Dan Kamyar Ahdoot (; ) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is known for his TV appearances on Netflix's ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American Martial arts film, martial arts comedy drama television series created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and distributed by Sony Pictures Television. It serves as a sequel to the first three ''The K ...

'', Disney's '' Kickin' It'', Showtime's ''Shameless'', and the Seeso series '' Bajillion Dollar Propertie$''. He has also developed TV shows for CBS, Fox,

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

, Freeform, and Pop.

Early life

Ahdoot was born to an observant Iranian Jewish family in

Great Neck, New York Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among th ...

. His family comes from

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, with his father coming to the US via

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Speaking on his upbringing, he said: "I grew up in Great Neck, New York, which is actually a hotbed of Iranian Jewry, so I didn't really know that I was very different until I went to college." His family kept

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

at home and attended

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

on Saturdays for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

which his family got together. Although he described his beliefs as agnostic, he identifies as culturally Jewish. He completed pre-med studies at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, and was accepted into medical school, but ultimately decided to pursue stand-up comedy instead.

Career

Ahdoot has developed television shows for CBS, FOX,

, Freeform, and Pop! He has also written for various Comedy Central Roasts. Ahdoot is best known for his work on the series '' Bajillion Dollar Propertie$'' where he played the ruthless real estate agent Amir Yaghoob. He has also acted on Showtime's ''Shameless'', ABC's '' Super Fun Night'', and Falafel Phil on the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

show '' Kickin' It''. Ahdoot was also in an episode of '' Workaholics'' playing a worker at a computer store. Ahdoot performs regularly at the

Laugh Factory Laugh Factory is a chain of comedy clubs in the United States. The chain is owned by Laugh Factory Inc., and the founder and current chief executive is Jamie Masada. Endurance record The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record for ...

in Hollywood, and is a national headlining comedian. He has performed on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'', NBC's ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

'', ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'', and ''Comedy Central's Premium Blend''. Ahdoot is the host of the food podcast ''Green Eggs and Dan''. He has been a guest on '' Spontaneanation'' with Paul F. Tompkins and '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' with Scott Aukerman.

Discography

*''hate me, or HATE ME'' (2006)

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahdoot, Dan American stand-up comedians Iranian Jews American Mizrahi Jews American secular Jews Johns Hopkins University alumni Living people People from Great Neck, New York American people of Iranian-Jewish descent Iranian stand-up comedians Jewish American comedians Jewish male comedians Jewish agnostics Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews Comedians from New York (state) American male comedians