Maziyar Jobrani ( fa, مازیار جبرانی; born February 26, 1972) is an American comedian and actor who was part of the "

Axis of Evil The phrase "axis of evil" was first used by U.S. President George W. Bush and originally referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. It was used in Bush's State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, less than five months after the 9/11 attack ...

" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including ''

Better Off Ted ''Better Off Ted'' is an American satirical sitcom series, created by Victor Fresco, who also served as the show's executive producer. The series ran on the ABC network from March 18, 2009, to January 26, 2010. ''Better Off Ted'' focuses on the ...

'', on radio, and in comedy clubs. His filmography includes roles in ''

The Interpreter ''The Interpreter'' is a 2005 political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and Jesper Christensen. It was the first film shot inside the United Nations Headquarters, as well as the fina ...

'', ''

Friday After Next ''Friday After Next'' is a 2002 American stoner comedy film directed by Marcus Raboy and starring Ice Cube (who also wrote the film), Mike Epps (in a dual role), John Witherspoon, Don "D.C." Curry, Anna Maria Horsford, and Clifton Powell. It ...

'', ''

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

'', and '' Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero''. He appeared as a regular character on the 2017 CBS sitcom '' Superior Donuts''. He had been an advisory board member of the

National Iranian American Council The National Iranian American Council (NIAC; fa, شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکا) is a NGO based in Washington, D.C. The NIAC Action, the sister organization of NIAC, was formed in 2015 to build political power for Iranian America ...

(NIAC).

Early life and education

Jobrani was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran. He and his parents moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

when he was six years old.Maz Jobrani Comedy Central Special He was raised in Tiburon in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

area. He attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, and was inducted into the Redwood distinguished alumni class of 2017. Jobrani studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and Italian at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

, where he received a B.A. degree. He was enrolled in a PhD program at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

when he decided to pursue his childhood dream of acting and performing comedy. Maz Jobrani - Persian American Comedian in Amsterdam Meervaart Theater 2014

Maz Jobrani - Persian American Comedian in Amsterdam Meervaart Theater 2014

Career

Television and radio

Jobrani has since made appearances on shows like ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

'', ''

Talkshow with Spike Feresten ''Talkshow with Spike Feresten'' was an American late-night talk show television program on Fox starring Spike Feresten that aired from September 16, 2006 to May 16, 2009. It was the longest-running late night talk show in Fox's history, with t ...

'', ''

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

'', and regularly performs at top comedy clubs (in California and New York) such as

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

. He made an appearance as a dental patient on an episode of '' Still Standing'', in the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

s of ''

'', ''

The Knights of Prosperity ''The Knights of Prosperity'' is an American comedy series that premiered on ABC in the United States on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. It was created by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, who also created the NBC comedy-drama '' Ed''. The show follow ...

'', on an episode of ''

Cedric the Entertainer Presents ''Cedric the Entertainer Presents'' is an American sketch comedy television series and television program featuring dance numbers starring Cedric the Entertainer. The series premiered September 18, 2002 on Fox and after the first season, Fox rene ...

'', on an episode of ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...

'' as Robber #2 and on an episode of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' as a Saudi prince. He also made appearances in '' 13 Going on 30'' and '' Bug''. He has toured with the

Axis of Evil Comedy Tour An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

. He provided the voice of Ahmed Farahnakian in the audiobook version of ''

World War Z ''World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'' is a 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel written by American author Max Brooks. The novel is broken into eight chapters: “Warnings”, “Blame”, “The Great Panic”, “Turning the Ti ...

''. Jobrani has written a movie with a friend called '' Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero''. Jobrani makes occasional appearances on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's news quiz show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' and

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...

's ''Wits''. He appeared on episode 118, October 28, 2010, of ''

WTF with Marc Maron ''WTF with Marc Maron'' is a weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. The show was launched in September 2009. The show is produced by Maron's former Air America co-worker Brendan McDonald. Background The show's ti ...

''. Additionally, Jobrani co-hosts his own podcast on the

All Things Comedy William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), ''You People Are A ...

podcasting network with fellow comedians

Al Madrigal Alessandro Liborio Madrigal (born July 4, 1971)"'W ...

, Chris Spencer, and

Aaron Aryanpur Aaron Aryanpur is an American stand-up comedian, artist, and voice actor from Dallas, Texas. He has released two comedy albums on Stand Up! Records: 2016's ''In Spite Of'', which reached No. 10 on the Billboard comedy chart, and 2018's ''Employ ...

. Titled ''Minivan Men'', the podcast chronicles the lives and experiences of the hosts with particular focus on fatherhood. He played Jafar in the 2015 musical fantasy television film '' Descendants''. In 2015, Jobrani released a memoir entitled ''I'm Not a Terrorist, But I've Played One On TV''.

Standup style

Jobrani's jokes focus on race and the misunderstanding of Middle Easterners in America. He also talks about his family.

Social and Political activities

Jobrani had been a board member of the

(NIAC).. In 2015, he stepped down after discovering NIAC's alleged ties to the Iranian government. He also sits on the board of the Persian American Cancer Institute (PACI.org) and also works with International Society for Children with Cancer (ISCC-Charity.org).

Personal life

In 2006, Jobrani married an Indian-American attorney named Pretha. They have a son and daughter and reside in California. Mr. Jobrani has two younger brothers and an older sister. His youngest brother is A. Joseph "Joey" Jobrani. After that is Mr. Kashi Jobrani (b. 1977 - d. 2014) who died when he was 36. His older sister, Director/Producer Mariam Jobrani (b. 1969 - d. 2017) died at the age of 47 from metastatic breast cancer.

Stand up specials

* 2007 '' Axis of Evil Comedy Special'' * 2009 ''Brown & Friendly'' * 2013 ''I Come in Peace'' * 2015 ''I'm Not a Terrorist, But I've Played One On TV'' * 2017 ''Immigrant''

Books

References

External links

* * * *
Interview and photos

Interview with SanDiego.com, 2/14/2011

Maz Jobrani speaks about the immigrant experience for an Iranian-American
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobrani, Maz 21st-century American comedians American stand-up comedians American comedians of Iranian descent American male comedians American male actors Iranian emigrants to the United States People from Tiburon, California People from Tehran University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Comedians from California 1972 births Living people Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni

Early life and education

Career

Television and radio

Standup style

Social and Political activities

Personal life

Stand up specials

Books

See also

References

External links