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" Unlike the U.S., Iran has no problems with low-voter turnout in elections; the last time, the government got the support of 110 per cent of the population. "
Maz Jobrani
Problems
Time
Got
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" A cultural thing that is funny to me is that every time I go out in D.C. after a show, all the nightclubs and restaurants are owned by Iranians and Afghans. It's funny to me how we lost our countries but we gained the nightlife. "
Maz Jobrani
Time
Funny
Go
" I am a standup comedian who has performed comedy in the Middle East in front of thousands of Muslims. And believe it or not, they laughed at plenty, especially when we poked fun at local culture. The Lebanese loved it when you would make fun of their driving and how, in Lebanon, a red light is just a suggestion to stop. "
Maz Jobrani
Light
Red
I Am
" Most comics point out what everyone else is thinking but hadn't thought of verbalizing. I guess, in a way, that makes most comics seers. It just depends in what category - some choose to be the seers of relationships, some are seers of racial issues, and some are seers of political issues. "
Maz Jobrani
Political
Thought
Thinking
" Don't get me wrong. I don't mind playing bad guys. I want to play a bad guy. I want to rob a bank. I want to rob a bank in a film. I want to rob a bank in a film but do it with a gun - with a gun, not with a bomb strapped around me. "
Maz Jobrani
Play
Mind
Me
" I've made enough jokes about Iran's leadership that I'm sure if I showed up that I would get a nice escort - to the main prison - and then I could do a show there. "
Maz Jobrani
Nice
Enough
Jokes
" Once you start listening to the comics, be they Jewish, Muslim, Italian, Filipino or whatever, the material often springs from the same source - the overbearing mom, the parents who want you to marry from within your community. That's why the 'Ethnic Show' works so well. "
Maz Jobrani
Parents
Community
Listening
" I wish more Americans would travel here. I always encourage my friends: 'Travel. See the Middle East. There's so much to see, so many good people.' And it's vice versa, and it helps stop problems of misunderstanding and stereotypes from happening. "
Maz Jobrani
People
Friends
Good
" Part of what's great about America, and Canada as well, is that we can talk about our political leaders in public. "
Maz Jobrani
Canada
America
Political
" Any standup that you see who you go, 'Oh, wow, that guy's, you know, that guy's making it.' Inevitably, they've been doing it 10, 12 years - 10, 15 years. Because it takes time. "
Maz Jobrani
You
Go
Know
" The first time I flew after September 11, I honestly was a little paranoid. As I was going to the metal detector, I was looking at my duffel bag, and I'm like, 'Do I have anything that's like a weapon?' I was really paranoid they were gonna find something sharp, and I was gonna get in trouble. "
Maz Jobrani
Find
Trouble
Time
" I've sold shows based on my standup twice to CBS, but they've never gone past the script stage. TV is very competitive. "
Maz Jobrani
Stage
Past
TV
" You know how hard it's been to write material? Because to do stand-up comedy, it takes time for the material to develop. So you'll come up with a joke, you'll tweak it, you'll work it for six months, you really fine tune it, and now you've got a good bit. Well, with Trump, every day there's something new coming out. "
Maz Jobrani
Know
You
Work
" I don't consider myself an Iranian comedian; I consider myself a comedian who happens to be of Iranian descent. "
Maz Jobrani
Happens
Comedian
Consider
" I'm not saying that I'm on some crusade to change people's minds. I'm just doing what I do. I'm a comedian, I'm trying to be funny... I think when they see a comedy show with an Iranian and an Egyptian and two Palestinians, I think they go, 'Oh wow, these guys are just like us.' "
Maz Jobrani
Funny
Change
Think
" You know, funny can be universal. "
Maz Jobrani
Know
Funny
Universal
" I am a political human being. I have - that's one of my interests. I studied political science in college. I was actually going to get my Ph.D. in poli-sci. And a lot of my material from early on in my career dealt with politics, so I've always considered myself as somebody who enjoys political humor. So I'm not going to stop. "
Maz Jobrani
Humor
Science
I Am
" Here's my advice to my brown friends: The next time you're on an airplane in the U.S., just speak your mother tongue. That way, no one knows what you're saying. Life goes on. "
Maz Jobrani
Life
Mother
Saying
" Definitely in the West, we're all cast as the same now. Whether you're Indian, Pakistani, Arab, Iranian, Afghan or whatever, you just get thrown into this category. And nine times out of 10, you're depicted as bad. "
Maz Jobrani
Now
Bad
Same
" Iranians and Arabs aren't considered diversity because we still don't have minority status in America. There was a group of Middle Eastern actors trying to get SAG to recognize us as part of the diversity they should look out for, because we do represent a different point of view. When OscarsSoWhite happened, I felt part of that. "
Maz Jobrani
America
View
Look
" When you're a stand-up comic, you live and die by what you say on stage. There's no director or writer or producer who can tell you what to say and not to say. Once in a while, a club owner will ask a comic to work clean, or not say something, but that's few and far between. "
Maz Jobrani
Die
Say
Stage
" I tend not to make fun of religious groups anywhere I play. "
Maz Jobrani
Play
Fun
Anywhere
" I started acting in junior high. I was in 'Guys and Dolls.' I was Stanley Kowalski. In my head, before coming to Hollywood, I thought, 'I can play anything.' "
Maz Jobrani
Acting
Play
I Can
" Trump doesn't go a day without worrying me. It seems like every day there's something new. "
Maz Jobrani
Without
New
Me
" I want to show another side of Middle Easterners. My hope is that I would be able to play a variety of parts, and not always be the guy with the accent. "
Maz Jobrani
Show
Variety
Always
" I would say that while most Muslims take offense at the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in cartoons, they would never resort to violence. It is a minority of extremist Muslims who take such actions, and they do it for political and tactical reasons far beyond just being offended. "
Maz Jobrani
Beyond
Say
Political
" The way we censor in America is the dollar. That's who censors. "
Maz Jobrani
America
Who
Way
" My mother was very wary at first. And now she's come around 180 degrees. She's, like, one of my biggest fans now. Like, she'll come over to my house, and she'll be like, 'OK, listen. I need two T-shirts from the comedy show, and give me three DVDs. The neighbors are asking for them.' "
Maz Jobrani
Me
She
Comedy
" One thing about D.C. that's funny to me is that you end up running into famous political figures who you've seen on television who you think are not real until you see them. "
Maz Jobrani
End
Famous
Funny
" Be kind. It feels good. "
Maz Jobrani
Good
Be Kind
Feels
" The fact is, there's good people everywhere. That's what I try and show in my stand-up: good people everywhere. All it takes is one person to mess it up. "
Maz Jobrani
People
Person
Try