TSA Delays Snarl Spring Break Travel; Iranian-American Comedian Max Amini on Finding Connection in War

Summary

Here's the Scoop – March 20, 2026

Main Theme

This episode of "Here's the Scoop" covers two major stories. First, the impact of the partial government shutdown on TSA agents and the resulting chaos at airport security checkpoints during spring break travel. Second, a candid conversation with Iranian-American comedian Max Amini, exploring how humor and art play a role during times of geopolitical turmoil, and what it means to bridge cultures amidst the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.

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Part 1: Spring Break Travel Upended by TSA Delays and Worker Hardship

Guest: Erin Gilchrist (NBC News National Correspondent)
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian

TSA Understaffing and Traveler Struggles

• Due to a partial government shutdown, TSA workers have gone unpaid for nearly five weeks, causing severe understaffing and long lines in airports nationwide ([00:41]–[02:56]).

• Travelers are facing two to four hour wait times at major airports; some have adjusted by arriving five hours early to make flights ([01:38]).

  • Quote: "She was actually in the line before the line… there's a whole other line of people who are waiting to get to the entrance to the checkpoint." — Erin Gilchrist [01:38]

• Frustration and exhaustion are rampant but tempered by patience and community spirit. Airport staff are trying to help, but the reality for many is missed flights and hours lost.

The Human Cost for TSA Agents

• Callout rates for TSA agents have reached 10% nationwide, with some airports like Atlanta and Houston seeing rates over 30% ([03:37]).

• Many agents, already living paycheck to paycheck, have been forced to ask family for help, including borrowing money from their children to buy gas ([03:37]).

  • Quote: "She had to ask her daughter for money for gas...because she and her husband, both TSA agents, are not getting a paycheck." — Erin Gilchrist [03:37]

• Over 360 TSA officers have quit, seeking other work to support their families ([03:37]).

  • Quote: "They just don't know when they're going to get paychecks for this work that they're doing." — Erin Gilchrist [04:53]

Political Deadlock and Prospects for Resolution

• The shutdown stems from congressional disagreements over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, particularly around ICE and Border Patrol reforms ([04:53]).
• A bipartisan group of senators and the White House have met but failed to reach an agreement; Senate Majority Leader John Thune threatens to cancel the Easter recess if a deal isn't struck ([05:30]).
  • Quote: "We need to figure out how to fund this critical agency, because obviously we're talking about TSA, but we're also talking about FEMA, we're talking about the Coast Guard..." — Erin Gilchrist [05:30]

Travel Advice for Listeners

• Standard advice is to arrive at the airport three hours early, but larger airports may require even more time ([07:00]).

• TSA wait times listed online are unreliable; travelers should be prepared for reality to differ vastly from online updates ([07:00]).

  • Quote: "Check the website... but also be prepared for a different reality once you get here." — Erin Gilchrist [07:00]

• Light-hearted suggestion: Consider a staycation this spring ([08:11]).

  • Quote: "Maybe it's just better for a staycation, you know, enjoy the city that you live in." — Yasmin Vossoughian [08:11]

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Part 2: Laughter, Legacy, and Identity – Max Amini’s Reflections as an Iranian-American Comedian

Guest: Max Amini
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian

Max Amini’s Historic Highs Amid National Lows

• Max recently headlined a sold out show at Madison Square Garden — the first Iranian-American to do so ([12:10]).

  • Quote: "He literally just had one of the biggest moments of his career, making history..." — Yasmin Vossoughian [12:10]

• Normally avoiding politics, at MSG he addressed the Iranian regime's crackdown, calling the protests "the biggest revolution in our time" ([12:10]).

  • Quote: "'They were met with force. Live ammunition against unarmed young people.'" — Max Amini, discussing the protesters [15:13]

Choosing to Speak Out: Humor with Purpose

• Max describes his sense of duty to use his platform for awareness, especially given many in his audience are not Iranian ([13:47]–[16:42]).

  • Quote: "I have a duty to represent the people of Iran... as an Iranian, I had a massive platform and it was the best opportunity to do something meaningful." — Max Amini [15:29]
  • Impact in the room: "People had tears coming down their face... we had a night of laughter and combined with something greater, something about humanity." [15:29]

• After the show, non-Iranian audience members reached out to thank him for raising awareness about Iran's political situation ([16:49]).

  • Quote: "People were saying, thank you, we had no idea. And they started doing their own research." — Max Amini [16:49]

Documentaries and Conversations with Iranian Leaders

• Max interviewed Ali Karimi (soccer player and activist) and Reza Pahlavi (Crown Prince), aiming to humanize Iranian dissidents and opposition figures ([17:47]–[22:05]).
  • Quote: "He wanted to talk to me...neutral sort of personality...Ali was in hiding at the time...that guy sacrificed his entire life for his country." — Max Amini on Ali Karimi [18:17]
  • Quote: "People should get to know who you are in a deeper, more personal way...how intelligent, how kind and how pure your intentions are." — Max Amini on Reza Pahlavi [20:54]

Changing the Narrative: Iranian Identity and Misconceptions

• Max candidly relates his own identity struggles growing up Iranian-American ([22:43]).

  • Quote: "I didn't want people to know I'm Iranian. I didn't think it was cool." — Max Amini [22:43]

• His passion: Show Iranians as fun, vibrant, "cool" people, subverting the monolithic, negative portrayals in media ([22:43]).

  • Entertaining anecdote: "I am the new kebab...Now they go, I like Maximini. So I am the new kebab." [24:43]
  • Quote: "We're such fun, awesome people, and no one is showing that side of us. And so for years, this has been my passion." — Max Amini [22:43]

The Impact of War and Hopes for the Future

• Cancelled shows in Dubai and Turkey due to the war. Max expresses hope for a peaceful resolution and his dream of performing a comedy tour in Iran someday ([24:51]–[26:31]).
  • Quote: "…truly we're not there yet. But once we have a beautiful country on a positive sort of rail, not only I will perform there, I'll do everything and anything I can to be a part of building that country’s infrastructure..." — Max Amini [25:43]

Building Bridges and Persevering

• Both host and guest echo the desire to build bridges between cultures through their work ([22:05]).
  • Quote: "So much of my career, Max, has been trying to build a bridge...I grew up between two worlds as an Iranian American." — Yasmin Vossoughian [22:05]

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Notable/Memorable Moments

• Max’s “new kebab” joke and reflections on Iranian stereotypes ([24:43])

  • Quote: "Now they go, I like Maximini. So I am the new kebab." — Max Amini

• Story of his “worst joke ever” ([32:27])

  • Quote: "They boo me so much...I see the comedy club owner, he's going like this, get off. Get off, Sage, get off. And then...just like defeated, I put the mic down and I walk...[through the crowd]...This was the longest walk of my life." — Max Amini

• Apropos timing: Interview aired on Persian New Year ([26:37])

  • Quote: "Because today is the Persian New Year...even amidst an incredibly difficult time, I say to you, Eidit Mubarak..." — Yasmin Vossoughian [26:37]

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Key Timestamps

• TSA Delays & Interviews Begin: [00:41]
• Human Impact for TSA Workers: [03:37]
• Political Stalemate on DHS Funding: [04:53]–[06:38]
• Max Amini Segment Begins: [10:50]
• Max on Iranian Protest Crackdown/MSG Show: [12:10]–[15:29]
• Documentary Interviews with Karimi & Pahlavi: [17:47]–[22:05]
• Misconceptions & “Cool Iranian” Identity: [22:43]
• Cancellations, War Impact, Future Hopes: [24:51]–[26:31]
• Max’s “Worst Joke Ever” Story: [32:27]

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Takeaways

• Spring travel mayhem is the result of unresolved political gridlock over DHS funding, leading to TSA understaffing, financial struggles for federal workers, and massive inconvenience for travelers.
• Max Amini’s comedy and advocacy illuminate another side of Iranians and the Iranian-American experience, using humor to foster understanding during conflict.
• Bridging cultures through storytelling and perspective is a shared mission for both the host and guest, offering listeners a sense of hope, resilience, and connection in turbulent times.
• Enduring optimism: Despite hardship—be it political, professional, or personal—both everyday Americans and diaspora communities look for patience, humor, and ways to help each other.

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Standout Quotes

• "Radical acceptance. That's what she said. She has had to move through this airport with understanding that the wait is going to be long." – Erin Gilchrist [01:38]
• "We are such fun, awesome people, and no one is showing that side of us. And so for years, this has been my passion." – Max Amini [22:43]
• "I have a duty to represent the people of Iran...to tell the people that have no idea what's going on..." – Max Amini [15:29]
• "Now they go, I like Maximini. So I am the new kebab." – Max Amini [24:43]

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This episode delivers both a critical look at national challenges impacting daily lives and an uplifting, multidimensional portrait of an artist navigating—and shaping—global identity and empathy.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Bisugin. Happy Friday, guys. We finally made it yet again to the end of another week. But before we get there, we've got a lot going on in the show today. So we have laughter in the middle of a war, how one Iranian American comedian is getting through a challenging moment in geopolitics and reckoning with his identity with humor.

[B]

We're such fun, awesome people and no one is showing that side of us. And so for years, this has been my passion.

[A]

Stay tuned for my conversation with Max Amini. Up first, though, for the past few weeks, airport security lines around the country have been growing longer and longer, snaking all the way around the corner out the door and two, three, four hour wait times. The reason, of course, is that TSA checkpoints have been chronically understaffed. TSA agents have been working without pay for nearly five weeks because of the partial government shutdown. Hundreds of workers have already quit and many more are just not showing up. And with no deal in sight to fund the Department of Homeland Security, how are they going to get through a huge travel season? And that is spring break. So I want to bring in NBC News national correspondent Erin Gilchrist, who is standing inside of Atlanta International Airport. Aaron?

[C]

Hey, Yasmin, how you doing?

[A]

I'm good. So I mentioned you've been speaking to folks. What are they telling you? What are you seeing? What's going on there?

[C]

Well, you know, I spoke to one woman earlier today and she taught me the term radical acceptance. That's what she said. She has had to move through this airport with understanding that the wait is going to be long. It's been that way for a few weeks now. It's going to continue to be that way. She was actually in the line before the line, if you will. There's a tsa, the main checkpoint here behind me where we're seeing the wait time now at 67 minutes. But there's a whole other line of people who are waiting to get to the entrance to the checkpoint area. And they're in line and it really could double the wait. And so if you're expecting an hour long wait at this particular airport, you could very easily end up waiting for two hours. Now, the people that we've spoken to, some have expressed a little frustration, obviously, with the fact that this is the reality right now. Others have built it in. They've planned for it. They got here three hours early. We talked to one guy who was here with his Two kids and his wife. They got here five hours early because they just knew that they were going to have to wait for a long time and they wanted to build that time in. And so people are trying their best to sort of deal with the reality of the moment, being patient, being helpful with each other. The staff here at the airport has been really good about trying to usher people through. But. But there's definitely some frustration here from people who didn't think they'd have to wait just in the line for hours on end.

[A]

We're talking about a lot of the travelers. My husband was one of them this morning, I believe he said he was at Atlanta for 90 minutes or so just to get through TSA, just to get through security, almost missing his flight. But the folks that are really under the gun, really under the pressure is the folks that are working for tsa, right? It's been happening across the country. TSA workers have gone for over four weeks, as I mentioned, without pay. What are you hearing about how agents are actually coping with this? Literally not getting paid? And we say this again and again, Aaron. I think it's important to note TSA workers live paycheck to paycheck, right? They're not highly paid individuals. And so when you go without a paycheck for this long, it is very difficult to get by.

[C]

You're 100% right. I mean, we know that the call out rates for TSA officers have been in that 10% range for the entire country. You come here to Atlanta, you go to places like Houston, Hobby, and you've got rates that are above 30% because people are trying to figure out other ways to make ends meet. We heard from one TSA officer, I believe it was in Orlando, who said that she had to ask her daughter for money for gas, her teenage daughter, for money for gas because she and her husband, both TSA agents, are not getting a paycheck next week. They're likely not to get a paycheck again. We've heard other TSA agents say that they've had their landlords have reached out to them to say, hey, your rent's due. I understand the situation you're dealing with right now, but you do have to pay your rent at some point. So that's the reality for these workers. And almost to a person, the ones that we've heard from have said, but you know what, I signed up to do a job to make air travel safe for people. And so I'm going to keep showing up for work as best I can. And so that's what what we think TSA agents are trying to do in large part. But there have been more than 360 TSA officers who have quit, just said, you know what? Can't do this anymore. Got to find something else. And they've left the agency altogether because they just don't know when they're going to get paychecks for this work that

[A]

they're doing with so much else going on in the news. Aaron, I think folks often forget that we are in the midst of yet another government shutdown. It's a partial one this time, but nonetheless it's a government shutdown. And TSA workers are subsequently not getting paid. And the reason why it's happening is Democrats are pushing for changes to dhs, specifically when it comes to ICE and Border Patrol and the way in which they interact with citizens. Top lawmakers we know have met with White House border czar Tom Holman. I believe yesterday they did not come to agree an agreement. But where are we on a potential end to this thing?

[C]

There's been no significant movement on that front. Yasmin. Everybody's been asking the question, what are the lawmakers doing to try to bring the shutdown to an end, to try to get paychecks back to those TSA workers, to try to get these lines back down to a manageable length? And we know that this bipartisan group of senators has been working on negotiating a deal. They met with Tom Homan yesterday on Capitol Hill. We understand from that meeting that there was no deal that was reached. But the thinking is the fact that they were having that conversation, which hadn't been happening up until this point, is a positive sign potentially. We did hear from John Thune, this majority leader in the Senate, who said that if there's not a deal to reopen DHS to get things moving again by the end of next week, he may cancel the Easter vacation for senators. They're supposed to be out for two weeks after next Friday on their Easter break. And he's saying, wait a minute, we need to figure out how to fund this critical agency, because obviously we're talking about tsa, but we're also talking about fema, we're talking about the Coast Guard, all these agencies that are a part of dhs, and none of them are seeing paychecks right now, and many of them are considered essential workers.

[A]

So if we circle back to the airport where you are, I hear a lot going on behind you. What are people supposed to do? Right? They're traveling. It's spring break time People are coming, going, traveling for business as well. Is there any advice, is there any shortcuts, is there anything, any ways in which people can prepare for potentially standing in line for two plus hours to try and get through security?

[C]

I mean, that's the big question. I talked to a travel expert yesterday about that very thing. Like what's the, what are the tricks right now? Right. And patience, obviously, is the thing that people keep pointing to. He said everybody needs to get to the airport three hours before your flight. Now that, that advice, though, I think may not really hold up in some cases. If you're talking about some of these larger airports, Atlanta, Philadelphia has had some issues, we've obviously talked about Houston, JFK has had some, some issues at some points in time. Miami, these bigger airports are seeing larger crowds and three hours may not be enough time. So, you know, as early as you possibly can. The advice had been to check the website for the airport. Many of them show TSA wait times. But I got to tell you, we've been watching the website for this airport today, and the main checkpoint wait time on the website didn't match what we were seeing on the screen here. I say that just to make the point that check the website. Yeah, that's not bad advice. But also be prepared for a different reality once you get here because there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why the times go up or down and sometimes in a flash.

[A]

Here's the thing, Aaron, I think between you and me, I think between fuel costs and what's going on with tsa, maybe it's just better for a staycation, you know, enjoy the city that you live in.

[C]

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm supposed to fly tomorrow morning to New York and I'm rethinking that trip. It may not be a smart move. I'm starting to feel as I'm watching things around here today.

[A]

Well, we would love to see you, but the drive, by the way, is not that bad. It's only 14 hours from Atlanta, so you can drive it as well. Aaron Gilchrist, thank you.

[C]

Thank you, Yasmin. Good to see you.

[A]

Coming up, my conversation with comedian Max Amini. Fresh off of a sold out show at Madison Square Garden here in New York City. He talks to us about what it is like to be Iranian American in a time in which the United States and Israel are at war with Iran. Also, while you're waiting, why not take a moment to subscribe to our podcast. Wherever you listen, you're going to get all Our new episodes right in your feed so you don't have to go looking for them. All right, we'll see you in a moment. Day or night, VRBoCare is here 247 to help make every part of your stay seamless. If anything comes up or you simply need a little guidance, support is ready whenever you reach out. From the moment you book to the moment you head home. We're here to help things run smoothly because a great trip starts with the right support. And hey, a good playlist doesn't hurt either. Life with kids is non stop. Snacks on the counter, fingerprints everywhere, toys you swear you just cleaned. That's why Lysol is a go to proven disinfection that kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria on surfaces. And now a clean that smells great like lavender. Lysol disinfectant wipes handle everyday surfaces. The all purpose cleaner tackles kitchens and bathrooms. And the Power toilet bowl cleaner disinfects the brush and bowl for two in one disinfection. Because when you're juggling everything, cleaning has to keep up. Don't just clean Lysol. Clean

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[A]

And we're back with here's the scoop from NBC News. So with the war with Iran now nearing four weeks, we have been covering every angle of the story, from the military strategy to intelligence gathering to what is next? Is there an off ramp? How it's affecting Iranians inside the country, in the region as well, and here in the U.S. so with that, it made me wonder, how do we add some hope, some light, some laughter amidst it all? So I turned to Iranian American comedian Max Amini, who I sat down with just a couple of days ago.

[B]

And every Persian kid that ever came from Iran, when you'd ask them, are you good at anything? They will say, yes, I'm the best. It's a cultural thing.

[A]

Max has been in the business for years. He has sold out over 150 shows across 19 countries. And he's known for his crowd work.

[B]

I say, who's single? Mom claps so hard. Mom, how old are you?

[C]

84.

[B]

84 years old. Clapping for a new boyfriend, 84, baby.

[C]

Love you, mom.

[B]

Age is just a number. Her spirit is so young. She's like, let's go to comedy. I want to laugh and find a new boyfriend.

[A]

He literally just had one of the biggest moments of his career, making history as the first Iranian American ever to headline a sold out show at Madison Square Garden. Normally, Max veers away from talking about politics, but at msg, he actually spoke out against the Iranian regime's crackdown on the protests inside Iran in late January, calling it, and he said this, the biggest revolution in our time. Then a couple of days later, the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran. So what is it like continuing to make American audiences laugh amidst this war happening in his home country? I asked Max that, along with a lot of other questions. Here's my interview with Maximini. Hi, Max.

[B]

Hi, Yas. Thank you so much for having me.

[A]

It's great to have you. So you are at a real high point in your career, to say the least. Randomly selected received 17 million views on YouTube. I mentioned you just sold out Madison Square Garden as the first Iranian American to headline there. So that means you beat me to it, by the way. Meanwhile, you couple that with what is actually happening in the country of origin for both of us, Iran. This war between the us, Israel and Iran. What is kind of this moment like for you? How do you reconcile those two feelings?

[B]

It's amazing the way you put that whole thing together. And honestly, I would say it's a time to be alive. And with that statement, it's a time for all of us to find how can we help one another as a community during difficult times and really try to promote unity. I have the ear of a lot of international people out in the world, so I hope I can be a small element of positivity out there and just really be next to my people, be the voice of my people and just do my part.

[A]

You are not a political comedian, right? That is not how you coin yourself, necessarily. But in that MSG show which you sold out, it was just days before the US and Israel launched on Iran. And you spent time talking about the protests in Iran that happened in late January. And so there's all this laughter and there's all this riffing and there's all this back and forth and then you say play the video and you show images of Iranians facing a lot of violence. And you know, the battles that they were in in late January when they

[B]

asked for something simple, a voice, a choice, a future, they were met with force. Live I mean, ammunition against unarmed young people.

[A]

Why did you decide to do that?

[B]

I felt like I have a duty to represent the people of Iran. And I felt like I had a duty to tell the people that have no idea what's going on on that side of the world, people that are not watching the news coming out of Iran. I felt like, as an Iranian, I had a massive platform and it was the best opportunity to do something meaningful. And frankly, to be in that stadium and watch the energy of the people receiving this video, it was phenomenal. It was extremely touching. People had tears coming down their face. They walked out with a very heavy sort of emotion, which was very meaningful because we had a night of laughter and combined with something greater, you know, something about humanity. And I think that's magic. And it was also fascinating how so many people really have no idea. They don't know.

[A]

And even today, it's not like you just have Iranians in your audience. You have people of all different backgrounds that are coming to Iran.

[B]

Well, I have a very small percentage of Iranians in my audience, especially Madison Square Garden. I would say maybe 10% of 20,000 people were Iranians. So this was a full on international American audience. And again, it's so wonderful to be able to do this because I realized people had no idea. The messages I got were so beautiful. And people were saying, thank you, we had no idea. And they started doing their own research and looking into stuff. And so in that sense, it was great to do something like that. And I'm continuously thinking of ways to truly and authentically being able to do something. And, well, not just me. I think a lot of us are doing our best out there to create awareness and some sort of positive message.

[A]

You also, you did interviews at one point with Reza Pahlavi, who is right now considered to be a potential transitional leader if the regime falls inside Iran. The former Crown Prince of Iran, of course, for those that don't know, with Ali Karimi, who is an Iranian soccer player and activist as well. Why did you choose to do those interviews?

[B]

I didn't choose. They chose to interview with me. As an artist who also have a background in directing and producing, I've had multiple documentaries made for different networks. At the time, I had a docu series on Voice of America called Diaspora. And Ali and his team were aware of this project, and the project was very touching, very meaningful. And Ali was looking for someone that has no stake in this game. He's a neutral sort of personality. And so he wanted to talk to me, meaning Ali. Was in hiding at the time, in a very difficult position. And his team reached out to me and said, ali has decided that he wants to sit down with you. And I was sort of surprised. I understood why. Once we got to talk more and the Iranian government was after him, they wanted to. They had a fatfah on his head. And, you know, he was in a very, very difficult place. And, you know, that guy sacrificed his entire life for his country. He's a very honorable human. He's somebody that we can all be inspired by. And when I sat across him, my entire intention was just to capture him, his soul and his voice for his people. And that was that project.

[A]

What about Pahlavi?

[B]

Why did you sit down with him after that project? I was very lucky that Crown Prince of Iran congratulated me on the project I made with Ali. I've known him for a few years before that. But he was very happy that I was able to create that project with Ali and make it happen at a very vital time for that movement in Iran, the Life Woman freedom movement that was happening. So we had a talk, and he asked me, he said, if we sit down and have an interview, conversation, what do you think the story should be? What would you like to capture? What do you think is needed?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I said, I believe people should get to know who you are in a deeper, more personal way. And he said, explain more. And I said, I don't think people know your personality and how intelligent, how kind and how pure your intentions are. And also, he has a strength, in my opinion, when it comes to his sort of point of view and sticking to his integrity. And at the very end, when I released that project, when you look at the comments, you exactly see. You see exactly what we intended to make. Every comment was like, wow, we got to know him so much deeper. And people felt like they had an opportunity to connect with him.

[A]

So much of my career, Max, has been trying to build a bridge, right. Every time someone would say, well, why do you want to be a journalist? I'm like, well, I grew up between two worlds as an Iranian American. And so often it was the Middle east that was in the headlines for me in the news. My parents were so focused on the news. And so part of my motivation in becoming a journalist was to build a bridge in doing these interviews, in making the documentary that you mentioned, Diaspora. What do you want people to know about Iranians? What are some of the misconceptions you feel as if are out there about where we are from and who we

[B]

Are, look, I personally had identity crisis growing up. When I was in high school, when I was in college, I didn't want people to know I'm Iranian. I didn't think it was cool. And when I went to college, I became an actor, comedian, filmmaker. At one of my workshops, the teacher, the director asked me, why do you want to become a filmmaker? What type of stories you want to tell? I was very young, I was in my early 20s. I just said, I want to make Iranians cool. And he said, why? I said, because we're such fun, awesome people, and no one is showing that side of us. And so for years, this has been my passion. In a Persian household, there's Persian rugs everywhere. You walk in the living room, the walls, we have Persian rug. You go in the bathroom. The shower drape is a Persian rug. You go to the computer, the little mouse pad, the cute little Persian rug. You can do anything you want with a Persian rug, but you can't walk on it. We bought another rug to put on top of the Persian rug. The most beautiful thing is I hear from other people, hey, I met this African guy and he came up to me and I said, iranian. And they were like, oh, my God, do you know Maximini? And I was like, yes. So now I'm the cool factor for these people. I mean, I love that you're the guy. Yeah. You know, back in the days, kebab was the thing, you know, like if a Chinese person. Yeah. If the Chinese person would meet with an Iranian and they say, I'm Iranian, the Chinese person would go, oh, I like the kebab. Now they go, I like Maximini. So I am the new kebab.

[A]

You're the entry point. That's funny.

[B]

The kebab of comedy.

[A]

You were supposed to be heading to Dubai right about now.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And then on to Turkey. You've canceled those shows. An impact of the war. Do you think there's any kind of long term impact in the work that you are doing right now because of this war?

[B]

Well, I don't know. I don't know. I hope not. I hope the war ends sooner than later on a positive note. But I am continuously moving forward, presenting my work, talking about my country, creating awareness. And we're all, all of us, American, Iranian, worldwide. Everybody is hoping for the best and for this conflict to end and we see a better, more peaceful world.

[A]

You want to do a comedy tour to Iran? Eventually. One day.

[B]

It's always a dream to play in your motherland, Right? But frankly, a few people mentioned that this past few days and I said, I just don't think of something like that. I'm so consumed by the news and I'm so worried about my country, my people, how things are going to pan out, that truly we're not there yet. But once we have a beautiful country on a positive sort of rail, not only I will perform there, I'll do everything and anything I can to be a part of building that country's infrastructure by creating shows, donating, promoting, whatever I can do.

[A]

Maximini, thank you.

[B]

Thank you so much. Yas. This was fun.

[A]

It was actually apropos that we interviewed Max just a couple of days ago and we're airing it today because today is the Persian New Year. So for all of you that are celebrating Nowruz even amidst an incredibly difficult time, I say to you, Eidit Mubarak and we are gonna have more with Max after a break in our headlines where Max shares his worst joke ever. Stay with us.

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[A]

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[B]

The worst joke I've ever told. I remember one night at Comedy Union. It's a black comedy club. I started my career at black comedy clubs. I did a lot of crowd work and I was a young comedian and I wasn't that experienced. And in the middle of my crowd work, I, I really, I was struggling. I couldn't get the laughs. One line, two line, three lines in. All of a sudden, the whole crowd started booing me. In my head, I'm like, I'm not gonna let that get into me. I'm gonna win him over. So I try, I try a little bit. I keep, I, you know, I go, hold on, I have another, I say another line, falls flat. And they boo me so much. I see the comedy club owner, he's going like this, get off. Get off, Sage, get off. And then I look around and just like defeated, I put the mic down and I walk. And this particular comedy club, you have to walk through the crowd to get out. I mean, this was the longest walk of my life.

[A]

Sounds like a really long walk. That's gonna do it for us. Here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugin. We'll be back Monday with whatever the weekend may bring. And if you like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And you can also subscribe to our daily newsletter, the Inside Scoop. It is a deeper dive on the main stories of the day that comes out every weeknight straight to your inbox. You can sign up for the Inside Scoop as part of our paid subscription@NBC news.com we'll see you Monday.

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