Life of an Immigrant Comedian | Maz Jobrani | Talks at Google

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[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER: Maz Jobrani is arguably one of the most well-known and well-loved comedians in the Iranian-American community, both young and old. His family immigrated to California from Tehran when he was only six years old. And he draws a lot of his comedy from his experience growing up as an immigrant whose parents tried their best to fit into American culture while still retaining their Iranian roots. For example, he makes fun of Iranians for calling themselves Persians, like the cat, meow, instead of Iranian to avoid any bad connotations. Maybe the Iranian Googler [INAUDIBLE] should put some cat sign on their t-shirt too. But just speaking of Iranian Googlers, I hope folks that are watching us live from Mountain View are not snoring over there. We have weekly Persian lunch on Fridays in Blake's Cafe. And they serve a variety of Persian appetizer, entrees, desserts, and a drink called doogh. What it does, it makes the rest of your day very productive by putting you in a few hours of deeper sleep. [LAUGHTER] Good for Fridays. And better than most comedies, a sense of social justice. He first became popular on YouTube with jokes begging the media to show the Iranians on TV making cookies instead of threats of violence. He always has a way to turn bad situations into jokes, like naming his comedy group, the Axis of Evil, when George W. Bush named Iran as a part of the axis of evil. He also knows when to take his activism seriously, such as his refusal to play any terrorist roles in films, and his recent involvement in protests against the Trump administration's travel ban. His recent achievements include writing and starring in "Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero," a silly tour through the life of an Iranian immigrant as he navigates the crazy world of Los Angeles's Iranian community, and his "LA Times" best-selling memoir, "I'm Not a Terrorist, But I've Played One on TV," his new Netflix one-hour comedy special, "Immigrant," and one of the stars of the CBS series, "Superior Donuts." Season 2 premieres in October. It's hard to ever overstate how much it means for Iranian-American community to have Maz represent us so well, while standing up for us and making fun of us at the same time. He's an incredibly sweet guy, with one Googler mentioning to me that when he was 12, he would regularly send Maz fan mail. And it meant the world to him that his hero would actually reply back and even sent him an autograph, signed, of course, with meow. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Maz Jobrani. [APPLAUSE] MAZ JOBRANI: Hey. [CROWD CHEERS] Hey! Hey! Hello. Hello, Google. You guys don't work, do you? This is amazing. This is my first time on this campus. I went to the Northern California one as well. And yeah, you guys, they feed you. And there's games, and then seminar. You get a nap room. And wow, well, it's a good job. Great. AUDIENCE: There's massages. MAZ JOBRANI: There's literally a table with money upstairs. Did you see that? You can just take money. Fantastic. What did you say? What? Massage. Massage, wow. OK. How does anyone know how much work you guys do? Does anybody-- no, nobody knows. Yeah, all right. Well, this is cool to be here. I actually-- like, I didn't really know what this was until Hadi got in touch and said come give a talk. Who thought it was a stand-up comedy show? Yeah, OK, no. It's not going to be. [LAUGHTER] It's a lecture on the history of Iran. No, I'm kidding. No, Iranian Googlers, I guess there's-- I'm proud of you guys. Iranian Googlers, there's a handful of you. Fantastic. Like, four of you wearing the t-shirts. The rest of you are like, no, bro, just lay low. There's a travel ban, man. [LAUGHTER] We're Greek Googlers! You know what I mean? [LAUGHTER] Yeah, man. Google, Iranian-- I mean, I'm happy that there is-- I, as an Iranian, you always get excited when you see other Iranians doing well. So to see you in Google, it's great. And I think you can start your own-- you should have a better name than Iranian-- like, you should be Googoosh, who is, like, a Persian diva. You could do Googoosh or Doodool, which means penis. Anyway-- [LAUGHTER] This is cool. No, so like I was saying, I didn't really know what this was. But I guess it's a talk. And I got invited. I get invited to do a lot of stuff by other Iranian-Americans, because there aren't that many Iranian-American comedians. There's like three. It's like me, a guy named Max Amini, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, That's all. [LAUGHTER] So I get the invite. And Mahmoud's in retirement right now. But he might come back. [LAUGHTER] But no, it's actually interesting to me. And I know there's different ethnicities here. And we all have-- like, you know, like, where's my Indians? Indians, where's the Indians? Yes, of course. Yeah, you've got to be here. Yeah, you guys have, like, Russell Peters. Right? You've got Russell Peters. Right? And then are there any Filipinos? Any Filipinos here? Any Filipinos? Asians, any Asians? Asians, Asians. No Asians? We're at Google? What's going on here? There. What kind of Asian? What kind of-- AUDIENCE: Vietnamese. MAZ JOBRANI: Vietnamese. You don't have-- there's no Vietnamese comedians. OK, well, that's fine. There's actually a guy named Dat Phan. There really is. It's just interesting, because, like, I think people find the comedian within their group, and they go to see what he's got to say. And for me, it's interesting. Because being one of the only Iranian-American comedians, I think some Iranians, they treat me like a jukebox, meaning like, they make requests on what I should talk about. So like, I've been doing a lot of Trump jokes because he gives us a lot of stuff to joke about. And as an Iranian-American, I mean, it's like, Jesus Christ. Let me just tell you. As a comedian in general, Trump has been hard, because it's hard to keep up with him. No, really. Because as comedians, we need time to develop our jokes. So we'll come up with a joke. And we'll be like, OK, this is going to take three months until I refine it and get it right. But by the time you do a joke about Trump, he's already on to another thing. Like, it's crazy. It's hard. It's impossible to keep up with the guy. You know what I'm saying? So it's been really hard to keep up with him. And so I would do jokes about how some Iranians actually voted for Trump. I know some Iranians, some immigrants in general that voted for Trump because they want fewer taxes. They ended up with fewer relatives. But these things happen. It happens, right? [LAUGHTER] But no, so I'll make fun of Trump. And then inevitably, at a lot of these events that-- I've been at, like, fundraisers for Iranian charities. And inevitably, there's always some Iranian uncle who will come up offended afterwards. Like, Maz, why you making fun of Trump? Why you not making fun of Islamic Republic of Iran and Hassan Mouhani Houhani Souhani. And I'm like, nobody knows who Hassan Houhani Houhani, like, whoever. Like, these people are so upset at me. Like, why are you making fun? And they use me as a juke-- well, you should make fun of the parking space on Westwood and Ohio, always give me the ticket. You should make fun of my mother-in-law. I hate her. She's a bitch. [LAUGHTER] So I get requests. And I'm like, dude, just if you're so pro-Trump, do your own material and leave me alone. But Trump has been, as an Iranian and as well as any other immigrant, we all know, it's been tough. Because a lot of immigrants-- actually, when I was in the elections, when I was doing Trump jokes, I was in Houston one time. And I was saying, Trump is anti-immigrant. And this one guy-- he was a Lebanese guy. He raised his hand, and he goes, he's anti-illegal immigrant. And I was like, oh, so you're legal. And I go, great. I go, what's your name? And he's like, it's Hussein! I was like, good luck to you, Hussein. We'll see what happens. And we saw. He just did the whole thing with now, they want to cut down on legal immigration. Right? And one of the things they said was English, speaking English, is going to be a big part of legal immigration. And I'm married to an Indian woman. So I know Indians are very good with spelling. So if English is part of-- there's going to be a lot of Indians coming in. At the border, they're going to be like, spell "ubiquitous." I would gladly spell ubiquitous." [LAUGHTER] Meanwhile, Iranians, we have a hard time with our Ws and Vs. And Westwood becomes Vestvood. No Iranians are going to get in. So it's been interesting. So now, and then they just introduced travel ban 3.0. Right? Because they wanted to say, it's not a Muslim ban. So they added North Korea. [LAUGHTER] I mean, really? I didn't know we had anyone coming in from North Korea. But I guess the two guys that were coming can no longer come. And it's diplomats from Venezuela. So OK, it's not a Muslim ban. OK, sure. I actually was so upset with the whole Muslim ban thing that I actually went to a protest. I do this in my stand-up. But it was true. I actually went to LAX. Not this-- isn't this room called LAX, by the way? AUDIENCE: Yes. MAZ JOBRANI: Very confusing, because my manager said, the talk is in LAX. So I was like, that's a weird place to do a talk. [LAUGHTER] I was like, Google has that much money? They bought LAX? Yeah, it's in Terminal 4. And we got here, and I was like, the room is called LAX. Thank you for the confusion. But yeah, I went to LAX for the protest. Did any of you guys go to the protest that was in-- I think it was February or March. Right? You were there, right? It was great. And I got there. And I'm marching. And I'm feeling good. And I happened to be at the woman's protest the week before. I accidentally ended up at the women's protest. I supported it. But it was that my daughter had a birthday. She's six years old. Her birthday was near the women's protest. So we went. And we got there early. And I was there with my daughter and my son. He's nine. And we said, hey, let's go to the women's protest so you guys can see what's going on. People are marching and protesting, and this is what America's about. And it was actually kind of interesting, because as we were walking toward the women's protest-- we had an hour before the birthday, so we walked towards there. And I asked my son, the nine-year-old. I said, do you know why so many people are protesting? And he goes, yeah, I know, because women are upset because Trump called women a chick. Yeah, like chicks. Because my wife hates it when somebody else calls women chicks. And I was like, well, kind of. He said grab them by the-- we'll talk about it later, but-- So we went, and we did that protest. And the next week, I went to LAX. And I'm marching, and I felt good. And this guy came up to me. He's like, bro, this is amazing. You know, this is the most diverse city I've ever seen in Los Angeles. And I was like, bro, that's because we are at the airport. [LAUGHTER] People are literally flying in from around the world as we speak. He's like, yeah, but there's Asians. I go, that's because AirAsia just landed. You think all these people show up at a protest with luggage? One Korean guy, he was just trying to cross the street. He ended up in the protest. He's like, Trump must go, but so must I. He was trying to get out of the airport. And then I actually realized something at the airport. I realized that white people born in America protests differently than people of color and other people not born in America. Because we were all marching, and everything was going great. We're all marching, and everything is feeling great. And then the riot police came out. And I was like, oh, snap. I'm just going to go protest over here for a second. But the white dudes did not care. They just kept-- out of my way, copper. Here I come. It's my right to protest. Here I come. It's my Third Amendment right, my Ninth Amendment-- he knew the amendments. My 45th Amendment. I'm in the back. There's 45 amendments? I actually saw a white guy with his finger in the face of the riot police, going like this. And the riot cop was ready to grab his baton. And I'm in the back. I'm like, calm down, white guy. You're going to get us all in trouble. The Mexican guy next to me was like, oh, now's a good time to go to the bathroom. But it keeps coming. It keeps coming. And my story, you know, I think one of the things that a lot of times when I do these talks, I talk about just-- it's an immigrant story. I think a lot of us have it. And unfortunately, a lot of people that have never met an immigrant think that we're out to get them. But we aren't. We came to America because we love America. I came to America late 1978. The Revolution was happening in Iran, and we came to America. And I was six years old at the time. And my father was a successful businessman. So he was on business in New York. He was staying at the Plaza Hotel in New York. And a lot of Iranians have a similar story, the ones that came around that time. None of us thought that a revolution was going to happen. So my father just sent for my mom to bring me and my sister to New York for our winter break for two weeks. And I always say, we came for two weeks. We packed for two weeks, and we stayed for 40 years. So it was pretty crazy. And we were staying at the Plaza Hotel in a suite. And it was right across the street from FAO Schwartz, which was the biggest toy store in the world. And I remember as a six-year-old, I was like, wow, this revolution is really working out for me. You know? I'm going to a toy store. You know? And it was interesting. You don't think about it. I've just started to really reflect upon it. But it's interesting for-- as a kid, it was interesting. But also, you don't realize the devastation that that causes. Because it's a big loss to just leave your country and come to America. But we came. And then we ended up leaving New York and settling in Northern California. And again, at the time-- I know that a lot of Iranians have been coming over more recently. And unfortunately, with all this travel ban stuff, I think that they're trying to slow it down some. But we'll see what happens. But most of the Iranians I meet are good people. Most of the immigrants I meet are good people. And we ended up in Northern California, where, at the time, in the late '70s, early '80s, there weren't that many Iranians. There was, like, a handful of Iranians. And again, I don't know how it is for you as an Indian. But back then, for an Iranian in Marin County that was mostly white, like, if you ran into an Iranian, it was an event. It really was. So you'd show up-- like, I went a couple of times to a deli. And the guy-- like I'd order, and I could recognize the accent. So I'd be like, yeah, I'll have a sandwich. And the guy would be like, would you like anything else with the sandwich? And then after a while, in Persian, I'd be like, are you Iranian? And he'd go, yeah, are you? I would say, yeah! And like, we'd hug it out. And they'd always throw in, like, a free cookie or something. And I had an American friend, this guy, Mark, who would come with me a couple of times. And he's like, dude, you keep getting free stuff everywhere we go. And I'm like, well, it's just-- it's part of the culture. So it was interesting, because I grew up over there and then ended up moving down to LA after college. And Los Angeles is the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran. So in LA, people are used to seeing Iranians. And I got a job in Westwood. I remember one of the first times I saw an Iranian, I was so excited. I was like, are you Iranian? And the was like, yeah. So is everybody else. I was like, why are you talking like that? But yeah. The other thing that was interesting was-- and I think this has all been-- for me, it's been an exercise in identity. Because I grew up around-- like I said, it was a very white, affluent county, Marin County. And my father was this larger-than-life Iranian man. So we show up. And the rich people in Marin drive around in Saabs and Volvos, very subtle with their wealth. Here comes my dad. He buys a Rolls-Royce, like around the hostage time, like, hostage crisis. And I'm like, Dad, what are you doing? And he's like, I wanted the Rolls-Royce. And I'm like, you're going get my ass kicked. And we ended up-- it was right around then. I was in the fourth grade when the hostage crisis happened. And this is again, another reason why I was just talking to Masu here outside about-- I think one of the reasons why I have such an emotional reaction to Trump is because I see him as a bully. And I when I was in the fourth grade, that's when the hostage crisis happened. And we would get bullied. And I was in the fourth grade. And there was a sixth grader back then. And back then, they used to call you a fucking Iranian. That was the thing. And so we would get bullied. And so I feel like that's my reaction now to these bullies. Because now what happens is when somebody commits an act of terrorism, they go after all Muslims, Iranians, and Arabs. And even Indians, Indian Sikhs, get a lot of it. So to me, it blows my mind that these kids that were picking on us when we were kids couldn't differentiate that we had left Iran to get away from the people who took the hostages. And yet, they were beating us up. So that was Marin County back then. And then again, it becomes this identity thing. And now, a lot of you guys, obviously, that work here, you're engineers. And you're Iranian or immigrant parents are proud of you because you became an engineer. And that's what my parents wanted. They wanted, like, lawyer, doctor, engineer. And I became a comedian. Because they didn't know. They didn't know that. They didn't know that was an option. And so I was around, I'd say, 10 or 11 years old. Eddie Murphy was big. And I became a big fan of Eddie Murphy's. And then at 12, I did a play in school. It was a musical. And I did it. And as soon as I got on stage, I felt alive. I loved being on stage. And we would do our plays for the school. And again, here comes my immigrant family-- immigrant families, by the way, are an interesting thing. I realized this recently. Because I have my young kids. I go to their school events all the time. I was at a fundraiser recently. I realized, my parents never came to any of my fundraisers. And then I realized, I didn't want them to come to my fundraisers. Because when you have immigrant parents, when they come to your fundraiser, they out you. Because they walk in like, hello, we are immigrants! You know? You're like, Dad, shut up! You know? They thought I was one of them. In Iran, we also had fundraisers. Dad, nobody likes Iran! This was 40 years ago. Still, nobody likes Iran. Anyway-- We need a new ad campaign. Right? Iran, it's better. [LAUGHTER] But I realized, like I said, that it was always the identity thing, trying to Americanize, but having this immigrant family. So I'd do these plays. And again, Marin County, and everyone else's parents would show up at the play, dressed maybe khaki pants and a button-up shirt, looking pretty nice. Here come the Iranians, fur coats like they're at the Metropolitan Opera or something. Fur coats, cravat, the tie, they're all-- with Rolls-Royce. I'm like, oh, my god. Like, please, guys, can't you just, like, come normal? And here's the thing though. I actually was pretty good at acting. And then the director would tell them afterwards-- I remember a few times, after the show-- I played Little Abner in eighth grade. And for those of you who don't know who Little Abner is, he's like a country boy. Little Abner talks like this. And so I was this Iranian guy playing a Little Abner. And I was like, this is pretty cool. You can be anything, until I came to Hollywood and played terrorist parts. But that's-- [LAUGHTER] That's coming. No, but the thing with the plays, we would finish the plays. And I'd be backstage. And I was the lead. And the director-- I remember the director a couple of times telling my parents, yeah, your son is good at this. He could do this for a career. And my immigrant parents might-- oh, thank you very much. Thank you. OK, OK. We get in the car. And my dad would be like, that bitch is crazy. You're going to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or engineer maybe. They really were stuck on that. And I think it's because they don't really know that this could be a career. And also, I've tried to encourage a lot of immigrants to kind of lay off their kids and let them find what they love to do. Like, when I would tell my mom, this is what I love doing, she'd be like, well, I would love to do a lot of other things too, but you've got to pay the bills. So be a lawyer. And so I actually went to UC Berkeley. I studied Poli Sci. And I thought I'd be a lawyer. And then my junior year in college, I went to Italy to study abroad. And while I was there, there was this professor. And I loved what he was doing. His name was Enso Pacci, Vincenzo Pacci. And And he had the goatee and the blazer with the elbow patch. And he actually had a gold watch. You know the pocket watches? And he would rip it out before-- he'd pull it out before the class. And he'd wait for the time to start. And then he'd close it, and be like, allora, let's start. And I was like, wow, this is cool. So I was like, that's what I want to do. So I came back to the US. And I told my mom, hey, I'm going to be a professor. And my mom was freaking out. She was like, there's no work for professors. You need to be a lawyer. And I was like, Mom, how do you know about the professor job market? You don't know about academia. And she was just really nervous for me. And then I dropped out of the PhD program. I got into a PhD program at UCLA. I dropped out of that. And then my mom was like-- because I dropped out to pursue acting again. And she goes, you did not become a lawyer. You did not become a professor. She goes, at least become a mechanic. I go, how'd you go from-- [LAUGHTER] How'd you go from lawyer to mechanic? And she goes, people need a mechanic. Nobody needs an actor. And I was like, you know what? That's pretty wise. You're right. And I realized-- again, listen, all of us can reflect on our relationship with our parents or where we are in our lives. And looking back, you find out why you do what you do. So my mom, I think, was nervous about my future because she'd come from a world where her world was turned upside down. The Revolution turned her world upside down when she was already a grown-up. And so in her mind, a revolution might happen in America. And when it does, if you're a mechanic, you can go to another country and work as a mechanic. But if you're an actor, what are you going to do? Because we had a lot of Iranian family friends who were successful military people or whatever, and they were working at gas stations in America. Like the movie "House of Sand and Fog." It was like that. So that's what she wanted for me. So anyway, I dropped out. And again, I still was trying to be a good Iranian or immigrant son. I got a job in an office. I started working in an advertising agency. And I was working the ad agency and also doing theater on the side. And I was in my mid-twenties. And that's when I realized-- I was talking to this older gentleman at the ad agency. And he said, listen-- I told him that I loved doing acting. And he'd seen me do something. And he goes, have you ever thought about doing this professionally? And I said, you know what? Throughout my life, I wanted to do it professionally. But my parents kept pushing me in another direction. I said, you know, when I'm in my 30s, I'm going to save up some money and maybe pursue acting. And he goes, listen, I'm in my 60s right now. There were some things I wanted to do when I was in my 20s, and I never got around to doing it. So if you really want to do it, you should do it. And it was a light bulb moment. And I went for it. So I started getting into acting and stand-up classes. That was almost 20 years ago. And then I got into Hollywood thinking, hey, I played Little Abner. And also, in high school, I played Batman. So I'm sure-- we did a play, a musical. It was fun. Anyway, It was a fun little thing. I got to be Batman. So I was like, hey, this is cool. As an actor, I get to be anything. And I came. I started going on auditions. And the first audition was just a regular security guard job, a part for a security guy. And then the second audition was for a Chuck Norris thing. And then ended up a little while later, I didn't end up doing though doing the Chuck Norris thing then. But then a little while later, I ended up getting cast to be in a Chuck Norris movie of the week where I played an Afghan terrorist who was going to blow up a building in America. And I was really debating even back then. I still had my day job. But I was looking for a job that would help me get out of my day job. And this would have helped me just financially. And even back then, I was a little divided. I was like, do I really want to do this? And this was 2001, before September 11th. And I told myself, you know what? I will do the part. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to show through my acting why this guy is doing what he's doing. Like, I was going to humanize the terrorist in a Chuck Norris movie somehow. [LAUGHTER] I was such an idiot, man, really. Because I showed up-- because it was being filmed in Dallas. And I went down to Dallas. I went to the wardrobe fitting. And they go, here's your shirt. Here's your pants. Here's your turban. And I go, oh. I go, I've been studying this part. And you know, Afghans in America don't wear turbans. I go, Indian Sikhs wear turbans. We should get this right. And the lady goes, well, the producers want you to wear the turban. I go, yeah, I know. But you tell the producers this actor has done his research. We should get it right. And then the next day, I showed up. And there was the pants, the shirt, and what looked like a scarf. And I was like, yeah, I'll gladly wear a scarf. And they were like, no, that's the turban. You just got to roll it back up. So I ended up wearing the stupid turban. I feel like the biggest idiot. And I was on set, like, talking to anybody that would listen. Because Chuck Norris's son was the director. And his brother was the executive producer. So I went to the son, who was younger. And I go, listen, dude, I shouldn't be wearing a turban. And he's like, bro, I don't want you to wear a turban either. But my uncle, who is more old school, wants the turban. Because I think to the uncle, the turban meant-- like, the viewers can watch and be like, oh, that's the bad guy. So I played in that. And I felt really bad. I felt horrible coming out of it. I was like, I don't ever want to do this again. I told my agent, I don't want to play these parts again. And then the TV show "24" called. And they said, it's a terrorist part. I said, no, thank you. And they go, but he changes his mind halfway through the mission. I go, oh, the ambivalent terrorist, that's interesting. [LAUGHTER] So I did that. And they killed me in that as well. I kept dying, obviously. My mom was like, why do you keep dying? I was like, that's how they wrote it. Well, why don't you kill them one time? [LAUGHTER] So that was the last terrorist part I played. And I said, no more terrorist parts. And then meanwhile, I was doing stand-up. Stand-up is great because you get to express yourself and present yourself as who you are and your ideas and your opinions. And so I was doing stand-up. And one thing happened that was interesting to me that was-- The Comedy Store on Sunset is like a mecca of stand-up comedy. And it's a place where all the biggest names, from Jay Leno to Jim Carrey to Eddie Murphy to Richard Pryor, Letterman, all those guys went to The Comedy Store. And one of your goals as a comedian is to become a regular at The Comedy Store. And what that means is you do your act in front of the owner, Mitzi Shore, who's Pauly Shore's mother. She would sit in the back on a Sunday night, and she would watch you do three minutes. They'd have an audience there. But you'd be up there at an open mic. You'd do your three minutes. If she liked you, she'd say, come back next week and do six minutes. If she liked you, come back next week and do 10 minutes. So you just got to build it up. And so I kept going further and further. This was in 2000, or '99 maybe. I forget exactly. But she watched me, watched me. Now, I'm doing my 10 minutes. And she would sit in the back of the room. If any of you guys have been there, it's an interesting room. Because there's these chairs in the back right next to the exit. And she'd sit right next to the exit. You had to pass her. And in passing her, your whole hope was that she would reach out and grab you. Because if she did, that meant she was about to tell you, you're a regular. And what a regular means is now-- it's like the mafia. You've been made. You're a made man. So regular means you get to come and perform at the club on a regular basis. And you're in. This is the mecca of comedy. And you're now a part of it. But if she doesn't grab your hand and she lets you walk past her right through the exit, that means you got to show up-- you know, go for six months to a year. Work on your act. Come back. So I did my three. I did my six. I did my 10. And I finished. And at the time, I would do jokes about being Iranian in America and all that. And at the time, she did not have any other Middle Eastern comedians at the club. There really wasn't that many of us. There was, like, two other guys. So I finished my set. And I'm walking. And I'm walking towards the door. And I'm like, please, grab me. And suddenly, I feel her hand grab my arm. And I'm like, oh, my god. And all these thoughts go through your mind, like I'm going to be a regular. This is great! And in your mind, you're like, I'm going to get a TV show. I'm going to get an Academy Award. This is amazing. And she grabs my hand. And she pulls me down. And now, meanwhile-- you know, she's kind of quiet. She was getting older as well, but she's quiet anyway. And someone else was already performing on stage. So she pulls me in. She goes, you're very funny . And that's how she talked. You're very funny. And I go, thank you, Mitzi. She goes, I'm going to make you a regular. I go, thank you, Mitzi. And then she goes, have you ever thought about wearing the outfit? And I go, uh, what outfit? She goes, you know, the hat and the gown? I was like, the hat and the gown? She goes, yeah. And I realized she was asking me to wear a turban and a dishdasha onstage, like as a character. And I was like, uh, sure, yeah. And because she's older, I thought, you know what? I'll just say yes for now. And by the time they get me my first gig, she'll forget. Right? So I walk down past her, and I'm like, what did I just do? I just said yes. But I'm not going to wear the-- what am I talking about? So I was like, you know what? They'll forget. And then the next day, the assistant that works for her called me up. She goes, hey, congratulations. I heard you're a regular. I go, yeah! As she goes, and I heard you're going to wear the outfit. I was like, ah! [LAUGHTER] So now, they want me to dress up as a mullah on stage. And I was like, how do I get out of this? And I was trying to find a way to get out of it. And I was talking to relatives. I was like, I can't dress as a mullah on stage. And back then, my father had moved back to Iran for business reasons. And so he was there. And there had also been this one Iranian guy who used to impersonate the mullahs on Iranian television and make fun of them. And so I guess he'd been at a rally in Westwood where he was doing the mullah character. And some supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran had shown up and thrown rocks at him and blinded him. So I'd heard about it. I didn't know who the guy was. I didn't know if it was real or not. So I called up the club. I go, hey. I'm excited about the turban and the thing. But let me just tell you before I do it, there was a guy who did it. And they showed up, and they threw a rock. And they blinded him. And my dad's in Iran, so if word gets back, they could go after him. And they might come after the club. [LAUGHTER] Yeah, yeah. Thinking. I swear to god. I'm not kidding. The booker, who was Mitzi's assistant, she goes, oh, let me call you back. I swear, five minutes later, Maz, just wear something comfortable. You'll be fine. Don't worry about the turban. So I got away from wearing the turban, and thank god. Because the thing about Mitzi, this is the thing about Mitzi. She really was someone who everyone's got stories about. Like, if you talk to any comedian, they'll tell you their experiences with Mitzi. And Mitzi was really a visionary in many ways. Like from what I've heard, she helped Roseanne Barr get her whole persona together and get the clothing and all that. And a lot of comedians found their character there. So Mitzi had had successes where she was like, you should do this. And they did it, and it worked. But she also had some failures, in terms of like, there was a guy. His name was Jackie Bananas. And there's a picture of him at The Comedy-- If you to The Comedy Store, everyone's headshots are there. And there's a guy named Jackie Bananas. And it's a face in a banana suit. And I was asking one of the comedians. I go, who's that guy? And they go, oh, that guy. They go, this poor guy. He used to do an act. And at one point in the act, he used to put on the banana suit. And one night, Mitzi was there seeing it. And she was like, you should be Jackie Bananas. And the poor guy had to be a banana the rest of his life. And he disappeared. Nobody wants to see a banana. So thank god I didn't listen to Mitzi. But also, Mitzi then, to give her credit, she came around in the year 2000. And she's Jewish. She was watching a lot of news. And there was the latest uprising with the Palestinians in Israel. And she felt like there was going to be a need for a positive voice for Middle Easterners in America in the very near future. This was before September 11th. So she wanted to do a Middle Eastern comedy night. And even though you're a regular at the club, which means you perform throughout the week, she used to do a show, like the Black Night, and Asian Night, and Latino Night, and whatever. So she wanted to do Middle Eastern Night. So she got the few Middle Easterners that were doing comedy at the time-- me, this guy named Ahmed Ahmed, who was Egyptian-American, Aron Kader who's Palestinian-American, and anyone else who kind of seemed Middle Eastern. There was an Indian guy, who really wasn't Middle Eastern. But he was there. And it wasn't Russell Peters. There was this other guy. There was a guy who was half Armenian. There was a girl who did a belly dance, but she was a white girl. It was weird. It was this weird thing. And she called it the Arabian Nights. And what was interesting was, we would do our shows. And then Iranians would come. And Iranians are really proud of being Iranian. And so if someone says, are you Arab? They go, no, I'm Iranian. I'm Persian! And people get really offended. I'm like, calm down. You know? But Iranians would come up after the shows. Maz, really enjoyed the show. But you know, we are not Arab. I was like, I know. It's called Arabian Nights because that's what she named it. So relax. And it wasn't until 2005 when me and a couple of the guys broke off and we called it the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour to make fun of what Bush had named Iran and those other countries-- and then we toured with that. And then, in all honesty, it was actually YouTube that, I think, helped all of us, really, at the time become better known, because I used to be on these email lists. It was before Facebook was really out. And I would get my own clip, the meow clip that he was talking about, where I talk about Persians like to say, we're Persian, like they cat, meow. That kept circulating. And I was on these email lists going, hey, look at this Iranian comedian, Iranian-American comedian. And so I kept getting it. I was like, oh, wow, people are getting to know me. And so that was in 2007. And then been doing it since, and put out a bunch of my own comedy specials. And the latest one is called "Immigrant." And it's on Netflix. And I do a lot of Trump material. He just keeps talking. God, I mean, the guy won't stop. I mean, he offended the NFL. I mean, do you understand that? I never thought he could offend NFL owners, who donated money to him. I used to say, I go, listen, if you think he's not going to offend you, he's going to offend you. And he finds a way. He's amazing. Remember the chocolate cake. Remember he was talking about the bombs he dropped on Syria? And then he decided to talk about his dessert? You guys see that? It's crazy. For those of you who don't know it, he was talking about the bombs that he dropped on Syria when the-- first of all, there was the video that came out of the attack they did that was the chemical weapon attack. And it was a horrible video that was out. And Trump came out and goes, oh, I never knew that was what was happening there. And I'm like, you're the president. No one told you about Syria? And then he decides to bomb Syria. But then he's being interviewed on some political show. And he goes, yeah, we were dropping the bomb. And before we bombed Syria, we had this chocolate cake. It was an amazing chocolate cake. And I was watching. I go, did his brain tell his mouth-- like, was there a message that was like, tell her about the cake? She's going to love hearing about the cake? I got kids. If they talked about chocolate cake in the middle of a serious conversation, I'd smack them. Shut up! But that's where we are, people. So yeah, man. So that's kind of my life right now. And somebody was just asking me about the representation of Middle Easterners and Muslims and Arabs and stuff in media. And I think we've made some progress. I think you've got shows like Aziz Ansari's "Master of None." You've got Gaza guys like Kumail Nanjiani and Hasan Minhaj and Mindy Kaling and all these. I think that because more and more-- Like I said, when immigrants come, they don't know it's an option. But I think the next generation realizes it's an option. And so we're starting to show up and hopefully show us in a different light. I'm currently on a show where I play an Iraqi businessman on a show called "Superior Donuts." It's a CBS show. And I still have an accent. Some people are like, why do you still have an accent on this show? And I'm like, well, eventually, I'll do a character without an accent. But I actually think it's important. Because the character is a conserv-- he's one of the guys who would vote for Trump. But what's interesting is every week that the show plays, on Twitter, I get a lot of people going like-- they like the character because he gets to say a lot of inappropriate stuff, and he's got an accent. And I think it's good for people to be laughing at a character that has the accent. Because I think it also humanizes the character. Because they go, oh, he makes me laugh. So we're in an interesting era right now. But yeah, we're going to keep pushing forward. And hopefully, we'll get there. And that's it. That's the talk. [APPLAUSE] And I told Hadi, we got a few minutes left, that we could ask some questions. You have a couple of questions. Is that right? SPEAKER: We do. Thanks a lot for the show. Can we hear it one more time for Maz Jobrani? [APPLAUSE] MAZ JOBRANI: There you go. Are those the questions? SPEAKER: Yeah, we have a system of where people post online questions. But before that, I have a question myself, listening to your show. MAZ JOBRANI: Yes. SPEAKER: Do I look like mullah in this t-shirt? MAZ JOBRANI: You don't look like a mullah. You should have worn the outfit and the turban. SPEAKER: Oh, we gave you a free t-shirt to wear. And then you said no. MAZ JOBRANI: You know what? Iranian Googler, I figured I want to represent in a nice expensive shirt. You know what I'm saying? SPEAKER: Yeah. You don't have to. MAZ JOBRANI: You want me to wear the shirt? Give me the shirt. I'll wear your shirt. Take it off. If you want me to wear the shirt that badly, take off your shirt. SPEAKER: Really, you wear that? MAZ JOBRANI: Take off your shirt. [CROWD TITTERS] Take off the shirt! You have a shirt underneath the shirt! [APPLAUSE] There we go. Hadi, this smells like [PERSIAN].. [LAUGHTER] That's a Persian rice. This smells like cologne. We love cologne. Look at this, Iranian . Googlers I'm telling you, man, Googoosh. SPEAKER: I never thought I would be on my underwear. MAZ JOBRANI: You look Italian. SPEAKER: Dude. MAZ JOBRANI: You look Italian. [LAUGHS] If we throw a little pasta sauce on that, hey! It's Hadi. Ciao! Hey, Hadi! SPEAKER: All right, going forward. MAZ JOBRANI: What's your last name? SPEAKER: Zade. MAZ JOBRANI: Hadi Zade. SPEAKER: Yeah. MAZ JOBRANI: You could do Hadi Zade, hey, ciao! I'm telling you, bro. You want me to go to there? SPEAKER: Yeah, let's do it. You want to read it? MAZ JOBRANI: Sure. "How do you deal with the large number of Trump-loving conservative Iranians of Los Angeles?" I ignore them. "The idea that they exist just blows my mind. And I can't do anything besides ignore them-- SPEAKER: There you go. MAZ JOBRANI: --"and/or get in giant fights on Facebook about how he/the travel ban are racist towards them and their people." Well, you know, what's interesting is, first of all, arguing on Facebook is futile. Don't do it. It's why? Why are you arguing on Facebook? You don't know who the other guy is and how much time he has on his hands? And you're not going to convince him. I stopped arguing a long time ago. So my first advice would be, don't argue on Facebook. Give your opinion or whatever, put it out there. Let it Go You know how much-- I've had it before. As a comedian, I'll post something. And this is one of my biggest pet peeves. Someone will come back, if I post a serious thing-- stick to comedy, bro. Stick to trying to be funny, dude. And I want to be like, stick to whatever unemployment thing you've got going on right now, bro. [LAUGHTER] Because the truth is, comedians, we are human beings. We have points of view. So I should be able to express my point of view. And if you don't agree with me, that's fine. But sometimes when I get that, like someone tries to insult me on social media, I used to be like, oh, my god. I've got to come back with a good comeback. What if I come back with-- OK, that's what I'm gonna-- and meanwhile, my wife's like, hey, come to dinner. I'll be right there, man. I'm like-- upsetting me. And my kids, I love you, Daddy. Shut up! Give me a comeback! It It took over my day. And then I was like, what am I doing? And then really, a lot of times, if you click the person's name, they got, like, one follower. And you're like, who is this person? And why am I arguing with them? So yeah, right off the bat, I ignore these people that argue with me. And then secondly, the thing about Iranians that are conservative, I think a lot of immigrants, a lot of people-- what this election made me realize is there's more conservative-minded people in the world than progressive-minded people. So one of the things I heard on NPR, was a Colombian guy, who was Colombian immigrant, and with an accent. He was talking about how he voted for Trump. And he said, I voted for Trump because I am anti-abortion, I am pro-marriage being between a man and a woman. You know, all the conservative things that he supported, he was able to hold his nose and be like, I'm voting for Trump. Because if remember, in the debate, Trump was next to Hillary. He goes, if you vote for her, she's going to be pulling babies out in the ninth month, just pulling babies out. And Hillary was like, no, I'm not. But people that are supportive of that were like, well, then, we got to vote for him. So I think there's a lot of people that are conservative. A lot of the Iranians that support Trump-- I know there's Iranian Jewish people that support Trump because they're pro-Israel. I know that there's other Iranians who support Trump because they feel that Trump will get rid of this government somehow. Because a lot of Iranians are against this government. I personally don't support the Islamic Republic of Iran. I'm opposed to the government and the lack of freedoms and the human rights violations. By the way, I just said that. I guess I won't be performing in Iran anytime soon. But I'm against it. But I also don't think that we should go to war with Iran. But a lot of supporters of Trump feel that, oh, he's going to just get rid of those guys. Because if you go to war with Iran, it'll be messy. A lot of innocent Iranians will die. So that's my response to that one. "How can we win over the older generation, second generation Iranians in LA and Orange County to vote for representatives in 2018 who support us, are against the travel ban, against the wall, et cetera? The representative of Orange County is very pro-Trump. But an Iranian-American is running next time. Can you help?" Yeah, actually, I know that guy that's running-- Kia. Is it Hamadanchy? Kia, I forget his last name right now. Yeah, Hamadanchy. He's a young guy. He's running on the platform of against the travel ban. Yeah, Orange County is also very conservative. I mean, I guess, the main thing too is immigrants in general-- I don't know how the Indian community is. But I know that a lot of Iranians don't get too involved with politics because we had a bad experience. So they'll be like, don't register. They're going to come get you. And we're like no, man. You got to get involved. So it's just about getting-- you've got to convince people that they should get politically involved. Otherwise, we end up-- if you really don't like what's going on, then get involved. So that's really the hope. "Do you have writers for stand-ups, or it's only you?" Hadi actually helps me write a lot of my jokes. [LAUGHTER] The t-shirt bit was rehearsed earlier. I think that was a pretty good one. I think we got something. No, as a stand-up comedian, I write all my stuff. A lot of people also will come see you do stand-up. And then they'll see you six months later, three months later, and you have some jokes that you did before. And, why don't you have new stuff? Because they're used to seeing the late night show hosts do new material every night. But those guys have a team of writers. And they've got visuals and all that stuff. As a stand-up comedian, even the guys that are the most prolific, a guy like Louis CK, it takes you like a year or so, at least, a year to two years, to write a whole new hour. You put that hour out. And then you work on the next hour. So yeah, I write all my own stuff. Once in a while, another comedian might be at my show. And we do this, all of us together. If I might be watching another comedian, and I might go up and go, hey, you know that bit you do about the whatever whatever? You should tag it with this. And we give each other these ideas. So that's that. "Do you have thoughts on Asif's sunset show?" You know, so I'm not a big fan of reality television, whether it's "Shahs of Sunset" or Kardashians, or any of that stuff. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. But when "Shahs of Sunset" came out, I actually did defend it. Because again, a lot of Iranians-- and I don't know how the other immigrant communities are. But we like to complain. But we don't ever do anything proactive. It's like. If you're going to complain. Then do something. So this came out. And they are like, this not right. They are showing-- we are lawyers and doctors. They should do a show about lawyers and doctors. Who's going to watch that? "LA Law," I mean, whatever. You know what I'm saying. Not "LA Law," "Law and Order." No, but who's going to watch a show-- Like, people would be like, you should do a show about the Iranian history, you know, history of Iran, and the Persepolis. I'm like, you know what? OK, you make it and make an entertaining. And maybe somebody will watch it. But this, to me, was actually interesting. Because I was saying, like, before "Shahs of Sunset," we were known as terrorists. But in "Shahs of Sunset," they were partying and getting drunk. So I was like, that's a step in the right direction. [LAUGHTER] You know what I'm saying? Seriously. At least, if someone in middle America sees as, they're like, they like to get drunk just like us! You know? [LAUGHTER] This is great! So I thought it was progress. Yeah, but I don't watch it. Any other questions? SPEAKER: You know what I was thinking? MAZ JOBRANI: Yes. SPEAKER: You will leave here soon, but I have to work with them on a daily basis. So-- MAZ JOBRANI: That's all right, man. You look good, baby. SPEAKER: Yeah, thanks. Do we have any live questions from our audience? MAZ JOBRANI: Any live questions, questions from the live audience? You heard it all. You want to go back to the cafeteria, eat some more? Does that thing go all day? What time does the cafeteria close? AUDIENCE: They're closed already. MAZ JOBRANI: 1:30 PM. Oh, it's closed now. And dinner? Afternoon snacks? AUDIENCE: 6:00. MAZ JOBRANI: 6:00. Oh, see? I thought it was open all day. OK, so you're not as spoiled as-- OK. All right. But you have the nap room now. That's open all day, massage. So what happens if you're here at, like, 2:00 in the morning? I have questions. You don't have questions? I've got questions for you. [LAUGHTER] What happens if you're here at 2:00 in the morning and you want to eat? Is there-- AUDIENCE: There's a snack room. MAZ JOBRANI: Snack room. OK, but there's not a guy in the restaurant going, like, oh, Jesus, Hadi's back again. AUDIENCE: No. MAZ JOBRANI: No. OK, all right, OK. Well, thank you guys for having me. No questions? Nothing? OK, oh, one question. One question. AUDIENCE: Speaking about Trump, how do you handle Trump jokes? MAZ JOBRANI: He's got the-- AUDIENCE: Sorry, speaking about Trump, in your stand-up, how do you handle Trump jokes? Because he's so polarizing. I mean, obviously, yeah, he's an easy target. But it can completely divide your audience. MAZ JOBRANI: Absolutely. Yeah, I've actually had people that get upset, like I said. People get upset even online. Why are you making fun of him, this and that. And ultimately, listen, as a comedian or as anybody who's creating any kind of comedy or music or movie, whatever you do, you really got to talk about your point of view. This is who I am. I'm very liberal. You know, I'm pro-gay marriage. I'm pro-abortion. I'm anti-gun. I'm pro-gun control, all that stuff. So that's just who I am. And so if it bothers somebody that much, then I go, listen, I'm sorry, but that's what it is. And Trump, a lot of times, the jokes that I do come from-- I'm not making stuff up. It's stuff that he said. So that's what I've said as well. You know, I liked Obama. But if you did a joke about Obama, I personally wouldn't be like, how dare you? If it were based in truth, I'd be like, oh, that's funny. So the key is, if you're not willing to have a sense of humor about your guy, even though your guy is basically-- you know what I'm saying? He's very make-fun-of-able. You know what I'm saying? I mean, he's bringing it on himself. So if you're not willing to-- then I've often said, well, then maybe you should go see a therapist and discuss your issues to open up about why it is that you're not willing-- why do you love this guy so much? You know what I'm saying? Because people have come up to me before and said, like, you know, I think you offended a few people. I go, well, I think those people should really loosen up a little bit. It's a comedy show. And some people go, well, I don't want to-- you shouldn't mix comedy with politics. My favorite comedy mixes politics. So if they're upset, then I go, OK, there's nothing I can do for you. But that's my point of view. You know what I'm saying? Oh, he has a question. AUDIENCE: Talking about Trump again, you said the last 40 years haven't really changed the impression about Iranians too much. It's still similar. MAZ JOBRANI: Yeah. AUDIENCE: With Trump, I think there's definitely something really, really adverse that has probably not been seen in the last 40 years. Do you think the next 40 will be different or worse? MAZ JOBRANI: Gosh, I don't know. My only hope I have-- he was saying about a guy said how the image of Iranians hasn't changed much since I was a five-year-old, and now I'm 45. My only hope is-- I'm Iranian. My wife is Indian. Our kids are mixed. Our neighbor's husband is black. The wife is white. Their kids are mixed. And the more mixed I see, the more of that stuff I see, it gives me some hope. Because I go, oh, we're starting to understand each other. And I even say it. The people that are so afraid of Muslims coming and bringing Sharia law, I go, have you ever met a Muslim? Have you ever gone to a Lebanese or Persian restaurant? Go eat at one of the restaurants and see how nice these people are, and how they're just trying to live their lives. And I guarantee you that it would help win people over. But I think a lot of people believe in that fear. When I watched the Republican National Convention, it was, like, just fear mongering. And even now, it's like a lot of people that have anti-Islamic ideas-- I'm not even that religious. But a lot of people that have anti-Muslim ideas are people that think that Muslims are going to bring Sharia law and somehow implement it, and then take over. I don't even know how this would work. I have no idea how one would implement this thing. But there's people that are freaked out. So I'm hoping that there's more mixing, you know, and people realizing we're just all in it with the same problems and issues. Yes. AUDIENCE: Why do you think there aren't more Iranian comedians? MAZ JOBRANI: There are more Iranian comedians. They're all in prison in Iran. And-- [LAUGHTER] No, I'll tell you. Actually, there are now. Again, it goes back to the generational thing. I think that I was one of the first ones because I just happened to be older. I was in America. So there was me over here. There's Omid Djalili, who started in England. And now there's a good number. There's Max Amini. There's Amir K, Tehran, K-von. A lot of them have one name. There is a guy named Peter the Persian. There's a handful of us. It's a generational thing, I think. So I think the more we integrate, the more we're going to have people doing comedy, and also realizing that we can, and our parents realizing. Now, contrary to what used to happen, when I was first starting out, people, even my parents' friends, would be like, why are you doing this? It's embarrassing. You should be a banker, a doctor. But now, I have people come up-- listen, Max, my son, very funny guy. You should put him on stage. [LAUGHTER] He's five years old, man. Take it easy. Who else? Somebody else? Yes. AUDIENCE: So actually, I have a related question. So what did it take for your parents to decide that your career choice was OK? MAZ JOBRANI: [LAUGHS] What did it take? AUDIENCE: I was going to say-- I don't know. MAZ JOBRANI: Yeah, my parents. I encourage a lot of young people that have immigrant parents, or even if you don't have immigrant parents-- I was talking to a guy who wasn't an immigrant who said his parents wanted him to have a reputable job. I really feel like if you find your passion and you can really go for it, your parents will come around. So the first time I had that battle with my parents was when I went to Italy for my junior year abroad. My mom didn't want me to go. My dad had just moved back to Iran. My mother and aunt were pushing me. They were saying, you should stay in America to help support the family if they need you. And I was like, no, I need to go to Italy. I've been studying for this. I'm going. And when I went, my mom was upset at me. But a few months later, she came around and embraced it. So the same thing with the comedy. When I did it, it wasn't like I was asking her permission. I was like, I'm going to do this. And I think for her-- again, she was nervous. I think that they want what's best for you. They want some kind of job security. But I think it wasn't until she started to see that, oh, you're having success, oh, and people coming up to her. Hey, your son's funny. And oh, wow, you know. So then she started basking in it. Now, she'll deliver messages. She's like, I was at the airport. And I started talking to a couple. And that's my mom. That's how my mom talks. I start talking. And they find out I'm your mother. They say they like your comedy, but you need to write new material. [LAUGHTER] I go, really? They're bringing messages through you? So now, she's bringing messages. Yes. AUDIENCE: So there are new comedy shows like "Black-ish," "Fresh Off the Boat." Do you think there's potential for an Iranian-- because they're normal, but they have their own eccentricities. MAZ JOBRANI: Yeah, absolutely. No, I hear you. You know what's interesting? You say that. The clip that you guys saw in the beginning where I was bowling, and then I was arguing with this lady. And I said, this is the battle of the sexes. You're Billie Jean. I'm Bobby Ray. That was a TV show based on a book called "Funny in Farsi." "Funny in Farsi" was a book that was written by a lady named Firoozeh Dumas. It's her biography. It's really good. In 2009, we filmed that as a pilot for ABC. And we got really close to getting chosen. But they didn't choose us at the time. And I'm convinced that if that show had been produced now, with "Black-ish" and "Fresh Off the Boat," I think they would have at least given us a shot. So I think it's coming. Aziz Ansari is doing "Master of None," which is an Indian family. So I think it's a matter of time before you start seeing more of that stuff. Anyone else? [INAUDIBLE] No? We're good? All right, guys. Thanks for coming out. [APPLAUSE]
Info
Channel: Talks at Google
Views: 233,953
Rating: 4.7394004 out of 5
Keywords: talks at google, ted talks, inspirational talks, educational talks, Life of an Immigrant Comedian, Maz Jobrani, iranian comedian, maz jorbani interview, maz jorbani immigrant, maz jorbani standup
Id: EW_lQJUGOpI
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 57min 53sec (3473 seconds)
Published: Mon Dec 04 2017
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