Maz Jobrani
Los Angeles, California, United States
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
As Associate Chaplain for the Muslim Community at Brown University, I had the pleasure of coordinating two events that brought Maz Jobrani to our campus. The first was a lecture entitled, “Beyond TV: Shattering the Stereotypes” wherein Maz brilliantly and delicately used his personal experience to shed light on endemic biases that he cogently argued pervade the mass media, entertainment industry and modern American society. The lecture was enlightening and engaging, as Maz has a unique talent for weaving comedy and social commentary so as to highlight the ironies of our time without being judgmental or didactic. His visit to Brown culminated with his headlining a comedy show that filled our largest performance hall to capacity. On a blustery, snowy night, we had to turn away hundreds of people who had waited hours to gain entrance due to a lack of space. For those who had patiently waited and secured the coveted seats, Maz did not disappoint. The Brown Daily Herald reported that throughout the performance the audience “roared with laughter” and found the event both “entertaining and thought-provoking”. The comedic genius of Maz Jobrani is manifest in his performance, but I believe that our campus community benefitted most from the after-effects his show. Maz was able to spark dialog and debate amongst students that would otherwise have been deemed too sensitive to discuss. We are greatly in his debt for both Maz’ entertainment and bridge-building and I hope that Maz will have the opportunity to have a similar influence on campuses across the country.
Sincerely,
Rumee Ahmed
Assistant Professor
Colgate University
- Rumee Ahmed - Colgate University
Discography
CD - "Maz Jobrani is American"
DVD - "The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour"
Photos
Bio
Maz Jobrani is best known as a founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which featured some of the top Middle Eastern-American comics in the world. The Axis of Evil Comedy Central Special premiered in 2007 as the first show on American TV with an all Middle Eastern/American cast. The DVD was also released in 2007. The tour started in the US and later went to the Middle East in the fall of 2007, selling out 27 shows in Dubai, Beirut, Cairo, Kuwait and Amman (where they performed in front of the King and Queen of Jordan.) Maz is currently on his own solo tour titled Maz Jobrani; Brown and Friendly, which again is taking him all over the world including the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. The Brown and Friendly Comedy Special will premiere on Showtime in the Fall of 2009.
In movies Maz starred in the role of Moly in Ice Cubes Friday After Next. He also played Secret Service Agent Mo in the Sydney Pollack thriller The Interpreter, opposite Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman as well as Jennifer Garners colleague, Glenn, in 13 Going on 30. In television he is currently recurring on ABCs Better off Ted and has been a regular on ABCs Knights of Prosperity as well as FOXs Life on a Stick. He has also Guest Starred on Curb Your Enthusiasm, The West Wing, 24, NYPD Blue, ER and much more.
In 2008 Maz sold a TV show to CBS based on his life as an Iranian-American in the United States. The show was best described as a Middle Eastern Everybody Loves Raymond. He is also preparing to shoot a film titled Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero a cross between a Middle Eastern Pink Panther and Bend it Like Beckham. (Jimmy can be seen at www.jimmyvestvood.com).
Maz has done standup on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Comedy Centrals Premium Blend, and Englands Paramount 2 Network. His sketch comedy performances at the ACME Theater in Los Angeles were hailed as devilishly funny and extraordinary by LA Weekly.
Maz was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he caught the acting bug after portraying the lead in his eighth grade production of Lil Abner. He studied theater throughout high school, and then went on to earn a BA in Political Science and Italian at UC Berkeley. In the fall of 1994, while beginning a Ph.D. program in Political Science at UCLA, he visited the universitys prestigious theater program and was immediately hooked back on acting. This led to him dropping out of the Ph.D. program to pursue his childhood passion.
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