Nazi Sieg Heil.
“There’s a million takes on whether he did it or not, but the scary thing is that I guarantee you more people are doing the Nazi salute now than any time since Nazi Germany fell in World War II,” Jobrani says. “I’ve done it like 50 times just talking about it with people. How many times did I do it before? Zero. So that’s something to think about.”
Catch Maz Jobrani live on Feb. 13 at the Vogue Theatre as part of JFL Vancouver
TICKETS & INFO
By Kenna Clifford
Inside the Western Canadian Music Alliance’s multi-day conference and the artists worth catching this year in Victoria.
By Glenn Alderson
It’s tough to make room for a music festival when the legendary Bay Area has so much else to experience.
By Aurora Zboch
Composer Jay McCarrol takes us inside the restless mind of a culinary icon before he became one.
By Glenn Alderson
The country music giant, master songwriter and patron saint of being exactly as much as you want to be has died at 80.
By Rudy The Raccoon
Questionable advice from the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival’s deeply unqualified raccoon mascot.
By Glenn Alderson
Fresh off its 30th anniversary, the pioneering coast to coast artist-development program brings one of its most eclectic classes yet to Toronto’s TD Music Hall.
By Glenn Alderson
The multidisciplinary artist returning to Up Here Festival conjures monsters, environmental mythology and a cautionary tale from the Northern Ontario landscape.
By Prabhjot Bains
The actor behind the film’s green-haired agent of chaos on being a former emo kid and channeling the Green Day punk ethos.
By Gökçe On
Why today's most exciting horror films aren't interested in victims — they're interested in autonomy.
By Prabhjot Bains
Fourth Floor Film wants Vancouver audiences to rally around local cinema—not compete for it.
