In the last 20 years, Middle Eastern representation in American culture has gone from absolutely horrendous to… somewhat decent. Instead of TV shows like ‘24’ and ‘Homeland’, we now have ‘Ramy’ and ‘Mo’. But before ANY of that, there was Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani, this week’s co-host of ‘We’re Not Kidding’, who has been paving the way for Middle Eastern comics since the late 90s.
“I've been doing stand-up for 27 years. For 27 years I've been talking about how hard it is to be Iranian in America,” Maz says. “Because Iran is always involved in something.”
In this heartfelt conversation, Maz tells Mehdi about his lifelong struggle of representing his home country while trying to assimilate to American culture. “I'm a 6 year-old or 7 year-old at the time, going to school during the [Iran] hostage crisis, and they would call you f*cking Iranian,” he says. When discussing the recent conflict between Iran and the US, Maz has his own diplomatic pitch: “Like if the mullahs said, ‘We'll figure out the same deal that we had with Obama, and you get to put a Trump tower in Tehran’.” Maz also discusses the challenges of beginning his comedy career during the post-9/11 era, and being a part of the groundbreaking ‘Axis of Evil’ comedy tour during a time of rampant Islamophobia in the US.
Maz and Mehdi also unpack Donald Trump’s “inhumane” immigration policy of mass detentions and deportations. As an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights, Maz slams the Trump admin for its abject cruelty and stupidity. “Americans are so lazy, and we're arresting the only people that are working!” The duo also talk about the contradiction of immigrants who support Trump, and the stop-and-start progress of Muslim representation in American popular culture.
It’s a funny, thoughtful, and wide-ranging conversation you definitely won’t want to miss. Have a listen, and let us know what you think in the comments!
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