Iranian comedian Maz Jobrani drew influences for his stand-up comedy routine from his diverse background. | Courtesy of mazjobrani.com
Dancing his way on stage at the Houston Improv Comedy Club to “We No Speak Americano” on Friday evening, Iranian comedian and headlining act Maz Jobrani got the crowd pumped from start to finish.
Jobrani immediately engaged with the audience as he started with a few light-hearted ethnic jokes and conversed with the diverse audience while he gave a dance show all at once.
The energy was high throughout the show as Jobrani kept his routine alive with different styles.
He touched on everything from family life to current events to social and political issues.
From the roaring laughter of the crowd, it was obvious that everyone could relate to Jobrani’s stories about his family life.
He shared hilarious stories about dealing with his young children on a daily basis as he touched on everything from going to the theater with a group of toddlers to the struggles of putting a baby to sleep.
The crowd’s response to these jokes made it apparent that a majority of them had dealt with very similar situations.
It was almost impossible to keep a straight face for even a moment during any part of the show.
Jobrani, who was born in Iran and raised in California, was spot on with every accent that he imitated while he shared a hilarious story with the crowd.
He was extremely knowledgeable of many cultures as well as current events going on around the world.
Through many first-hand experiences with a variety of cultures, he was able to share personal stories and encounters with audience members. He also joked about stereotypes from different ethnic groups, all of which could be found in the crowd.
Jobrani brought up the current riots going on in Islamic countries and then added his own commentary on what exactly is happening. He joked about how Iran doesn’t even have a U.S. embassy to attack and how the Lebanese attacked a KFC restaurant — maybe through some confusion.
The fact that Jobrani could touch on such controversial world issues and still make a crowd burst with laughter was really enjoyable to see.
With such diversity in the house, there was no telling what kind of reaction there would’ve been.
However, the response was great from every section of the audience.
With all the issues creating social boundaries, Jobrani was able to break them down and united a room of culturally diverse people.
The audience’s age group was also very diverse and the comedian had everyone laughing from young adults to their grandparents — he demonstrated his appeal and talents well.
Jobrani concluded the night with a short meet and greet to take pictures and chatted with anyone who wanted to stop by after his performance.
