Turning fear into funny
Maz Jobrani: Iranian-born comic/actor

By Sanaz Khalaj
June 5, 2003
The Iranian

As an Iranian, here's yet another reason to be proud, the name Maz Jobrani. A comedic genius on the rising and believe me, he's risen pretty high thus far. The modest, mellow, yet intoxicatingly funny Maz (short for Mazyiar) is indeed an addition to our Iranian assets.

Laughter seems to be the best remedy for these turbulent times when label-happy politicians and vulnerable Middle Easterners abroad feel singled out and profiled for acts and crimes that they have not committed, nor have they come close to.

I was lucky enough to interview this ball of positive energy, and have decided to share the laughter with you. So, grab a tissue or two, before you sit down to indulge in this piece of eye candy. If you're looking to treat yourself to a good show and take a breather from life, Mazyiar is currently touring the East Coast (and will head back to the West Coast to continue the tour), so please check the sites below to catch a glimpse at his schedule (@ DCimprov.com @ StandupNY.com) and secure your tickets before they sell out.

Where were you born?

Tehran, Iran.

Where did you grow up?

Marin County in the San Francisco Bay Area (tough childhood, living in the suburbs.)

What's a good childhood memory?

The smell of grass at 8 in the morning when our soccer team would travel to play another city's all-star team. That was the only time I could wake up that early. Most other days, I would wake up, go to school, and fall asleep in class.

Do you have any siblings?

Two older, wonderfully cool sisters, and two younger, great brothers, who look like me, but are both bigger than me, size wise -- I think it's something in the food.

Not to be too forward but, in true Iranian fashion I will delicately ask, what are your academic credits?

B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Italian from U.C. Berkeley. Dropped out of a Ph.D. program in Political Science from U.C.L.A.

Why aren't you a Dr.?

Because I don't like sick people.

When is your Birthday?

February 26, 1972; I am a Pisces...don't know what that means, but I'm pretty mellow.

When & why did you decide to go into comedy, trigger? An epiphany of sorts?

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of Eddie Murphy's. He was on Saturday Night Live at 19, and I thought I'd try to beat him there. I had done theater in school since I was 12, and I really thought I had a shot..Well, as most of your readers know, Iranian parents aren't down with that. So, when at 17, I went to my parents and told them that I would like to be an actor, they looked at me, smiled, and told me that I should be a lawyer... after all, they reasoned, lawyers get to act, just in court - plus they make good
money.

So, as my parents saw it, I could be successful financially, while fulfilling my dreams of performing in front of people - albeit a 12 member jury. Well, that sounded good to me - after all, they were paying for the education. So, while at Berkeley, I neglected my instinct to perform for about 4 years. Then, one day I went to the ATM and tried to withdraw $20 for the weekend. I was unpleasantly surprised when I found out that I only had $17 left in my account.

What had happened was that my father had given me a few hundred dollars some months before, and as a gesture of my own maturity, I had decided to write him a check and pay him back. He had taken the check, laughed at me, and told me that he would keep it as a souvenior, but never cash it - after all, he was the man and I was still the kid... well, I guess the man needed the few hundred bucks at some point, because he cashed it - and whereas I thought I had a few hundred and seventeen dollars in the bank that day, it turned out I only had seventeen.

So, a bit distressed, but with credit card in hand, I went to the local pub in Berkeley and had a beer as I laughed about my situation. Just then they were having a standup comedy competition. It was one of the most pitiful things I had ever seen. There were only two people in the whole competition, and they were both pretty bad. I thought to myself that if I were just to get up and talk about my day, I would've been funnier than both of those guys. But it was too late to enter the competition. And I promised myself that the next time there was a standup comedy competition that I would participate. As I like to say, I was inpired by mediocrity.

So, a few months later there was a huge stanup comedy competition. And even though I didn't have any material, I got my friend who had a camera to record me as I played 5 different characters on a dating service. I submitted the tape and was chosen as one of 16 finalists. They had me go down to the big radio station in San Francisco to promote the competition, and once I got there I realized that I would be a finalist in a "Dirty Dozen's Comedy Comepetion" which is a mostly Black/Yo Mamma type show.

Anyway, once me and the other comics (who all happened to be Black) went into the sound booth to promote the show, they all started yelling yo mamma jokes at one another. Then they did shout outs to there "peeps" - saying things like "Yo, this is Big Easy sendin a shout out to Cool J, and Big Freeze on the East Side." Well, when it came to me to send a shout out I got caught up in the moment and found myself saying "Ay yo, ay yo, wassup? Wassup? This is Mazzi Jay!" And from then on my friends started calling me that to mess with me.

So, to make a long story not super long, that competition fell through, because the guy promoting it didn't sell enough tickets, but I ended up doing a couple of open mic shows in LA over that summer. Then, I left standup again until about 5 years ago, when I was working in an ad agency, and waiting to get back into acting. I was in a play called "The Belind Date and The Vedding," which did really well in LA and New York. At that time I decided to get serious again with my acting and got into an improv class. Then, while in that class I met a lady who taught a standup class - I got into her class and from there I just took off. It was as if someone had opened the lid off of a shaken Coke can - it had been building up in me all those years and finally I went for it... and at the age of 26 (only 7 years behind Eddie, and not SNL yet, but on my way.)

Who has the funny bone in your family... is it just an enhanced Iranian -given humor?

Actually my cousin in London cracks me up all the time. He's a restauranteur, but whatever he says just comes out funny to me. He's got a great sense of humor about life. My mom's cousin is the old school Iranian joke teller - and he could probably tell jokes for days - he cracks me up too.

What made you realize you were funny enough to pursue it?

I never realized I was funny enough to do anything. I just liked to laugh at stuff. Some of my best friends growing up were the funniest guys in my school. One of my closest friends, Jason Saltzman, was on the baseball team with me, and we just had a hard time taking anything too seriuosly - maybe that's why the coach would bench us.

Describe high school in a sentence.

Just one BIG ASS Nose.

When was your first appearance on stage?

In kindergarten in Iran. I had the part of a tree, but I kept talking to the tree next to me, so I ended up in the chorus.

How comfortable were you on stage?

I guess too comfortable, because I wouldn't stop talking. Then when I had to sing, I thought it was pretty cool, because we sounded pretty good (or at least I thought we did), and my relatives were out in the crowd where I could wave to them.

Any major TV appearances?

This past year I was on "24" which is a hot show on Fox. I played a terrorist, who changes his mind and says that he doesn't want to kill anybody. I thought that was pretty cool. I've stopped doing those parts because they're most often written stupidly, but this one was written with a cool twist. I also had a great scene on NYPD Blue where I played a Pakistani doctor in New York who helped some mobsters and got interrogated by Dennis Franz. I got to say "asshole" on that show, which I think results in a fine for ABC from the Federal Communication Cmmission.

I've done a bunch of other things too, not all Middle Eastern - I played a regular guy robbing Jane Kazmyric in "Malcolm in the Middle". I played a scared dental patient in "Still Standing", a security gaurd in "Chicago Hope" a janitor in "ER" a Muslim clergyman in "Without a Trace" a spy in "The Agency". If any of your readers are curious, they can check out my reel on mazjobrani.com.

Major film appearance?

My biggest to date would have to be the part of "Moly" in Ice Cube's "Friday After Next". That was a lot of fun, and it's gotten me the most recognition. I also just finished work on a Jennifer Garner movie that will be out next year called "13 Going on 30" - again, a relatively small part, but just a plain American guy. I was also Reza in the movie "Maryam", which was my first movie, and one of the most fun shoots because I got to work with some great people including Ramin Serry, Shaun Toub, Shohreh Aghdashloo, David Ackert, and Mariam Parris. Again, your readers can check out my credits on my website - I've done a handful of other films.

How hard is it getting roles as an Iranian... or one of Middle Eastern background?

You know, this past year there were a lot of roles for Middle Easterners. I think we were just in the public eye because of everything that's happening. And on a pleasant note, I found myself going out for roles that had some integrity. For example, in "Without A Trace" I played a Muslim clergyman, who basically tells the FBI that their racial profiling goes against everything America stands for. And my character was not a fanatic, just someone who had principles. I was very happy with that role.

That said, there still are roles out there that are just stupid. And there are some casting directors who only bring you in for Middle Eastern roles, which is frustrating as well. I tell them, 'look, I don't have an accent, I've grown up in this country, I am a citizen, why can't I go out for the regular guy in this bar scene?' and sometimes they just won't budge. But I guess that's one of my goals in this business - to try and break down those barriers, which I do see happening these days.

Turning fear into funny?

You know, I've always been a peaceful person. When we were kids and my friends would fight I used to jump in the middle and split it up. Then when I got older I realized that those kid punches had turned into adult punches and they could hurt more, so I don't necessarily get in the middle as much anymore. However, I do feel that violence is just stupid. If you step back and look at what we all want, it's some food, some love/sex, and a bit of rest.

We all have that in common - whether we're lords in Switzerland or tribesmen in Africa. So what happens? Somewhere along the line we start accusing one another of wanting more. And somewhere along the line some people get greedy. And somehow we forget to step back and realize just because someone doesn't believe in my beliefs I shouldn't hate that person. Hell, we could hang out together, play some basketball, get a drink and then go worship whatever we worship in our own way. Basically, live and let live. That's what I believe. And I love to laugh, so if you laugh with me, great, if not, then I feel sorry for you.

Next projects?

Well, I am trying to get the word out about my standup. I've recorded a CD called "Maz Jobrani is American" with a picture of me with flags coming out of my ears and a hot dog and apple pie going into my mouth. I will be taking the cds on tour with me, and selling them after the shows. I'm also trying to put together a larger tour so that I can expand on my standup.

It's funny because a lot of club owners out there don't know that there is a Middle Eastern community that is starved for this kind of humor. And beyond that they don't know that regular Americans have fun at our shows. So I'm trying to break that boundary by coming out there and doing these shows. Aside from that I am trying to write some screenplays and produce them out here in LA.

How long will you be touring?

Again, this is a mini-tour. We are coming out to DC to prove to the club owners that we have a draw. From there we go to New York for one night. We had planned to go to Boston, but those plans fell through. Once we come out this time and show the clubs that we are legit I hope to put together a larger tour and hit a few more major cities.

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