Maziyar Jobrani (; born February 26, 1972), better known as Maz Jobrani, is an American comedian and actor who was part of the " Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including '' Better Off Ted'', on radio, and in comedy clubs. His filmography includes roles in '' The Interpreter'', '' Friday After Next'', ''

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

'', 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; ) is a lobbying group widely viewed as the de facto "Iran Lobby" in Washington, D.C. due to its history of lobbying for stances on behalf of, and aligned with, Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran. NIAC ...

(NIAC).

Early life and education

Jobrani was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran. He and his parents moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

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 (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and Italian at

University of California, 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, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

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

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

program at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

when he decided to pursue his childhood dream of acting and performing comedy.

Career

Television and radio

Jobrani has since made appearances on shows like ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, 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 ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'', ''

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 The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'', ''

Talkshow with Spike Feresten ''Talkshow with Spike Feresten'' is 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'', 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 Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

s of '' Better Off Ted'', '' The Knights of Prosperity'', on an episode of ''

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

'', on an episode of ''

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

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

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American 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 West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' 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. He provided the voice of Ahmed Farahnakian in the audiobook version of '' World War Z''. Jobrani has written a movie with a friend called '' Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero''. Jobrani makes occasional appearances on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'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 o ...

's ''Wits''. He appeared on episode 118, October 28, 2010, of '' WTF with Marc Maron''. Additionally, Jobrani co-hosts his own podcast on the All Things Comedy podcasting network with fellow comedians Al Madrigal, Chris Spencer, and Aaron Aryanpur. 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'' * 2023 ''The Birds & The Bees''

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 1972 births 21st-century American comedians American comedians of Iranian descent American male comedians American male actors American stand-up comedians Comedians from California Iranian emigrants to the United States Living people Male actors from the San Francisco Bay Area Muslims from California People from Tiburon, California Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni University of California, Berkeley 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