Mad Maz

It’s a decidedly unfunny line on paper. A lanky and bald, albeit exceptionally animated, comic insists, “No, no, I am not Iranian. I am Persian, like the cat!” A beat, a tilting of the head, then he laughingly paws his hand in the air and coos, “Meow!” Durned if it...

By Julie Seabaugh

April 2, 2009

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It’s a decidedly unfunny line on paper.

A lanky and bald, albeit exceptionally animated, comic insists, “No, no, I am not Iranian. I am Persian, like the cat!” A beat, a tilting of the head, then he laughingly paws his hand in the air and coos, “Meow!” Durned if it wasn’t a hilarious highlight of Comedy Central’s juggernaut Axis of Evil Comedy Tour special, in which headliner Maz Jobrani and four other Middle Eastern stand-ups broke down a nuclear payload of racial and religious stereotypes. Though the frequent actor has hefty credits in both TV (24) and film (Friday After Next), it’s Jobrani’s appearances on Leno, Ferguson, Kilborn, and The Colbert Report that remain the most rewarding. Coming from a guy who’s performed for the king of Jordan, that’s saying a lot.

Jobrani brings his “Brown & Friendly” tour to the Tempe Improv.

Thu., April 2, 8 p.m.; Fri., April 3, 8 & 10 p.m.; Sat., April 4, 8 & 10 p.m.; Sun., April 5, 8 p.m., 2009

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