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- [00:02]
Chris Cuomo
Support comes from Brick House Nutrition. She's a brat. Doo doo, doo doo House. Love, Rick James. I love telling you about Brickhouse Nutrition. Why you don't have to give yourself a needle all the time in order to lower your weight. Okay? What if you want to lose weight, but you don't want painful weekly and could be risky Injections, Okay? Why side effects? I mean, the use of needles. I mean, a lot of different things. Even if it's the pen injection, I mean, who knows why deal with that? Okay? That's why doctors created a weight loss supplement called Lean L E A N. The studied ingredients in Lean have been shown to lower your blood sugar, burn fat by converting it into energy, and curb your appetite and cravings. So, duh, you're not as hungry. But listen, lean is not for the casual dieter with only a few pounds to lose, okay? The doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition created Lean for frustrated dieters who have 10 or more pounds to lose. So if you're serious and you've got serious weight to shed, let's get you started. 20% off free rush shipping so you can add Lean to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Remember, no shortcuts, okay? If you want it to be real, you've got to do it the real way. Visit takelean.com Enter Cuomo for your discount. The promo code is cuomo@takelean.com Maximini is on the Chris Cuomo Project. I know. I know. Chris Cuomo here. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. I'm surprised he said yes, too. Why? Because he is blowing up. So funny. But I also believe he is so reflective. Reflective of not just what's making us laugh, but what's making us scared and worried about our world, specifically what's happening in Iran. And Max checks so many boxes. He's hilarious, okay? And he's on the ascendant, and he's got a huge following. But he was born here, and then the family moved back to Iran. So rare. But he understands how Persian culture suffered and wound up under the yoke of oppression of an extreme Islamist regime. He understands what that could look like in America. And most importantly, it was an opportunity to have a conversation with a really funny guy about something that is absolutely no joke, which is what America must do, in his opinion, for Iran. Now, this is why I have a podcast. Max, thank you so much for being here. Much success. The Garden, Chicago, all over the country, all over the world. Well deserved. Why do you think? Let's talk funny first. Why do you think things are going so well Right now.
- [03:13]
Max Amini
Thank you. In regards to my comedy.
- [03:16]
Chris Cuomo
Yeah. Well, I think who cares about anybody else, brother?
- [03:21]
Max Amini
I think my ability to connect to many different cultures. I was born in America to an Iranian family and then we migrated to Iran. I grew up in Iran, so I sort of have the. Both the best world. Like, I understand what it's like to be American. I truly understand what it's like to be Iranian. I can relate to all immigrants. And I think something personally, I'm very attracted to understanding cultures, you know, understand how family dynamics work in Albania, in Greece, in India. So that natural interest. I think any artist, when you, when you're interested in something genuinely, it'll scream in your art. So.
- [04:01]
Chris Cuomo
So you use comedy. I mean, you're not constantly joking about Iran or what's going on. You're very eclectic in your comedy. You kind of take the audience where you find them. You're not there to put something on them, you're there to draw something out. Right. Is it by design?
- [04:18]
Max Amini
Yes. And ultimately is a sense of, you know, in comedy you have to relate to someone. Right. And it's, what do I learn about you and what they know about me? And that's where we, we really find the funny. And I think that's been the dance. It's just like a true relationship, a true romance with, with the idea of who you are and what are your positive sides. I sort of love bringing out the positive things about every culture, but I do it obviously using comedy. So. So there's bittersweet moment in there.
- [04:52]
Chris Cuomo
How do you negotiate what is a safe space for comedy versus what can get you canceled?
- [04:59]
Max Amini
Well, the cancel culture is, is. Is trending in different, different areas. Right. I think it's. If you worry about it all the time, it's going to hold you back. If you reckless, it'll catch you. Nowadays, you know, people are bringing sound, sound bites back from 10, 15 years ago. I think we're living in an era that authenticity is the most important. And if you got some skeletons in the closet, you should sort of find a place with your demons. Because I believe everyone's true side eventually will come out. And as an artist, you constantly expressing yourself. So I think everybody should work on themselves and bring the most honest, you know, part of themselves out in public and hope for the best. You can't fight the haters. You can't. There's. It's. It's a, it's a crazy world nowadays with social media and there's some people that are really out there to get you Many different intentions. I mean, we, we hear all these conspiracies about different artists that they were huge and they fell and they said, oh, he rubbed somebody the wrong way. All of this is fake. It's just, you know, they're setting him up. Who knows? I just, I just don't want to live in fear.
- [06:20]
Chris Cuomo
So how do you, how do you not? In the world where you're supposed to be taking chances. The whole gift of observational comedy is when you make me laugh at something that I didn't really see that way, or I believe the gold standard, which you do well, is you make me laugh at something I'm not supposed to be laughing at. That, to me, is the genius of that form of artistry. Very dangerous though now, in a way, probably not since Lenny Bruce before both of our times. Right. I mean, even Carlin and those guys, they were all. Carlin is to me a gold standard. Right. Genius. But riding the wave of we'll never let that happen again until we just started to right now. So how do you do that dance?
- [07:11]
Max Amini
I personally, I, I try not to think about it so much in that sense because Chris is like an MMA fighter. You go into the ring and you want to fight. If you think so much about where the, how that guy is going to punch you, you're going to lose that fight. You, you go in there, you've done your best, you've done your best practice, you know your rights and wrong, you go in there. If, if you, if you genuinely believe that I'm standing on the right side with this topic, then you should throw your punches. You know, I tell you, with my comedy, I give you an example. When I go to the Middle east, that's where sensitivity is the highest and certain topics.
- [07:51]
Chris Cuomo
Dave Chappelle says he's safer to speak in Saudi Arabia than he is in America. Unless he says some shit about the Saudis and then he'd be coming home in peace.
- [08:00]
Max Amini
Exactly, exactly. And also, Chappelle is referring to something very specific.
- [08:05]
Chris Cuomo
Right.
- [08:06]
Max Amini
He went through a really bad experience, a hell of a topic with, with the trans, with the transgender. So the transgender topic. Yeah, it's a lot more comfortable to speak about it in the Middle east because the Middle east doesn't really have the most open minded, you know, side about this topic. Right.
- [08:27]
Chris Cuomo
So what do you do when you're there?
- [08:28]
Max Amini
I, I have to, I have to understand that there are certain red lines, right? You, you, you go to another country, you go to another culture, you're not there to be a rebellion. And to poke the bear in a disrespectful way. But at the same time, this is my belief, personal belief. I'm there to create positive thoughts. I'm there to create sort of a situation where I send a message to where families will have more respect for one another. And what I mean by that, a brother will respect his sister more so than certain, maybe cultural habits or certain things that have made women, you know, suffer more in a household. Versus. So with my way of storytelling, with my way of telling my experiences in my family as a Persian person with my sisters, I try to show aside that a great man respects a woman this way. And I present a topic, and I think once people listen to it, they realize, okay, his heart is in the right place. Now, maybe some people might disagree with that, but then I'm okay. I'm okay with, you know, just standing by, sort of my. My beliefs. Here's what I think. You know, this is where I stand with women, and this is how I present it.
- [09:55]
Chris Cuomo
You're an unusual commodity because most people's story, your generation is. We barely got out in time. 79, you know, and we were running from this, we were running from that, and we came back here and we had nothing. And then we built it. You're the reverse. You were born in Arizona, went back.
- [10:16]
Max Amini
Yep.
- [10:17]
Chris Cuomo
How'd that go over in the house? Once you were old enough to have conversations about it, what was the decision to go from America back to Iran?
- [10:26]
Max Amini
It was tough from day one. It was never an easy topic.
- [10:31]
Chris Cuomo
How old were you?
- [10:32]
Max Amini
I was 8 years old.
- [10:33]
Chris Cuomo
So you're 8 years old, so you don't have a say in it. You do what you're told.
- [10:36]
Max Amini
Yeah.
- [10:36]
Chris Cuomo
You get there. How are you received?
- [10:39]
Max Amini
Well, the family is very loving. You know, as a kid, you. You go to Iran. It's a very warm culture. All that part was amazing. But when I went to school, I didn't speak Farsi, so it was really. It was a culture shock in so many ways. And the teachers would just smack you. And not lightly. They will beat the shit out of you at times. Like if you were late, they literally had a stick, and they will beat you at the door of the school. So it was mind fuck. But you know, really at that age, you just. You just adapt. You don't know. You're not having an opinion. You're not going home and saying, what's the problem? You know, here's the problem. What's the solution? My father was a very loving, naive character in the sense that the backstory is, my grandfather was a very well known scholar, wrote over a hundred books, very impressive character. He was paralyzed at age 16, taught himself four languages, became a very wealthy, very well known writer, had his first newspaper in Iran, and his wish was to send his kids abroad to become educated and come back and serve their own country. My grandfather passed away two years before the Iranian revolution and he didn't get a chance to write in his will. Well, if there's a revolution, kids, don't be stupid and come back to Iran. So here's my dad, you know, finishing his. He got his master's from GW and he said, I promised my dad, I'm going to go back and serve Iran. So he took us all back. And my mom, my mom, it was, I'll never forget, my mom was extremely sad about the move. And she, she grew up in London from the age of 13. So we were all, it was just like a, it was a huge shock. And I go to school as an American, you know, kid, now I'm in Iran and first day of school, first hour in school, the kids are shouting, death to America. And I'm standing there going, do they know I'm American? Are they trying to kill me? I'm freaking out. I mean, it was, it was probably one of the most, to this day I remember even the smell of that day. That's how, how, you know, memorable it is.
- [12:55]
Chris Cuomo
How did you process how aware or at what point became aware that I'm living in a fucking crazy place right now. There's like a schism here between what I understand as my family's lineage as Persians and Persians has disappeared into this regime that came from other countries, right? The ayatollah and everybody who came in, everybody thinks they came out of Iran and rose up. It's not how it happened. Obviously, you know, how, how did you process that? What was that? Lived experience.
- [13:31]
Max Amini
Well, again, as a kid, I feel like first of all, we were always aware that this is different, this is crazy. But we live a poor lies like a pro life. I'm getting the word right. You're living a double life. You're going to school, you go out in public, it's one life. You come home is a complete different life. So you come home, you have your family, you have your parties, you have fun, your cousins are around. It's amazing. You go out in public, you cannot play music. You can't, you can't, you know, you can't dance. You know, boys have their own school, girls have their own school. You see your little sister wearing a hijab. And so there's. You live two different lives at the same time.
- [14:18]
Chris Cuomo
Extra sucky for the girls.
- [14:20]
Max Amini
Extra. Yeah, absolutely. But at the same time, Iran was fun. It was. It's not. You know, Iran is. To this day, Iranians are really forward with their. With their Western culture. They listen to the best music, they wear the best clothes, they're very fashion forward. So it's this duality that's happening. You've got the government and this, this face of Iran. That's what they're promoting in the media. But behind the scenes, Iranians are living a very Western life, you know, per se.
- [14:55]
Chris Cuomo
Support comes from Factor. Now, here's the truth about getting in shape. You gotta move, you gotta rest. And you have to get smart about your intake. What you drink, what you eat, the amount of calories, whether you're at a deficit, what your macros are within it. And I know that gets complicated. That's why I hooked up with Factor. Okay. Factor is a shortcut. It's a cheat code to helping you make the right choices without really having to make anything other than just one choice, which is to get factor meals. Why? All right, let's start with what's easy. Okay? They taste good. It's quality, functional ingredients, Lean proteins, your whole rainbow of veggies, whole food ingredients, healthy fats, no refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners, no refined seed oils. These are geared to help reduce inflammation. All right? Meals fit your goals, your schedule, they're healthier. Eating, calorie management. You get your macros, you get your protein, they have choices. 100 rotating weekly meals. It's not just chicken, broccoli and rice. Chicken, broccoli and rice. Chicken, broccoli and rice. Right? You get high protein, you get calories. Smart. You get keto, you get Mediterranean, you get GLP1 support. Ready to eat salads, whatever you want. Okay? I like the new MusclePro collection. Head to FactorMeals.com Cuomo 50 off. Get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. The offer is only valid for new Factor customers with the code. Okay. Cuomo 50 off new customers. Qualifying, auto renewing subscription purchase is necessary. You'll see what it's about when you get on the site. This is the way to go. The X factor in getting to a better place with your fitness is what you eat. That X factor is Factor. I heard a guy say yesterday, we were talking about what I characterize in this country as the brown menace. What the President has architected out of Migrants I call. He never uses those words, but I do, which is to characterize how he refers to these people. They're responsible for everything bad that happens in this country. And they have the stigma on them of having entered illegally. So it's like in the law, they called it an ab initio argument. From the beginning, you did something illegal, so everything else must be illegal.
- [17:37]
Max Amini
You're bad.
- [17:38]
Chris Cuomo
Jobs, pay, health care, housing, it's all on these people. The guy says to me, wow, we got one thing going for us, though. I said, what is that? All these people are Catholic. Imagine if they were Muslim. And I said, you mean, imagine if they were Islamists. And he was like, I just said that. And I said, no, you didn't. But it made me think in preparation for today, you got another barrier, which is, we don't want to fuck with them. That dog has teeth. We've done enough. You guys do it. Bravo. Wish you well. Second one is. Wait, are these the kinds of people we want to be helping? Aren't these the 911 crowd? These guys? How do you negotiate that space of. I, when I grew up in Queens here, Persian was a thing. Then it like, disappeared for, like the next 35 years. Persian is back. Now people identify as Persian again. I'm not Iranian. I have nothing to do with these people. I'm Persian. How do you explain to people who you are and who you are not terrorist? You know, all these different labels that get put on that world, that culture, how do you distinguish? How do you explain to people?
- [18:56]
Max Amini
I love the way you put that picture out there. And it's very, very accurate and very important, especially the Islamic Islamophobia part of this. This. Well, the way you just explained, you said the Persian culture that free, that beautiful Iranian history that was there. You use the word disappeared. And the truth of the fact, the truth of the matter here is that it never disappeared. A culture never disappears. Just the media. The way they presented Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran changed. So now for 46 years, if you live in Europe, if you live anywhere out of Iran, you live in America. What you see is the people of 9 11. But that is a absolute wrong picture. So you have a government that's called the Islamic Republic. It's not Islamic and they're not Republic. Neither one of those titles is true. They're not. They're not. They're. They're mafia terrorist group that they're running this country. They're not in no shape or form. Anybody could. Could agree that these guys are religious People like they're people of faith. They're using the religion to act anyhow with extreme corruption. And really, I think, just fascinating how they translate these passages. However, they want to kill people. So that's really not the religion. And it's so important I explain this because a lot of people don't know. Iran is multi faith country. We have a massive number of Iranians that are Jewish. We have a massive number of Iranians that are Christian, Baha', Is, Zoroastrians, and for many, many years, they lived in harmony and peace. To this day, we have a very large Jewish population that live in Iran. So the culture, even the Islamic Republic of Iran couldn't come and affect that because we have Iranians that are Christian and they've been there for many years. So there's nothing they can do about that. And people don't know that. The best thing about Iran is that when an Iranian meets another Iranian, they say, hey, you're Persian. Yes, I'm Persian. They shake hands. Nobody says, oh, you're Iranian. What's your religion? Nobody says that you might be friends with someone for two years and one day go to the house and be like, oh, it's Friday night, they're having Shabbat. Oh, okay. All you guys are Jewish. We're first Iranians. And that's what's beautiful about the culture. So if the West Iranian or Persian. Persian is the culture, Iranian is the race. Nowadays we say Persian because we want everybody to be reminded that this culture is a beautiful, deep, valuable, rich culture. And we're not this title that has been slapped on us for the last 46 years. 46 years is a long time. It's a long time. I feel like a lot of the young kids now, they're in the. Yeah.
- [22:32]
Chris Cuomo
Oh, I got another angle for you that I think is really important. And it's hard for me to articulate, but every time I hear it, I'm like, ooh, you know who Elica Laban is? So Elica Laban is a really significant voice in America about Iran. Her father is in Iran. Laban is not her real name, but she uses it as a pseudonym to protect her family, who are still there. And she's very outspoken. She's a UK trained attorney.
- [23:03]
Max Amini
I know what you're talking about.
- [23:04]
Chris Cuomo
Super eloquent.
- [23:05]
Max Amini
Yes, yes.
- [23:05]
Chris Cuomo
She truth bombed me on this issue once where I was kind of like, yeah, but, you know, it's tough to convince Americans to want to get involved somewhere else. Man, we got so much bitterness. We go in, you know, Trump is like the spirit animal of our.
- [23:23]
Max Amini
Of.
- [23:23]
Chris Cuomo
Of our kind of disappointment of foreign engagements, you know, as he would say somewhat crassly, but still. We didn't even get the oil. We didn't even get the oil. What did we get out of Iraq? What are we getting out of the Middle East? Why are we involved in any of this stuff? These people are crazy. These nine, 11 people. And that captures a lot of it. And they have resistance to entry. They've done enough over there as far as they're concerned. And she says, yes, but what you don't understand is that we were you, and now you are who we were 46 years ago. And I'm like, what are you talking about? There's no Naya Tola coming in this place. She said, you say that now. We would have said the same thing. Iran used to look around and it was a joke to them how these zealots. She's like, wahhabism comes out of Saudi Arabia, not out of Iran. She's like, within the region, Persians were very cosmopolitan. And the idea of religious zealotry was not a thing, let alone extre Islamism. That would have never been what would have taken over, just like America. And she said, and what crept in was socialism that was driven not by what you see in Germany, but democratic socialism, but fundamentalism, that everything has to change, everything is wrong, everything is corrupt. There must be a return to orthodoxy, to first principles. And with that came Islamism. And it infiltrated an unhappy people at an unhappy time who wanted something that they could grab onto and be different. And before they knew it, usurpers came in and took over the military and killed a few people and scared us into quiescence. And just like that, thousands of years of cultural history were erased. And I'm telling you, I'm almost parroting what she said. That's how powerful it was. With that said, I have had zero success in making that argument myself to Americans. When I say, you know, and I was joking with somebody about you coming on the show, and I was like, I gotta tell you, this Max guy, he made me my way in. And they were like, why? I was like, he really looks like one of us. You know what I mean? He can really just slip right in here and be like, hey, listen to me, you know, come on, you know, you know, I went to ucla. We're all good here. How much do you believe that, by the way, as a parallel of periods in time and when the impossible can happen?
- [25:59]
Max Amini
I think it's a great comparison. Do I Believe it's going to happen. Not exactly the same way. We're in a different times in the world. I think Americans are overall when it comes to these topics, they're more educated. Also technology, we're not 1979. But something is also very important to add to this story is that the Islamic Republic of Iran didn't just find their way in that easy. They were also put in there. You know, the Germans, yes, the French. And during Carter's presidency, there was a, well, you know, organized plan to, to bring the Ayatollahs and replace Shah. Because Shah had become a character that was very intimidating towards the West. He was raising the price of the oil and he became, you know, sort of a character that, that it looked like he looked problematic.
- [27:03]
Chris Cuomo
And Persians believe that Americans owe them for that. By the way, that the idea that you have nothing to do with this, that you have no responsibility here, you've done enough. Is there a feeling within the call? I mean, obviously you can't speak, but is that a thing where it's like, oh, so you fucked us when you didn't like the Shah and brought in these psychos, but you don't have any respons. Responsibility for the result? I.
- [27:30]
Max Amini
Yes, yes. The Ayatollahs. Okay, yes. And I'll tell you the most painful part of it. The Shah of Iran was a true ally to the Americans. He was a good friend. He did right by the Americans. And the history now shows that maybe in the beginning it was a great idea to, you know, throw the Shah of Iran and, and bring these atollas and be able to take over the oil and other resources for a lot less. Less competition. Now the Saudi oil is. Becomes more tradable. Maybe at the time this looked, looked like a great idea. But today, look at what happened to the Middle East. Israel said the head of snake is the Islamic Republic of Iran. They're not wrong. All of the money that they generated in that country didn't go to the people, didn't go to building schools or hospitals. It went to the Hezbollah, it went to Hamas, it went to Yemen. And that is the saddest part of this last 46 years. And in a matter of this last year, you see this war that's happening in the Middle east, all these people dying, it's all from a poor decision in my opinion. Those people at the time, they thought this is a great idea. 46 years later, you know, you made a mistake. This region is not better today for the world. Why do Americans have to suffer from an event like 9 11. Why do we need to live in fear on this side of the world? Because we have created a monster that now is out of control. Why do people of Israel have to live in a fear that Islamic Republic of Iran is going to wipe them out off planet Earth? It's just a terrible creation for the whole world.
- [29:36]
Chris Cuomo
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- [33:45]
Max Amini
And every country has their own Muslims and their own sort of presentation of Islam. And I would tell you Iran has the most different. The most different in the sense that you cannot compare the Muslims of Iran with the Muslims of Pakistan and Indonesia. They're all wonderful, and they're all their own sort of culture and presentation of
- [34:15]
Chris Cuomo
that religion beyond Sunni, Shia. It's cultural extract of adaptation of faith.
- [34:21]
Max Amini
But here we're talking about politics and religion.
- [34:26]
Chris Cuomo
If.
- [34:26]
Max Amini
If the topic was just religion and there was no politics involved, then what you do at home, whether you pray to, you know, this, the statue here or this, whatever, that you've chosen to. To do it in your own place for your own faith. And it's not affecting anybody. That is. That is. That is your business. But I think it's politics using religion to guide and tell people what to do. And that's the problem. That we're facing. I believe education is the solution. If you educate people and they understand their way of living and their lifestyle has to be something extremely personal and their religion is something personal. And then when you go, when you open your door to greet your neighbor, it should be about love and acceptance, not about forcing your ideology. Then everybody will live in harmony and everybody will be curious and would appreciate what your faith is because they're not threatened by it.
- [35:37]
Chris Cuomo
Is your perspective on what we're living through, does it make you feel like, oh boy, I know where this leads, or is it you people think you have problems. This is nothing compared to what I learned growing up in Iran. How do you see it?
- [35:51]
Max Amini
I think we're talking about a mentality, a government, a country that is so manipulative in Iran, in Iran. And they're so good at it. They're so, I feel like they're, they're better at their propaganda and the design of all those ideologies than the, than the, than Americans.
- [36:15]
Chris Cuomo
People are saying about that, that about us now, though, I mean, look what's happening to the Olympics. You know, you talk about, you know, funny that you can't make up. You know what I mean? Like, the truth is, is more funny than any joke you can make about it where they're saying, people holding up signs saying, we're sorry for what we're doing as Americans, we'll figure it out. Olympians. Not since the 60s have we seen. When they were raising the fist in solidarity of a suffrage movement, they said, it's hard for me. I don't really represent Trump in the administration. People see this administration is not that different other than the abject killing, not yet anyway, of its own people. These people lie when the truth is a better story. Do you see it that way or do you have different perspective because of what you know about the malignancy of the regime?
- [37:05]
Max Amini
I see these connected. I see both connected. I see Black Lives Matter pro Palestine, all of these big humanitarian efforts, all these people that came out and said, we stand by humanity. There's multi layered plans of propaganda. And it's very scary because they don't mean what they're actually saying. And I think you saw the protests that happened in the universities, and all the kids came out and they protested and all of those were designed by the IRGC here in the US campuses. So when. This is why I say the existence of this government is a direct threat for us over here. Because nowadays we're living on social media. Social media is beyond powerful and I think people underestimate how powerful their team of social media, whatever, their, their, you know, whoever's the mastermind behind these strategies, they're utilizing the only, the most affordable tool that is actually giving massive results to them. Why should we in America have this massive divide on this topic? Because of the social media disease that they have infiltrated into our system. So if, if Americans realize, I mean, America to me is a very special country because if you have two people can have two different opinions, but you sit down, you talk, and you accept that I don't agree with you, I agree to disagree. That's what the philosophy's been used to be. Yes. But nowadays it's not like that anymore. And that's a bad culture. That's a dangerous culture. And how has this developed? It's developed by people creating a divide. Yeah. By saying this person is evil. And, and it's never going to be a positive. Yes. The politicians want to win votes, so when it's an election, the Democrats go against the Republicans. But to what degree? Today the competition and this sort of rivalry has become so dangerous for us, for the citizens of this country. You know, they make each side make each other massively evil. You know, the kids are not going to benefit from this. They go to school, you're sitting in your class, and this is what you hear at home. And these kids have to suffer from it in public. I think it's dangerous. I think it's unhealthy. And when we talk about these lies, you know, on either side, we have to realize there's a massive consequence and the consequences.
- [40:07]
Chris Cuomo
They're thinking, advantage one side over the other. But you've lived.
- [40:11]
Max Amini
Yes.
- [40:12]
Chris Cuomo
And studied how much deeper it can go.
- [40:14]
Max Amini
I think they're thinking in the moment. They're thinking now. They're not looking at how this is going to affect them. You know, 10 years, 20 years from now.
- [40:26]
Chris Cuomo
Support comes from Superpower. Now, wellness is about two things, and they both begin with D. Discipline and data. And really, it starts with the data. You have to know what's going on in your blood. And they can do more with blood draw, phlebotomy and understanding biomarkers than ever. And that's what the Superpower is all about. One simple blood draw. Over 100 biomarkers. Way more than you usually get with any of the blood tests that they run at the doctor's office. The app includes detailed information on your heart, liver, thyroid, hormones, metabolism, vitamin and mineral levels, and even environmental toxins. So what? Disease prevention, understanding your deficiencies and what supplements you actually need, maybe helping you understand some of your symptoms. Brain fog, being dead in the middle of the day, tired, that kind of stuff. What kinds of workouts may work better for you? It's all in the blood. Superpower is the most comprehensive and advanced system out there. Make this the year that you stop guessing about your health and use Superpower. Not only did Superpower reduce their price, but for a limited time, my listeners will get an additional 20 bucks off if they use the code Cuomo. Head to superpower.com, use the code Cuomo. Tell them I sent you. Please support my show so I can keep supporting you. Let me ask you something. As you're starting to come into. Well, most people who analyze your world and tradecraft believe is you. You're coming into full flower. Bigger venues, everybody. You know, it's. It's working. It's working. The dream you're going to be. When people are watching this, you will have been on stage at Madison Square Garden, which is like, you know, which is like the, the. The high church of. Of comedy, right? From a kid who was hearing Death to America in class and wondering if it was about him. Now you're going to be hearing thousands and thousands of people cheering. Did you ever imagine someday, someday that's where I'll be?
- [42:54]
Max Amini
I never did. I never imagined I'm gonna play Madison Square Garden, because I didn't even know that Madison Square Garden exists for comedians. You know, it was always the, you know, Caroline's.
- [43:10]
Chris Cuomo
I'm gonna be a Caroline's. Yes.
- [43:12]
Max Amini
This is a new thing where comedians play stadiums. The first stadium I played, I sold out the Forum in Los Angeles, and it was magnificent. And when I went on stage, just personally, in my own head, I just wanted to truly be in the moment and receive that energy, and it was magnificent. And since I've played a bunch of stadiums now, I sort of understand it. So I'm excited for Madison Square Garden. But, Chris, the things that I didn't imagine, and I'm so blessed by it, is the diversity of my fans. I never thought that I'll be on stage and people from every country you can imagine will be in the audience. I have probably the most diverse audience of any comedians that I know.
- [44:04]
Chris Cuomo
Why do you think
- [44:07]
Max Amini
the reason behind it is social media? But really, what's making them to. To love my brand of comedy is that they relate to me. It's just this, this authentic connection and, and they, they really relate to my comedy. And it's fascinating. I mean, I have a Big fan. A massive fan base in Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Albania, Greece. I'm talking about massive numbers. I have a huge audience of Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs of all nationality. You won't be. When I'm on Stage the first 20, 30 minutes, I just go, who's here from this place? And you just hear these big, big number of people in the audience.
- [44:57]
Chris Cuomo
So may celebrate not knowing that you're about to smack them right in the nose with something about who they are and how they are.
- [45:03]
Max Amini
But that part, Chris, is something I never imagined.
- [45:06]
Chris Cuomo
Yeah.
- [45:07]
Max Amini
And it's the biggest gift I think the universe has given me. I'm very grateful for that. And days like this, I come and see you and talk about Iran. And I'm not really a political comedian, but I have to stand by the people of my country. I have to stand by humanity. I have to stand and do everything I can to shed the light on a really bad situation that has happened. So this is a blessing. This is a blessing that I can come in and as an Iranian, all my fans who are non Iranians, they can also learn about what's going on. A beautiful thing that I can. That I can bring awareness to the people that. That are not Iranians.
- [45:51]
Chris Cuomo
You are not a political comic. True. But this has transcended and become existential.
- [46:01]
Max Amini
Yeah.
- [46:02]
Chris Cuomo
You use the word humanity. A service to humanity. Yeah. We've never needed it more. I tell all my creatives in my life, my friends, to be honest, I don't have that many because I do this. You know what I mean? But. And this is like the least creative thing in the world that I do. It's just like, well, what's. What's in right in front of your face. But I tell the creatives, we need the storytelling right now. We need the movies right now. We need the entertainment right now. And sometimes you guys will say, well, look, I also don't want to distract. No, no, no, you're not distracted. You're reminding. There's a difference. Distracting is saying, you know, I'm from Iran, it doesn't matter. Yeah, that's distracting. You know, Iran's not the problem. It's Ohio that, you know, that's a distraction. What you're doing is reminding that there is something about people there and people here that is exactly the same, that matters the same way. That has to be embraced, that has to be fought for. And you, through really circumstance, you check a lot of boxes. That gives you an ability to speak about things that everybody else is kind of speaking out of school. You're kind of guessing you're not. And I don't think what you're doing. I think. I don't believe in luck, but it is good fortune that you are coming into full flower at the same time we happen to need it most. You know what I mean? It could have been Carrot Top that was peeking right now, you know, and it wouldn't have been as beneficial to what we're trying to message here and what we want to be reminded. So it's like, right guy, right time.
- [47:44]
Max Amini
I think about that. I think about that being Carrot Top.
- [47:48]
Chris Cuomo
I see a lot of similarities in the comedy, but he's a little bit more than exactly.
- [47:51]
Max Amini
I need to go to the gym more. I think about that all the time, Chris. And all I can think is I hope that I can deliver what it's meant to be for me in the best possible way into the potential that it's deserved to be. So I think about that all the time.
- [48:10]
Chris Cuomo
And I like the way you're doing it too. I'll say this, thank you very much. I appreciate you. Break a leg. I'm gonna love watching and just keep seeing the ascendance and know that not only are you funny as fuck, but it's the right kind of funny for the right reasons, right mess. I wish you all good things.
- [48:34]
Max Amini
Thank you so much.
- [48:39]
Chris Cuomo
Max is a beautiful example of being a critical thinker, bringing all of his experience. And this is why I'm selling the merch, is to inculcate that as a real virtue that you want a message. You want to wear your independence. You're a critical thinker. You're not some mouth breather, partisan patsy. You're different. You're a free agent. Very cool. That's why Rose has come out with all the merch and the money that comes into it. Trying to keep as much American made as I can. Why put the money together and then we'll give it to things that I'll tell you about that we could all feel good about, right? Doing something good and getting something cool in the process. Good materials, great message. Check out the shop, let me know what you think. Thank you for checking me out on News Nation. 8pmidnight every weekday night in the morning, SXM radio 124, seven to nine drive time. Very cool conversations, really. Driven by the drivers, by the people who are trying to get where they're trying to go. And we're all discussing our collective fate, our collective destination. What matters, what doesn't. When is the trend, your friend? When isn't it. That's what we're all about. That's what the Chris Cuomo project is. We're working on something here, and we're doing it together. So let's get after it.