TCB Infomercial: Maz Jobrani

Summary

The Commercial Break — TCB Infomercial: Maz Jobrani

Date: August 27, 2024
Hosts: Bryan Green, Krissy Hoadley
Guest: Maz Jobrani

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Commercial Break’s “Infomercial” Tuesday series features renowned stand-up comedian and actor Maz Jobrani. The hosts, Bryan and Krissy, blend their signature loose, self-aware improv style with a candid interview about Maz’s comedy career, the evolution of standup in the age of social media, his experiences as an Iranian-American comic, and his takes on crowd work, political humor, and staying creative. The conversation is packed with laughs, personal anecdotes, and reflections on the wild ride of content creation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Being Bald Brothers & Self-Deprecating Humor

• 00:00–01:00 Maz and Bryan kick things off joking about being bald, with Maz humorously lamenting the hope that shampoo will somehow spur new hair growth.
  • Quote: “I still shampoo... in the hopes that every time, the new shampoo just grows a little. Just one. I swear, I go like this and I come out, ‘I think it’s growing!’”—Maz Jobrani [00:21]

The Changing Game of Social Media for Comedians

• 01:02–01:32 Maz reflects on how stand-up exposure has shrunk from hour-long HBO specials to 3-second TikToks.
  • Quote: “Now they say you gotta take 3 seconds of the 1 minute you put on TikTok. People discover you, career things up. And I said to my son, ‘Three seconds? All I can say is, hello, goodbye.’ And my son goes, ‘That’s perfect.’”—Maz Jobrani [01:23]

How Bryan Met Maz & Clubhouse/Fireside Origins

• 01:43–10:46 Bryan tells a story about meeting Maz at an exclusive dinner during the heyday of Clubhouse and later the audio platform Fireside, backed by Mark Cuban. Discussion includes:
  • The fleeting hype cycle of social audio platforms.
  • How Bryan became “Podcaster Semi-Superstar” thanks to Maz mentioning his name on stage.
  • Fireside pitch meetings, Mark Cuban’s involvement, and the podcast industry’s flavor-of-the-month vibe.

Olympics Viewing & Camera Work Riffs

• 12:20–15:44 Maz and the hosts riff on the current Olympics, marveling at events like speed climbing, synchronized swimming, and the split-screen camera shots.
  • Quote: “I played badminton, and I don’t remember us being that aggressive. Ping pong, too—that’s crazy!”—Maz Jobrani [13:06]
  • Maz jokes about club camera work never being able to match Olympic production value.

The Life of a Touring Comic – Joys & Strains

• 16:22–18:49 Maz describes the nuances of constant touring—the rush of being on stage, but the toll of being away from family.
  • He points out the unpredictability of audiences, but the joy in crowd work and organic, conversational performances.
  • Quote: “The actual act of being on stage is fantastic. Being away from home, being away from your routine, all that stuff…gets old the longer you do it.”—Maz Jobrani [16:51]

Handling Hecklers & Political Material

• 19:31–21:57 Maz talks about his shift from reacting confrontationally to hecklers, especially during the Trump presidency, to a Tai Chi-style, non-combative approach.
  • Amusing story about a heckler walking out with his bottle of Evian.
  • Quote: “So in that one you’re talking about where the guy got up and left...first of all, who takes their bottle of water when they leave?”—Maz Jobrani [21:57]

Pioneering as an Iranian-American Comic

• 22:00–25:01 Maz discusses being one of the first, and later most successful, Iranian-American comedians; mentions now seeing a new generation (“handful of us”) on the scene.
  • Reflects on what it’s like to be an inspiration—as younger comedians now approach him recalling watching his sets as kids.
  • Quote: “When I first started, there was no other Iranian American comedians…now there’s, you know, a handful of us. It’s nice.”—Maz Jobrani [22:17]

Maz’s Acting Career & West Wing Anecdotes

• 26:04–32:39 Bryan recalls discovering Maz in “The West Wing” and asks about his transition from acting to comedy.
  • Maz details starting with musical theater, acting to pay the bills, and the surreal experience of working with Martin Sheen and John Spencer on set.
  • Quote: “I got to play the Saudi ambassador…with Martin Sheen and John Spencer. You believed he was the character he was. Is he actually a chief of staff?”—Maz Jobrani [30:38]

Social Media’s Ever-Changing Landscape & Creator Fatigue

• 33:34–37:13 Maz expands on the absurd evolution of content requirements, from HBO hours to TikTok three-second bursts, and how algorithms keep creators on a hamster wheel of trends.
  • Hosts commiserate about rides on Clubhouse, Fireside, and the perpetual search for “the next big thing.”
  • Quote: “Are they real views or what’s going on? I was like, screw it, I’m just gonna stick with what I know.”—Maz Jobrani [35:28]

Physicality & Music in Stand-Up

• 38:41–41:10 Maz and Bryan compare the musicality and physical performance of different comics.
  • Maz opens his shows with a dance to pump up the crowd, and sometimes finds his own stage movement “nervous energy.”
  • Quote: “I find I’m doing a lot of hip thrusts lately and it makes the punchline funnier. I don’t know why.”—Maz Jobrani [39:48]

Building and Retiring Hours – The Challenge for Comics

• 41:12–43:10 Maz details having produced seven hours of stand-up (with “Axis of Evil” as first), and the challenge of always tossing out a tight hour to start over.
  • Quote: “I’m jealous of musicians…they write a song, everybody wants to keep hearing that same song. You write a joke, nobody wants to hear that joke again.”—Maz Jobrani [42:16]

Political Polarization & Comedy’s Fine Line

• 46:25–55:39 Extended discussion about how political divisiveness has changed audiences, especially since 2015/2016.
  • Maz comments on the impossibility of making Trump jokes without splitting the room, preferring a “we’re here to laugh together” approach.
  • Offers international perspective: in America (unlike dictatorships), we should be able to make fun of our leaders.
  • Quote: “If you hear a joke and it’s actually funny, you should laugh. You shouldn’t be so offended…it’s not your grandmother, that leader doesn’t care about you the way you think.”—Maz Jobrani [54:10]

Maz’s Approach to Family, Tech, and Sanity

• 44:04–45:21 Maz relates his strict household phone policy and tech boundaries for kids. Recounts his own phone addiction and how “the phone doesn’t control you, you control the phone.”

Closing Thoughts: Gratitude, Touring, & Identity

• 55:39–56:25 Maz is gracious, reiterates tour dates and the correct pronunciation of his name.
  • Quote: “You will hear some stuff that might be left leaning. You’re going to hear some stuff…not politically correct…ultimately, I want everyone to come and laugh together.”—Maz Jobrani [53:10]

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “You look fucking great, man. Show that head… these guys shampoo. Fuck you… I still shampoo, in the hopes… I think it’s growing!” — Maz Jobrani [00:21]
• “Now they say you got to take 3 seconds of the 1 minute you put on TikTok… All I can say is, hello, goodbye. And my son goes, ‘That’s perfect.’” — Maz Jobrani [01:23]
• “Clubhouse had an addictive quality to it… This is the room that’s going to bring all the listeners… and there’d be like 12 people in the room, all high on something, talking nonsense.” — Bryan Green [04:03]
• “The act of being on stage is fantastic…being away from home…gets old the longer you do it.” — Maz Jobrani [16:51]
• “I gave up on the confrontational [with hecklers]… I said, I’m gonna tai chi these people.” — Maz Jobrani [19:31]
• “As comedians, we try to stay young of mind… you don’t realize how young some people are until they remind you… It’s flattering, but also a reminder you’re getting older… If you have a project, get it done now.”—Maz Jobrani [25:01]
• “It used to be people would complain about only a handful of gatekeepers. Now there’s a million places where you can be seen and found… But these apps also have their own hamster wheel.”—Maz Jobrani [34:07]
• “I’m jealous of musicians… They write a song, everybody wants to keep hearing that same song. You write a joke, nobody wants to hear that joke again.”—Maz Jobrani [42:16]
• “The beauty of this country is that the late night talk show hosts can make fun of leaders. We should be able to make fun of our leaders… in some people’s minds, they are sacred. I will continue to make fun of those leaders whenever I want to.”—Maz Jobrani [55:39]

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Important Segment Timestamps (Approximate)

• [00:00–01:32] Opening banter on baldness & the shrinking attention span of audiences
• [01:43–10:46] Bryan shares story of meeting Maz; Clubhouse/Fireside podcast ecosystem
• [12:20–15:44] Olympics obsessions and production quality commentary
• [16:22–18:49 / 19:31–21:57] Touring, crowd work, and handling hecklers
• [22:00–25:01] Maz’s legacy and impact as a pioneering Iranian-American comic
• [26:04–32:39] Maz’s acting career, West Wing story, artistic journey
• [33:34–37:13] Social media’s shifting demands on comedians
• [38:41–41:10] Dance, movement, and physical comedy
• [41:12–43:10] Constructing and discarding hours of material; the comic’s challenge
• [46:25–55:39] Changing audiences, polarization, and comedy’s cultural role

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Podcast Vibe & Final Words

True to the “Cheesecake Factory of comedy podcasts” description, the episode is a freewheeling, irreverent deep-dive where banter, honesty, and laughter rule. Maz is engaging, humble, and generous with behind-the-scenes stories. The hosts create a laid-back space for real talk about showbiz, family, and the world’s madness.

Maz’s new special, Birds and Bees, is streaming free on YouTube, and he continues to tour extensively into 2025.

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For full show notes, tour links, and social media, visit: MazJobrani.com

Birds and Bees special: Available here (YouTube — free)

Transcript

[Maz Jobrani]

By the way, I'm so sorry that Tehran was making fun of your hair and this is bullshit, okay? Just because we're bald. Look at you, beautiful bald guy. Look at this. I can Tehran with his hair. That's bullshit. Us bald people, come on, we got something. Where's any other bald people? It's just me and you. You. There you go. There you go. Look.

[Brian Green]

You look.

[Maz Jobrani]

You look fucking great, man. Show that head. You know what I'm saying? Fucking we're bald. These guys shampoo. Fuck you. Fucking shampoo bullshit. I'll be honest. No, I'll be honest with you guys. I still shampoo. I swear to God. I swear to God. You know why? I swear in the hopes. I swear in the hopes. Every time I shampoo, I hope that, like the new shampoo that I try just grows a little. Just one. I swear. I go like this and I come out, I'm like, I think I. It's growing. It's grow.

[Brian Green]

Episode of the commercial break.

[Maz Jobrani]

You got to film a one hour comedy special, put it on hbo. People discover you, your career takes off. Then I go, a few years later, they go, you got to take five minutes of the one hour you put on YouTube. People discover you, career takes off. Then I go, they said, you got to take one minute of the five minutes, put on Instagram. People discover you, career takes off. I go, now they say, you got to take 3 seconds of the 1 minute you put on TikTok. People discovery, query things up. And I said, I tell my son. I go, three seconds. I don't even know what to say. All I can say is, hello, goodbye. And my son goes, that's perfect.

[Brian Green]

You know, the next episode of the.

[Maz Jobrani]

Commercial break starts now. Oh, yeah.

[Brian Green]

Cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is the Dorn into my Dakota Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Chrissy, and best to you, Brian. Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us today. TCB infomercial with Maz Giovanni. Very excited. Okay, I'll tell the story now because I don't want to tell it while he's here because I feel a little bit embarrassed about it. But I'll share how I know Maz Gibrani. This was an episode so many years ago, I don't even know when it was. And I probably touched on it since, but Maz Gibrani and I spent a long night together at an exclusive event. Oh, did we? Oh, that bald head. Two bald heads rubbing in the night.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Two old bald heads touching, Watching in the middle of the night, Passing in the night. Maz Gibrani is a very funny stand up comic and actor, quite frankly. He's done a lot of acting also in his life. He's in one of the best indie comedy movies I think has been made. And that is Jimmy Vestwood. And so it's a take on him being Iranian. Go watch it. You can find it. It's lots of places. It's like from 2015 or not. Why would you need to know the year? Jimmy Vestwood with a V. Not Westwood Vestwood at V E S T W O O D O. So Chrissy and I are just at the beginning of our podcast.

[Chrissy Hoadley]

Infancy.

[Brian Green]

Infancy. We were maybe 28 episodes, 29 episodes in. We were. I was head. We were. I was not Chrissy. Chrissy smartly stayed out of this one. But I went headlong into Clubhouse, the audio social application that blew up during the pandemic. The pandemic had just started because we started this week, a week after the lockdowns started.

[Miles]

So we started the podcast, not the podcast.

[Brian Green]

We did not start the pandemic. That was Maz's fault. We'll ask him about that. Yeah, he's Iranian. We'll ask him about that. So we are. I am on Clubhouse. Probably a month or two after we start the podcast, I get invited to Clubhouse.

[Miles]

It was an exclusive invitation.

[Brian Green]

It was an exclusive invitation for me and two and a half million other people.

[Miles]

I remember you saying to me, like, I can get you an invitation.

[Brian Green]

Oh, you had to have an invitation.

[Miles]

And I got on there and I was like, and what?

[Brian Green]

You know, you know. So Allison, my friend said you. Have you heard of Clubhouse? I got an invitation. I think I can get you one. And I was like, an invitation. This sounds exciting. I know.

[Miles]

Well, of course, whenever there's an invitation and you don't have it.

[Brian Green]

Yes. She's like, they're saying it's the new podcasting. And I'm saying, well, I'm new to podcasting, so I'm gonna go to another place. Okay, cool. But I was interested and I ADM admit it was Clubhouse had an addictive quality to it because I literally spent days on end. I was. Did not have a crystal meth habit, but I should have. Someone would ping me into that room at three in the morning and I'd be there. I'd wake up and I'd be like sneaking off. And as they'd be like, where you go? We have a two month old child and I'D be like, this is the room. This is the room that's going to get me the note. This is the room that's going to bring all the listeners this room. And there'd be like 12 people in the room, all high on something, talking nonsense, conspiracy theories, I don't know. Anyway, Clubhouse becomes a thing. I get an invite from Allison. Then all of a sudden they're giving like 20 invites to everyone who got an invite. So it became unexclusive really quickly. But, you know, millions and millions of people, I think 20 million people in like a three month period joined Clubhouse.

[Miles]

Yeah, it was the fastest growing, I remember reading about it, social media ever.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

And.

[Brian Green]

And then the fastest dying. Blue agrees too. The mention of Clubhouse and Blue. I gotta get some sleep because Blue would lay at my feet for hours on end while I was doing Clubhouse. So, okay, so Clubhouse. Then all of a sudden we're not even on Clubhouse for like two months. And then all of the sudden the whispers start, whisper campaign for this thing called Fireside. Fireside. Have you heard about it? It's gonna be the new Clubhouse. The new Clubhouse is Fireside. But it's like hbo. If Clubhouse is like upn, then. Then Fireside is going to be HBO and they're going to give you money and all the sponsorships and all this other stuff. And I was like, oh. And then to be fair, it was.

[Miles]

Backed by Mark Cuban and still is.

[Brian Green]

And still is backed by Mark.

[Miles]

And so that's a big name.

[Brian Green]

It's a big name and somebody we like. Yeah, hey, listen, I, I like, you know, whatever that show is successful. Yeah, he's had, he's had a, he's had a run. Therefore he's doing okay. Except for that Doji coin, as President Trump would say. Doji dog with an e. Doji. So then lo and behold, an invite comes into my inbox, into the general inbox of the commercial break. We like the commercial break. We want you over at Fireside, meet with the CEO Fallon Fatemi. And I did. And she had a pitch and man, did that pitch. Just my eyes glazed over. I had stars literally blowing.

[Miles]

I remember having the, having the, being in on the. Maybe it wasn't the first pitch, but the second.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah.

[Miles]

And I mean, they had a well run machine over there and she's super smart and you know, Marcus. And so there was a lot of buzz around. It was supposed to be a mix between. You were going to let the, the people, the listeners interact with you. And it was kind of a self, self Contained podcast, where you could do.

[Brian Green]

Video, podcasting and audio and push it.

[Miles]

Out to all the rss.

[Brian Green]

It was like a podcast with a clubhouse, future of interaction. And. And they were going to choose the creators who would be able to be on there. Like clubhouse. Anybody could start a room, which was part of why it became so successful. So they took that part where you get successful out of Fireside.

[Miles]

Well, they were trying to cut out like hateful hate. Hate things.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, they didn't want a lot of. And trash. And they don't want people opening up rooms at 3:30 in the morning for conspiracy theories. They wanted it to be more of like appointment listening or streaming or whatever you want to call it. Okay, great, Wonderful. So very quickly I become embedded in the Fireside kind of group. And then I don't know, two, three weeks after we had just been introduced to Fireside, I get an invitation from Fallon to go to a dinner, like an exclusive dinner at one of the podcasting conferences. And Mark Cuban may or may not be one of the guests at the dinner. And so I had no intention of going to this podcast conference because we were brand new. I didn't have enough money to go to the podcast conference. I didn't care that much. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But I got convinced. My wife and Allison, a couple other people, you must go to this dinner. Blue agreed then too. Yeah, she said, get the fuck out. Stop that clubhouse bullshit. Get on fireside. So you. One hour a day instead of 12. So I ran up to Nashville. I went, I checked into the hotel room, went straight to the dinner. And Mark was there with Maz Gibrani, who was going to be the interviewer on the keynote address at this conference a couple days later. So Miles and I got to know each other a little bit one night, you know, a little bit.

[Miles]

And then that's the night you spent together.

[Brian Green]

We spent together. We were hugging and cuddling and doing what men do.

[Miles]

Having drinks.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, doing what men do. Having drinks and texting my wife obscene things. And then. And then. And then a couple of days later, he gives his keynote address or Mark and Fallon are interviewed by Maz on stage. And Maz drops my name a couple of times, I guess because I might have said something interesting that. Whatever. Anyway, so this is how I know Maz Gibrani. And ever since then, I have followed Maz. I find it to be very funny. His social media is hilarious.

[Miles]

He's been in the game for a while. He's a season pro. And yeah.

[Brian Green]

And so when the opportunity came to get Maz on the show, of course we jumped at it. And Maz gibrani.com is where you can go to get tickets to his tour, which is never ending. He's a journeyman. He's always out there on the road. He's super successful, so he sells out rooms all over the place. And last check, he has dates through 2025. So if you are somewhere close to a major city or a secondary city, he's coming. So please check out those tickets. Also, Birds and Bees is his new special on YouTube. Absolutely free, no charge, no shipping and handling. This guy will let you watch his comedy for free. It's an hour and 15 minutes long. I guarantee you're going to be laughing. And then he's an author. He's. He's been in so television shows and movies. And I guarantee that if you look up Maz, you're going to know who he is. You have seen some of his material because he's just one of those comics very prolific. So let's do this. Why don't we take a break And Maz is going to be here with us, you know, now, because that's what we do. We go into the awkward transition phase. You listen to a couple of commercials. We the magic, see if we can technically make Sprinkle Dust.

[Miles]

The quantum witch does her magic.

[Brian Green]

A little bit of Mazda Brony, some.

[Maz Jobrani]

Rachel Platin and Riverside.

[Brian Green]

And sorry, out of order. Sorry, you're technically in a. Please update. I've been telling you for months to update, update, update, but you didn't listen, did you? So now, wham. You have to do this interview twice. That's a different story for a different day. Our apologies to the platinum team, but we'll figure it out. Okay, so let's do this. Let's take a break and we'll be back with Maz.

[Miles]

Let's do it right after this.

[Chrissy Hoadley]

Okay, you guys, I have an idea. Why don't we take a break? Gotcha. This is the break and you already know when you hear my sexy voice, it's time to whip your phone out and follow us on Instagram or skip the ads at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCV podcast. And of course, you know, if you want to get involved, you can always give us a call or text us at 212-4333, TCB. That is 212-433-3822. And guess what? I finally have information on TCB Live. So the links are in the show notes. But let me tell you right now, you can come see us at Dania beach improv on Tuesday, September 24, or at the Funny Bone Orlando on Wednesday, September 25. It's gonna be fab. So go buy your tickets and we'll see you in Florida.

[Brian Green]

Maz, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. How are you, my friend?

[Maz Jobrani]

I am well. How, you know, life is good. Just busy touring. How are you guys doing?

[Brian Green]

We're good.

[Miles]

Doing great.

[Brian Green]

We're doing great. We're Olympic crazy.

[Miles]

Here at the commercial, I can stop watching it. There's so much to see. It's so entertaining.

[Maz Jobrani]

It is entertaining to watch. I've been. I've been touring and I've had a lot going on. So every time I sit on a couch, I'll turn it on. I was used to every time I sit on a couch, I would turn on the news. Yes. Now I'm like, all right, let me. Let me get past the news and get in the Olympics. And then depending on what it is, some of the events are amazing. They're all amazing. I mean, I would say when you watch. When I watch badminton, it makes me want to swat flies.

[Miles]

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

[Brian Green]

It's that badminton, I don't know. They play it so fucking fast and furious. And I remember playing badminton, and I don't remember us being that aggressive. And ping pong, too. That ping pong is crazy.

[Miles]

The fast. I watched rock climbing the other night, and I mean, they go up in like four seconds.

[Brian Green]

Speed cloud.

[Miles]

The speed climbing.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So much, so much. So many interesting things. The things that you didn't, like, realize, like. And they. They were doing the team synchronized swimming, and I was just seeing highlights online. And I don't know if you saw, like, the U.S. i don't know. I think it was a U.S. team. One of these teams that was like, doing the Michael Jackson moonwalk.

[Brian Green]

The U.S. team.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

That's insane.

[Maz Jobrani]

Insane, man.

[Brian Green]

So on one of the video, like on one of the YouTube channels, they have cameras that are underwater and cameras that are above. So they show you, like a split screen. Those girls are underwater. I saw that, like, I don't know what seems like 18 minutes at a time. I don't know how long it is, but it seems like 18 minutes at a time. And I can't. I can't swim from one end of a pool to the other underwater. And I'm like, Jesus Jones.

[Maz Jobrani]

Dude.

[Brian Green]

Takes a lot of training and the.

[Maz Jobrani]

Camera work and everything too. I just. I just did shows in Houston where, you know, as comedians. Now we set up our cameras and we film ourselves so that we can get crowd work and post it on Social. So at the club, I just got one of the guys working there. I was like, listen, when I go on stage, all you gotta do is hit play, you know, hit record. Just make sure that I'm in focus and we're good to go. Yeah. And I just gave the stuff to my editor. My editor's like, you're not in focus. And I'm like, these guys are filming stuff underwater. We can't get one shot in focus. Come on, man.

[Brian Green]

My son is, like, fascinated on the track. How that have that little thing that sits on the track right next to it, and it follows it as fast as it goes. And he's like, what's that, dad? And I'm like, it's an actual camera, and they could do it in focus, and then they can figure out who won, whose chest came across the line first. And you're so right. We've been doing this podcast for almost five years, and we still don't know how to center ourselves.

[Miles]

Are we off?

[Brian Green]

Are we off? Are we in center? Are we off?

[Maz Jobrani]

And by the way, that. That. That. Speaking of, you know, photo finishes, that photo finish, I had to go read about it because I was like, wait a minute. The other guy's toe is ahead of his toe.

[Brian Green]

Oh, yeah, the 100 meter.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah. And it's the torso, it's not the toe. It's like, oh, my God.

[Brian Green]

I did not know that, Maz, until I actually read about it, because I was also confused. I was like, wait, the other guy came in first. I thought it was whichever body part touched. And that's why they kind of lean their heads in. And. No, it's about. It's all about the torso. And I don't know. I feel like the Paris Olympic. You know, there's a lot. We've all been alive for a minute, and we've seen a lot of Olympics, but I feel like the Paris Olympics, to me, is the most engaging in a long time.

[Maz Jobrani]

They're doing a good job.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Except the Atlanta Olympics, where I spend most of it drunk.

[Maz Jobrani]

But also, you got to realize. You got to realize that somehow the timing works out for us. So, like, when they have evening stuff, it's a daytime here. And now you've got NBC, and then you got Peacock, and then you got usa. Like, they got so many places that are covering it. So I think it might be like this from here on Out. Unless, you know, once in a while for us, when they've got those, like when the hours are so wacky where you're like, ah, you know, three in the morning, everything's happening.

[Brian Green]

The China one was a little confusing because I couldn't watch anything. It was all at 2 in the morning. It was like 12 hours behind us.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Maz, you're an incredibly successful standup comedian. Been doing this for, for a minute and you're. I was looking on your website this morning and I see you have dates out until February 2025 too. So you're like the journeyman, right? You're always doing this, you're always on the road. And how do you feel about that so many years later after doing this? Do you love the part of it being on the road? I know you have a family at home. I can't imagine what my wife would think about. She'd probably like it actually.

[Maz Jobrani]

Get out of here. No, it's, you know, the actual act of being on stage is fantastic. Being away from home, being away from your family, being away from your routine, all that stuff definitely gets old the longer you do it. You know, in my mind I go, well, even if I were home and let's say working on a TV show or something, I'd be working crazy hours. So you got to keep working. So I do feel lucky that I get a chance to go on stage as soon as like, you know, we have like the intro music hit, you're on stage and now you're like, oh, this is fantastic. You know, again, I just did in Houston, we did five shows over the weekend.

[Brian Green]

Five shows in Houston?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah. You do two Friday, two at the clubs. You do two Friday, Saturday, one Sunday, right? Yeah, yeah. So it's just like, like I said every time I'm on stage and like, you know, let's say you have a, you have two shows on Friday, for example. Friday. This is actually a great example. Usually Friday Late show is the worst crowd for comedians because people are tired, they're drunk, they've already gone and eaten and all that. As a matter of fact, I think Steve Martin, when he wrote his book about stand up comedy, he said one of the reasons he quit comedy was the Friday late crowd because he said too much. But, but just to show you how we're surprised, this past weekend, our Friday Late crowd was one of our best crowds of the weekend. And it was fun for me because they were so fun, they had so much energy, they were giving me energy and I had a great time and Then also because, you know, I like to talk to the audience as the show goes on. That makes it fun for me. If I were just up there, you know, just reciting the same thing over and over again, I might not be as into it, but once I'm feeling like we're having a dialogue and I'm like, let me tell you. And now I'm doing a bit, but I'm talking to a group that I feel is interested in it, and they've been talking to me.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

You know what I'm saying? So all that stuff is pretty. Pretty lucky stuff.

[Brian Green]

You're a very conversational comic, and I like that about you. And the crowd work is interesting. I watched a reel where Maz said something, which I didn't see in the real necessarily, but said something, and somebody walked. Walked out on you. And he's like, not funny. Not funny, dude. And I don't know what you said to him because I don't think that real cut up. Like, it started before whatever you had interacted, but you were like, come on back, man. This has never happened to me before. Like, come on back. You were begging him, but in a way that wasn't, like, snarky. It was earnest and organic and sincere. You're like, wait, wait, we can talk it out. And I just. I found that to be really engaging. I don't know. That real really got to me because, you know, most comics would, ah, off, dude. See you later. You know?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah. You know, I gave up. I gave up on the, like, confrontational. So early on in. In Trump's first presidency, I was doing material about him and some audience member got mad, and then we started arguing, and then it just derailed the whole show. And I said, you know what? I'm not gonna do that anymore. I said, I'm gonna. I'm gonna tai chi these people. So if you're. If you're ever bored, you wanna see another moment of dealing with a heckler, just put drunk Trump heckler. And it comes up where this lady, towards the end of my set, she'd been with me the whole show, and then she just starts going, I'm offended by what you're saying about our president. And I cheated. Rather than being like, screw you. I was like, I saw this.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

I was just like, hey, you know, what a great country, that you can be offended. I can be offended. I was like, this is a great. And she kept going and going. I was like, listen, I just got two more Trump jokes. You don't have to stay. You could go.

[Brian Green]

I saw this.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah. So I try to deal with it that a little bit. So in that one that you're talking about where the guy got up and left, that was just. I didn't know why he left. The truth is, the comedian before me was this younger comedian, and he was telling a story of when he was in high school. He got upset at the principal, and he. And he left his backpack in the principal's office, and he stormed out, and he said something to the principal or something, and then he. And then he had to come back a little later to get the backpack. He's like, I'm sorry, can I just get my backpack? And I just. As a comedian, I'm standing off stage, and I was like, oh, you know what? I'm gonna riff off of his joke just to riff before I even get into my act. And I was like. I was like, you know, I was like, you know, he was able to leave his backpack. He's a white. White person. Came back and got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I go, if as a brown person, as someone from the Middle east, if I left my backpack, it's kind of a hacky joke, but it was just more of a let me land kind of a joke. I said, listen, if I left my backpack, you know, who knows who they'd call? You know? And then there was a.

[Miles]

The bomb squad.

[Maz Jobrani]

Exactly. And then. And then there was a guy in the front row who was also Middle Eastern descent, but was a really big. And had a big beard, and he looked the part even more. I go, can you imagine if this guy left his backpack? So I'm just riffing, riffing, riffing. And at some point, the guy behind him gets up and he grabs his bottle of wine. He had a tall bottle of Evian. He grabs his bottle of Evian, grabs his girlfriend, and they walk out. And I go, where are you going? He goes, I don't like you. And I was like. I go. I go, first of all, who takes their bottle of water when they're like.

[Brian Green]

You know what I'm saying? He's like, I paid for it.

[Maz Jobrani]

Exactly. So to this day, I don't know why he walked out.

[Brian Green]

It was weird. You're born in Tehran, moved to California early in life, six or seven years old. Did I read?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah. I'm six years old.

[Brian Green]

So you're six years old when you move here. Would it be a stretch to call you maybe the most successful Iranian comic?

[Maz Jobrani]

I mean, yeah, ye.

[Brian Green]

You could.

[Maz Jobrani]

You know, it's interesting because I started doing this 20 now, 26 years ago. So when I first started, there was no other Iranian American comedians. There was one guy in England, his name's Omid Djalili, who's a friend of mine as well. He'd been starting around the same time and then. But then I was happy to see as the years went by, more and more people started coming in and coming in, and now there's, you know, a handful of us who are doing it and doing it with different styles even, you know, there's one guy named Amir K. Who had always open for me in the past. He's very funny. He's now on the road with Theo Vaughn. There's another guy named Max Amini, who I know.

[Brian Green]

Max.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah. Max is doing great online and touring again. Another friend. My opening act is a guy named Tehran. He's half black, half Persian. Yeah, yeah. So there's a lot. There's a handful of us coming through. There's a female Iranian comedian named Melissa Shoshahi. She's coming through.

[Brian Green]

So it's just nice from Clubhouse, right? He hit it big in Clubhouse, didn't he? Tehran.

[Maz Jobrani]

Tehran. Tehran became huge in Clubhouse was Right? Tehran was. It was interesting because Tehran was my co host on a podcast we were doing, Called Back to School with Maz Jobrani. We stopped doing them, but he was my co host. And it's funny because when Clubhouse was out, he was on there all the time. And I just remember one time we were supposed to interview somebody, let's say like 10 in the morning, and he's not coming on. And I. And I go on Clubhouse, and his name's in a room on Clubhouse. So then I send a message. I go, guys, is Tehran in the Clubhouse? And they're like. They're like, no. He kept his name on his phone on, but he's playing basketball. And I was like, what's going on?

[Brian Green]

Clubhouse went shit crazy for a while there. You, me, Leah, Lamar, Tyron, like, everybody was in that thing 24 hours a day for a minute. But I want to get back to the. To the Iranian comic thing. Do people come up to you? Do other Iranian comics? Do they come up to you and say, say, hey, we talked to Margaret Cho, who's a living.

[Miles]

I was thinking about that too. The parallel.

[Brian Green]

Margaret told us that she is now at the point in her career where a lot of comics come up to her and say, you inspired me, as when I was a kid, or you inspired me to get up on stage, or I knew I could do it. Once I saw you do it and talk about these things that were organic and authentic to you and your life. Do people come up and they looked like her?

[Miles]

Yeah, yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

No, definitely. Because again, when I started, like, even when I was a kid, there was. You know, the only person we had was the Iron Sheik in wwf.

[Miles]

That's right.

[Maz Jobrani]

He's great. He did something for me for my special where he cursed me out. It was great. Exactly.

[Brian Green]

That's crazy. On the stage show.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I do get that. As a matter of fact, it's funny because I forget, you know, as comedians, one of the things that we do is try to stay young of mind. Meaning, like, you know, we're trying to stay current, we're trying to talk about what's going on, and quite often, you find yourself in a green room or somewhere talking to a bunch of comedians of all ages, and you don't realize how young some people are until they remind you. So I just remember I was driving one time with my opening act, and we're driving back, and this guy's. He's actually half Indian, half Persian. His name's Omit Singh. And he was driving and he's like, man, I used to watch you when I was in junior high school or something like that. He's like. He's like, it's so cool that I'm opening for you. And I was like, wait a minute. I go, how old are you again? He's like, I'm 24. I go, oh, my God. I'm like 20 years older than you. This is like 10 years ago. So, yeah, you get that. And it's flattering. And it's also a reminder that you're getting older. And if you have any projects, get them done now. Don't wait. Great.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, Amen.

[Maz Jobrani]

We.

[Brian Green]

We. We feel you. We're right there. Right there with you. You know, one of the things that Maz is not only a talented standup comedian, but also an actor. And I want to share this story with you. So you and I. I've told this story to the audience. Probably, actually. Probably to no audience, because it was right after you and I met and no one was listening. Maz and I met at a dinner that we were invited to. Well, he was host. He was part of the crew that was hosting, but I was invited to a dinner for Fireside with Fallon Fatemi, Mark Cuban, and then Maz. Maz Gibrani.

[Maz Jobrani]

I was about to say Gibraltar. You got it.

[Brian Green]

Mazda Brownie. And so Maz was doing a keynote speech at a podcast conference, and I was attending, and so we got to do dinner the night before, and Maz was incredible. And Maz did it. Maz and I chatted for a while, as did Mark Cuban and I. And it was a really neat experience in the kind of an intimate setting, you know, I don't know, 50 people or 40 people or something like that. And so. So a couple of days. So a couple of days after. A couple of days after that, when Maz goes up on stage and he start. I don't know if you remember this Maz, but you guys went up on stage, and you and I had been talking. We've been talking about this app, Fireside. And you get up, and during the keynote speech, as you're talking to Mark and Fallon, you start mentioning my name. You're like, where is Brian?

[Maz Jobrani]

Brian.

[Brian Green]

Brian Green. Brian. Brian Green. You start saying my name, like, multiple times.

[Maz Jobrani]

I vaguely remember that. Why was it say that? What was going on?

[Brian Green]

Because. I don't know. I think, honestly, because I said something that maybe you found interesting about Fireside. Like, I had mentioned something I found interesting about Fireside, but you said that. And that led some people in the audience to think that I was something that I was not. Like, I had some kind of connection with Maz and. And Mark and Felon. So I became like a Semi Superstar for 30 seconds until they realized I had nothing interesting to say. And I always appreciated that. But I have watched the West Wing, and here's where the kind of the point of the story. I had watched the West Wing multiple times. Like, I've watched it, rewatched it, rewatched it, rewatched it. And I didn't realize until my third rewatch, shortly after you and I met, maybe a month or two after that, you actually were in an episode of the West Wing. And I was like, holy shit, is that Ma? That is Maz. That was. How did you land that role? Like, did you want to be an actor? Do you. I mean, I think one of your. I think you have a movie that's fucking hilarious. Jimmy Vestwood, by the way.

[Maz Jobrani]

Oh, thanks, man. I appreciate it.

[Brian Green]

I love it. I think it's a cult classic. It's. It's one of my favorite indie comedy films. But did you want to be an actor or a comedian? Or did you just.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, no, I. I started. So back in the day, I was a big fan of Eddie Murphy's, and then I wanted to be a comedian. And then coming from an immigrant family, they go. They're like, no, you got to be a lawyer or doctor, you know, that kind of stuff. And so when I was 12, I started doing musicals at school and I loved being on stage. So I was actually an actor before I was a comedian. And then throughout high school, I did plays. And then when I went to college, I did political science to please my parents, but I still took a acting class. And so there was a lot of. There was always acting. And then when I first decided to finally go for it, I did my acting, was paying for my comedy. Because when you first start with stand up comedy, you know, the local clubs will pay you, like, you know, 10 bucks, 15 bucks to do 15 minutes. You're not making a living. Yeah, so what would happen is I'd get like a guest star here, guest star there. The first guest star I got was in Malcolm in the Middle. And then I'd get other ones. Other ones, other ones. So I pop up in things here and there. And then the West Wing one was cool because I got to play the Saudi ambassador to the United nations to the United States and have a scene with Martin Sheen and John Spencer. And it was really like, you know, hold it in kind of acting. And yeah, yeah, it was cool, man. I mean, I'm down for more. If, you know, Martin Scorsese's watching, I'm available.

[Brian Green]

West Wing, to me, is one of the most brilliant television, dramatic television shows that's ever been made, Certainly one of the best that's ever been written, at least the first four or five seasons by Aaron Sorkin. What was it like to be on set, set with. I just always wanted to ask you this. What was it like to be on set with Martin Sheen and John Spencer, who is, in my opinion, the best in that. In that cast and then ensemble cast and the best of the best. John Spencer's got to be up there.

[Maz Jobrani]

Well, yeah, you, you, you got to, like, you believed he was the character he was. That's always these. These great actors where you go, is that guy actually. Is he actually in. Does he actually work at the White House? Like, is he, you know, is he really a chief of staff that he just brought in? Almost feels like a documentary, matter of fact. Just side note, if you remember the first Beverly Hills Cop, the guy who plays Axel Foley's police chief, who's yelling at him, Axel, all that? I think he was either a mayor of Detroit or he had some.

[Brian Green]

He was an ex, was a police chief. I just read this because they put Netflix, you know, Eddie Murphy did a reboot with On Netflix and I read that he had passed away, but he was like one of the only guys that wasn't invited back because he obviously there was no where do you send the invitation. So. But I read that he was an actual police chief and someone was opining about how he played the role so brilliantly. Probably because he understood it that.

[Maz Jobrani]

But also he ended up in some kind of big corruption. I don't know if you saw that too. Yeah, it got all crazy. But you got to read more about it. But John Spencer was great and Martin Sheenan and it was interesting because at the end the time I was doing a play at the Mark Taper Forum here in Los Angeles and I had a small part in the play, but I was able to do this because it was a one day guest star. You just go and do it. And of course I'm going in to do a scene with these two legends. I'm going to be off book whether they're, whether the legends are there or not. I'm going to be off book because yeah, especially as a guest star, you're not going to show up and be like, hey guys, just give me a few minutes, you know, can we run these, run lines with me. So I was off book and then Josh Spencer was funny because he came up to me, kind of gave me a nice compliment. He's like, you know, it's always great working with theater actors because they come in prepared. And I was like, I was like, yes, sir, I am a theater actor.

[Brian Green]

Yes sir. I have a script I could borrow real quick.

[Maz Jobrani]

Exactly. So it was funny.

[Brian Green]

It was a great turn. And in a weird turn of kind of. Art imitates life. Life imitates art. He has famously has a heart attack in the show and a year later had a heart attack and passed away, which was. Yeah, yeah. In the. John Spencer, as the chief of staff had a heart attack, which then changed his role completely. And then he actually passed away while filming the last season of wow. Of the West Wing from a heart attack. What they call a widowmaker, if you will. Maz, I've been checking out bits and pieces of your new special birds and bees use, which is available on YouTube completely free by the way. So go ahead and, and check it out listeners out there in the podcast universe. I. One of the things you said that I thought was very interesting and resonated with me was he said back in the day they said that if you, you, you tell it. They said back in the day if you create an hour.

[Maz Jobrani]

Oh yeah.

[Brian Green]

For an age for an HBO special, you tell. I don't want to take your joke from you.

[Maz Jobrani]

Well, I'm not going to tell. I mean, it's basically. It was. So the current tour I'm doing is different from the what, what I did in the Birds of the Beast. So I haven't done that Birds and the Bees material in a while. But, but the gist of it was how TikTok and all these new social media sites that come on, they just get shorter and shorter. And I said, you know, when I first started, they said, you know, you got to film a one hour comedy special, put it on hbo. People discover you, your career takes off. Then I go, a few years later, they go, you got to take five minutes of the one hour you put on YouTube. People discover you, career takes off. Then I go, they said, you got to take one minute of the five minutes, put on Instagram. People discover you, career takes off. I go, now they say, you gotta take three seconds of the one minute you put on TikTok. People discover you create things up. And I said, tell my son. I go, three seconds. I don't even know what to say. All I can say is, hello, goodbye. And my son goes, that's perfect. You know, that's so true. Yeah, but, I mean, but ironically, some of these apps now want you to do longer. And you know what's crazy about it? It's like we are. It used to be people would complain about, like, oh, there's only a handful of gatekeepers, you gotta, you know, if you wanna end up on the network and all that stuff. Now, of course, there's a million places where you can be seen and found. But these apps also have their own kind of chasing the, you know, the hamster wheel thing. Yeah. Because every once in a while, you guys seen it, there's always somebody going like, did you hear TikTok is now doing horizontal videos? So a friend of mine who was doing well on there, he goes, you should post videos horizontally on TikTok. And I did, and they looked horrible. They just looked really small. But they were getting views because for some reason TikTok was like, oh, look, we're gonna push it and get more views. It's getting more views, fewer comments. So I'm like, so are they real views or what's going on? And I was like, you know what, screw it, I'm just gonna stick with what I know.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, well, I, you know, your relationship with social media is good, I would imagine, because it's, you do get a lot of views on your social media. And. But I. I get the. I get it in a bigger sense that, like, you know, Chrissy and I start podcasting, and we're trying to grow an audience, so, you know, we're going to do the things that we know to do audio wise. So clubhouse comes, and then we go do clubhouse. And then I spend a million hours in clubhouse, Almost get a divorce, ignore my children, probably miss the birth of two of them. And then clubhouse just dissipates overnight. It goes nowhere.

[Miles]

Text me and be like, get in my room now.

[Brian Green]

Get in my room now. Chris's like, I'm not.

[Maz Jobrani]

What?

[Brian Green]

I'm not doing that. You do. You be an idiot.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

You chase that dragon. You're going to be rich. If you just do more clubhouse rooms, we're all going to be rich. Soon. Coca Cola is going to be sponsoring every room, and then on to Fireside and then on to the next. And then on to Twitter spaces and then on to the next thing and the next thing. And I understand that's the nature of the kind of Silicone Valley is you got to always be chasing the next high, so to speak.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And. And then it's the same thing with social media. What's the next big trend? Put stickers on, do shorter videos, do longer videos. I just read this morning in, like, a podcast rag, the number one way that people discover podcasts, YouTube. And YouTube is now saying, the longer the video, the better. Well, that's not what they were saying five years ago. They were saying, don't make it over a minute or you're not gonna get any views. And it's just insane. It's hard to keep up with that. And so I think our kind of. Our philosophy is because. Become. Just be steady Eddie. Just do what you know to do. And if you. If you win, you win. And if you lose, well, at least you gave it the best shot you could. Doing what you know how to do. Stay in your lane when it's like.

[Maz Jobrani]

It's like the stock market, you know, like, we all. I mean, I'm not an expert. I can't tell you what's going up, when it's going down, all that stuff. But for the most part, if you talk to people who. Who are supposed to give us advice, they say, stay in it for the long run. And that's why you also should be enjoying it now. If you're able to enjoy it and you're able to hit a sweet spot where you're actually making some income off of it, you won now if you're able to enjoy it, make some income off of it and then, you know, have that income buy you a house, you're a superstar. I mean, it's so you're right. And to the point of like, you know, MySpace came and went. I'm always like thinking, well, what happens if tomorrow Instagram's like, we're done. Like, oh well, there goes all those followers.

[Brian Green]

So yeah, don't be a one legged table is what I would often say, say to people. Even though I feel like we are one. Like a table that's like, you know, that's what it is. Hey Maz, I wanted to mention something. You know, since we met, I've watched a lot, I've been following you and I watch a lot of your comedy. You're very dancy on stage. You, you dance, you, you have a lot of musicality to your mute to your movements. And I've often, I've said this or had. We've talked to a lot of comedians and I've said this, that some comedians are really, I find them to be very musical right there, there's intonation, then they go up and down and they miss a beat and they take a beat and they, you know, all that other stuff. But I see you as like a very physical, not like slapstick comedy, but you're always dancing on stage and moving. Were you doing a lot of dancing in the house when you were kids?

[Maz Jobrani]

No. I don't know if that comes from like being nervous on stage. I'm not quite sure what it is. I mean, the truth is like when I perform in la, like in town. Excuse me, When I perform in town, there's no music when you, there's a little bit of music when you go up, but there's no like dancing and stuff. But when I perform on my headlining shows or my specials, I started with a dance and that and I've found that that gets the energy going. People are like clapping and stuff.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

And so I'm already got them here and then we can go, you know. But I still, still keep moving. I remember watching Chris Rock, I think it was, Gosh, I forget which movie. Maybe it was bringing the pain. He was walking around the stage a lot.

[Brian Green]

I was like, oh, that's like a tiger.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I thought, you know what? I go moving around is kind of cool. I like that because I think some people like very. They'll just have the mic stand the whole time, which, although that's, that focuses attention as well, you know. But I do, I think sometimes, like the physicality adds. I find I'm doing a lot of hip thrusts lately and it makes, it makes the punchline funnier. I don't know. Walk.

[Brian Green]

I find it to be. Yeah, me too. I like a good. You know, I saw Chris live this last tour that he did in a. Like a 4,000 seat venue here in Atlanta, and we were up pretty close and he just. The way he moves around this. He owns the stage, but he moves and commands your attention, like he demands your attention. Not only is he just that kind of person, but then it's. There's something very, something very visual about what he's doing. Yeah. And then. But there are a lot of comics who are literally stuck to the ground and some of them are funny too, but I think I prefer a little bit of.

[Miles]

A little bit of movement and hip thrusting.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah. Add.

[Maz Jobrani]

You know, it's funny you guys say that because in the moat, the most recent iteration of my stand up, I show comments I'm getting on social media and then I make fun of them. Them. Yeah. And one lady commented. She goes. It says something like, she. It said like, maz, when you move around stage, it. You move around stage a lot. It makes me nervous. It feels like you always have to go pee. Can you do something about it? I just pee before.

[Brian Green]

So you're out on tour right now, working on the next hour of comedy, I'm sure for the, for the next, next special. How many, how many hours have you put together since you started this?

[Maz Jobrani]

I think I have seven. Seven. The first one was a group one, so let me just count it real while I'm with you guys. I always forget.

[Brian Green]

So was that Access of Evil?

[Maz Jobrani]

That was Access of Evil, you know. Brian, you're on it, man.

[Brian Green]

I stalked you after we met. Give me 15 minutes of fan.

[Miles]

You were so excited when you came back.

[Maz Jobrani]

So there was actually Evo, then my first solo was Brown and Friendly. Then I said, I come in Peace. Then I said, I'm not a terrorist, but I played one on T. It was Immigrant, then it was Pandemic Warrior, and then it was Birds and the Beast. So seven, if you include that first one, that was kind of the group. Yeah, yeah, the group.

[Brian Green]

So that's got to be an incredibly difficult thing to do. We've talked to a few comics about this too. It's got to be difficult. You put this hour together and you whittle it down and you massage it and you figure out this joke goes better here and I'll Place this one there. And here's my closer. And here's my opening. And here's a little wiggle room in the middle. And then you got it. And then you just kind of toss it. Is that keep you, like. I'm sure that also keeps the creative juices flowing, right? Is that's part of the game?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, you have to. You have to. I would say, like, I'm jealous of musicians. They write a song, everybody wants to keep hearing that same song. Yeah, you write a joke, nobody wants to hear that joke again. Maybe once or twice. But for the most part, every time your special comes out. I've had so many times where a special came out. I'm watching, oh, this is great. And we get it came together, people watching. And then I go, oh, I gotta write new stuff completely.

[Brian Green]

Start over again. Yeah, Eddie Brill. Do you know Eddie Brill, the guy who used to book Letterman?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

So Eddie Brill used to say to me, he used to say, if you can be a comic and put together one solid hour in your entire career, you consider yourself successful. So those who do it repeatedly are at the top of their, like, are at the top of our game. Those comedians who can continue to refine and massage and come up with new ideas and continue to be creative. I find you to be very funny, Maz.

[Maz Jobrani]

Well, I appreciate that, Brian. But also I will say that there's. There's a couple of factors involved. Number one is hopefully, if you're able to have a fan base that watches or follows or buys or supports or whatever, that helps. So there are some brilliant comedians who just never quite found that fan base. So maybe they're not putting together as many. I was lucky that I had a fan base that was willing to watch my stuff stuff. The other thing I will say is that as your life evolves, you hope that you write new stuff because you get bored of the old stuff. And also your life changes. So you look at my early specials. I'm talking about my kids being babies now I'm talking about my kids being teenagers. So I would hope you would evolve just for your own sanity.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, sure.

[Maz Jobrani]

You know, some guys don't. Some guys are stuck. Guys and gals are stuck in their jokes from 20 years ago. And to me, that's like, like, like, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

Do your kids, like, talk skibidy and all that? Are they, like, into all that? You know? Have you seen. Have you seen the Tik Tok videos where they're like skibidy doo. And you got raz and Riz, they speak a secret language you don't understand.

[Maz Jobrani]

I've heard a little bit of it. They'll like, you know, but they're. My daughter's 13, my son's 16. So once in a while, they'll tell me something that's like a thing. But. But they're not. They're not as. On social media, thank God, as a lot of kids are, but they're. But they're. I mean, listen, they're. They're watch. They're. And they're now playing games and stuff, but they're not necessarily, like, creating or. You know, I tell them, I say, you control the phone. The phone doesn't control you, so good for you. You know, hopefully. Hopefully they pay attention.

[Brian Green]

I'm already putting this message into my children. My children are much younger than yours, even though we're probably of similar age. My children are. I don't have one above seven years old, so. But they're already, you know, when mom and dad are on the phone or the iPad or whatever, that's what they want to be in. That's what they see. And once they get that in their brains, then it's really hard. So we have very strict and tough rules around when and where, you know, okay, you can play a Mickey Mouse game or whatever to 15 minutes, and then you're done. And I'm already telling them you're not getting a cell phone that connects to the Internet until you're 35. Trust me, you're gonna thank me for this later.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

These things, they are, like. They seem like freedom. They're balls and chains, and they will you up. And especially when I can't. If we. If I had the cell phone that was connected to the Internet when I was a teenager, I'm. And this is no joke. I'm not sure I would be here. Like, I just think that that's. It's terribly dangerous is really what it is. Absolutely.

[Maz Jobrani]

No, you're. You're 100%. I mean, I'm. I'm addicted to my phone. I'm. Even when I'm, you know, lunch with somebody, you're always looking down, you're like, oh. And then afterwards, you're like, oh, it was just a bunch of, you know, texts asking me for donations or something.

[Miles]

Exactly.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Worst mistake I ever made made was telling the candidate I like that I was willing to like them to vote for them. Yeah. I never stopped getting text, by the way.

[Maz Jobrani]

It's not just the one you like. I donated to one. And then I started getting messages from the other party. Come on, guys.

[Brian Green]

I got a lady knocked on my door one time and she said, are you gonna vote for this guy? And I said, no, not my style. Thanks. Anyway, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna vote for the other, other team this, this time.

[Maz Jobrani]

Time.

[Brian Green]

And she said, well, you're making a God damn mistake. And I said, wait, you came to my door?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yes.

[Miles]

That's a way to change my vote.

[Brian Green]

I go, that's, that's not a convincing way to do that. And forever and ever, I get mailers from that candidate or that super PAC or whatever it is. And I think to myself, did they think coming to my door and threatening me was going to be the best way to get me on their team? But you know, politics is so divisive these things days. Did the audience change for you? I mean, so you've been around for a minute. Did the audience change? Like, the audience. I guess I see that in every part of our life, in, on airplanes, in grocery stores, at the gas station, people are ready to pop off. Right? Ready to pop off. And it largely has to do with which team you're on. It is so tribal right now, and there's so much angst and anger around those tribes that it's, it's, it's kind of difficult to navigate. Right. Did the audience change? You talked about that one interaction, but the audience change when? Around the election? 20, 15, 16?

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah, definitely. And I'm sorry, there's. There's somebody vacuuming back there.

[Brian Green]

That's okay.

[Miles]

We have the gardeners come out.

[Brian Green]

The gardeners come every time we record. They decide to come, even though we specifically tell them not to.

[Maz Jobrani]

I believe that. Yeah, people got a little more on edge. It was crazy because I'll tell you, like, during the Iraq war, I would make fun of the Bush administration just because a lot of people were, and I did. And there was a couple times where somebody got upset and they were like, you can't make fun of our commander in chief. And I was like, the whole point we're supposedly going into Iraq is to bring them democracy. And you're telling me that I can't, I can't practice my Democratic right. Of making fun of the president. Yeah. So that was then. And then again, it felt like it kind of quieted down for a little bit. But then once Trump came in, it felt like it was on steroids and people were really getting offended. And really. And the crazy thing is, if you just mention his name, it causes a Big thing like you could do. You could do. You could. If your politics. My politics is left leaning. So you could do jokes that are left leaning. And it won't offend some of his fans, but if you say his name, it's like. It's like. It's like Pavlov. They're like, what did you say? And. And I remember when you just said, I actually was. I'm gonna be in Raleigh. And I remember being in Raleigh a little bit after January 6th, like, a few months after. And I think at that point, most people were aware and were admitting that January 6th was a bad thing.

[Brian Green]

Thing.

[Maz Jobrani]

And. And so I had some jokes about the people who stormed the Capitol, and there was a husband and wife in the front, and the husband was, like, steaming. Like, I think he was already a denier of January 6th.

[Brian Green]

That he was.

[Maz Jobrani]

I mean, he might have been there. I don't know.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, no, they were just visitors.

[Maz Jobrani]

They were visit. Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Tourists.

[Maz Jobrani]

They were tourists. Listen, as a brown person, I go, white people. You got funny names for your fort. You're terrorists. Because if brown people had attacked the Capitol, they would have been terrorists. All right, But I go for white people. First you called them patriots. Then they became tourists. They're currently hostages. Have you heard this? They call them hostages. Come on.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Maz Jobrani]

It's so ridiculous. Anyway, that day, when I saw how upset this guy was getting, I came off stage and I was like. I told my opening act. I go. I go, I think I'm gonna stop doing that joke. I go. Because I go, it divides the audience a lot. There's some people that really get upset. I said, yes. And I said, by the way, I said, I'm gonna stop talking about Trump completely. I said. Because at that point, I thought he was gonna just go away. So I'm not gonna talk about him. I don't need to. Blah, blah, blah. Since he's come back, I haven't really talked about him on stage. On Twitter, I go off on him all the time. And by the way, I'm gonna keep calling it Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk calls this shit.

[Brian Green]

Elon agrees now, too, because he's saying, should I call it Twitter again? No one ever stopped calling it Twitter.

[Maz Jobrani]

I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So all of that to say, I still don't do any jokes, like, where I make fun of him. Because first of all, on stage, I should say, because, again, I think it divides the room. And secondly, what am I going to say that other people have not? I would have to have a really good take. Like, the last time I did it, I actually did it in Birds and the Bees. I did a joke about how. How the January 6th committee brought in Cassidy Hutchinson, who was the. She was. She worked, I think, under Mark Meadows.

[Brian Green]

Assistant to the chief of staff.

[Maz Jobrani]

Chief of staff. Right. And she said that she had heard that Trump choked his Secret Service agent, or at least tried to. And we don't know if he did or not, but I thought that was funny. And the bit I was doing was I said, it's funny. I said, it's funny because she said that. And I said all I said. The Republicans were like, no way. He would never it do Secret Service agent. And Democrats were like, yeah, wait, he would totally do it. And I said, what's crazy is that we all heard it and we all thought, it's possible. He's not crazy. And then in the joke, I go on to just talk about how I go, that's how crazy this guy is. Like, if you ever heard, like, President Dwight Eisenhower choked his Secret Service agent. No way. He's a statesman. But you hear Donald Trump be like, hey, it could have happened. And then I go, if you heard Biden choke the Secret Service agent, you'd be like, how old was the Secret Service agent? I tried. I try. It's a fine line you walk because you set people off. And the truth is, my opinion is what it is. It's my show. They don't have to be at my show. But. And I, and I truly, like, have passionate feelings about a lot of that stuff. And everybody does.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, we do, too. But we have taken the line since about episode 20 that this needs. We want a place for people to take a break, largely.

[Miles]

Thank you so much.

[Brian Green]

If you listen to the show, you'll get the way we link lean.

[Maz Jobrani]

It's left.

[Brian Green]

Right. You'll get the way that we lean. But we don't talk about it specifically unless it pierces kind of that fourth wall assassination attempt. You got to address it when you do an episode. When you do an episode four days a week.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And no one wants that. Like, no one wants people to be assassinated. Political violence, in my opinion, is not going to solve any issues.

[Maz Jobrani]

Right.

[Brian Green]

Create more. But take a break from it. But our but. And why I. And I, when I address the audience about why we don't talk about this, it's because I don't have anything interesting to say. Say that someone else hasn't already said. There are people that are smarter and better at punditry than Me and who fucking cares what Brian Greene has to think about the election? You are already opinionated about what you think about the election. Why am I going to change your mind now? I think it's important to activate, but I'm not sure this microphone is the right place or time to do that. Or I'd call it something else like, you know, the election break or something like that.

[Maz Jobrani]

No, if you were on, listen, if you were on a, on a, a news program and giving your opinion, that's one thing. But your show, you choose to do what you want with your show. So currently my stand up show, the idea is we're kind of come together, we're going to laugh. You will hear some stuff that might be left leaning. You're going to hear some stuff that's, that might be considered, you know, not politically correct, whatever that is that you feel it is, you know, and, and ultimately like I, even at the end of the show, I say the show is for everybody. I want everyone to come and laugh together. The problem becomes, I think that some people, we also got to remind ourselves to have a sense of humor about our leaders. And I don't care who that person is, but if the person writes a joke or somebody tells you a joke and it's actually a funny joke, sometimes it's based on truth, you should laugh. You shouldn't be so offended. It's not your grandmother, that leader doesn't care about you the way you think that leader cares about you. And I just would encourage people to not take it so personally.

[Brian Green]

You know, I think comedy, almost every subject, almost every subject is beyond reproach. It's about the timing and, and the intent, right? And, but if comedy is comedy, if it's funny, it's funny. If you're making fun of my guy and it's funny, it's funny. If you're making fun of the, the other, the other person, it's funny, it's funny. And I, but I do understand that the nature of 2024, not everybody sees it that way. And there are a lot of, of people that are very passionate, like go to church kind of passionate about it, which is silly to me. But anyway, that's, that's not.

[Maz Jobrani]

Well, that's. Well, listen, that's the, that's the, that's. I think the thing is that I think that, you know, some people do feel, as someone who's traveled all over the world to do comedy, I will tell you, when I was, when I first started doing shows in the Middle east, they kept Telling us, you know, don't make fun of the leaders. And I get it. Because they didn't want to get in trouble. The promoters didn't want to get in trouble. And I sure so didn't want to get in trouble trouble. But when I hear that, like people in America saying, don't make fun of our leaders, I go, do you know that you're basically parroting what is said in dictatorships? The beauty of this country is that the late night talk show hosts can make fun of our leaders. We should be able to make fun of our leaders. They're not as sacred as you make them, but in some people's mind they are. And the beauty of this country is that we have some irreverence. And I think that I will continue to to make fun of those leaders whenever I want to.

[Brian Green]

And you do it so beautifully, Maz. You're a great guy. You're very funny. Birds andbees on YouTube right now. Forever touring through 2025, which we could appreciate. If you live in a town, he's likely coming to that town or somewhere close. And your name is said Jabrani, not Jabran. For those, including myself.

[Maz Jobrani]

Brian, you're killing it, man. You're amazing. You got an A plus, my friend. A plus.

[Brian Green]

Maz, friend of the show. You are welcome back anytime.

[Miles]

Thank you so much for being here.

[Brian Green]

Next time you come to Atlanta, Chrissy and I will be front row ready to pop off at any mention.

[Maz Jobrani]

Thank you, guys. I appreciate you both. Have a great day. Stay cool, hydrate, and let's get through this summer, man.

[Brian Green]

Let's get through the end of the year through the next January 6th.

[Maz Jobrani]

How it goes. I know.

[Brian Green]

All right, guys, thank you. Bye bye.

[Chrissy Hoadley]

Hello, my fans. I mean, Brian and Chrissy's fans. Boy, have I got news for you. We are officially coming to Florida for TCB live. That's right. You can come see Brian's bald head shining under the stage lights at Dania Beach Improv, Tuesday, September 24, and at the Funny Bone in Orlando on Wednesday, September 25. If you can't make it to see us in person, text us or call us at 212-4333, TCB and leave us a little love note instead. As always, please, please, please follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTokCVpodcast. Our content is shockingly good, so get after it. And you already know I put every single one of those links in the show notes. You're welcome.

[Brian Green]

Ah, Maz Jabroni. What a Jabroni. One of the things that Chrissy and I were laughing at is when we. When he, you know, there's a couple minutes before he actually comes on air, like during the commercial break. And so I was like, miles Jabroni. I've known this guy for years. And I say, jabroni. Because my. My twin brother and I are always calling each other Jabronis. We're like, hey, Jabroni. Based on a wrestling character from the 80s. And he goes. He goes, brian, Brian, just one thing before we go on air.

[Miles]

Yeah?

[Brian Green]

It's Jabrani, not Jabroni. And I'm like, are you sure?

[Miles]

Yes, I am sure.

[Brian Green]

He said, yes. I'm pretty positive. My name is Maz Gibrani. Anyway, Maz Gibran. From Tehran via California. From California via Tehran. And what a wonderful, wonderful guy. He's just. He's so pleasant to talk to, and this is how I feel. Found. You know what? He's not a bit different here than he was when I met him the first night.

[Miles]

Touching bald heads.

[Brian Green]

Yes. When Mark Cuban was sending my wife videos. If you haven't heard the rest of the story, what happens in the middle of the night is Maz and I are talking, and then Mark kind of, you know, comes over, and so now it's all three of us talking, and Maz and I, I think we're talking about wives and where the wives were, how the wives were, whatever was going on. And Mark goes, goes, oh. And I go, hey, listen, my wife loves you on Shark Tank, by the way. Loves you. He thinks she thinks you're great. He goes, oh, she does. She's a big fan. And I go, yeah. He goes, give me your phone. Open up your camera. Give me your phone. And so then he makes a video for Astrid. I won't share because I don't think he wants me to share, but I did. That's not the reason he sent the video, but he sent a video to my wife. And it's rather funny. If I was an, I'd put it out there on the Internet, but I'm not gonna do that, because I like. Yeah. So Maz Jabroni. Jabrani Gibrani. God damn it, Brian. Mazja brani.com for tickets and tour information. And then, of course, please do go watch his special Birds and Bees, now available on YouTube for 100%. $0 and $0.00.

[Miles]

That's what time y' all say it.

[Maz Jobrani]

Out, too.

[Brian Green]

Oh, yeah, well, we stayed out too, Ma. Yeah, Maz snuck away. Maz did An Irish goodbye. At some point during the night, he was just like, floated away, as did Mark Cuban. He just kind of floated off into the night. And I kept trying to guess which bar they were at, getting drunker and drunker as I went along. I was like, where did they go? This bar, I don't know. Let's stay here for a drink. That bar, I don't know. Let's stay here for a drink.

[Miles]

I was also laughing, thinking about the. The time we. The one time that we did try to do the show on Fireside.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my God, what a cluster. And we had to have like three tech guys letting calling us. It was just one person. I know, one person. Well, there were five people, but four of them dropped off an hour after we were trying to get the show started. We just kept playing the intro music over and over again. We'll be.

[Miles]

We're almost there.

[Brian Green]

We're almost there. I swear to God. Yeah, but to be fair, I think five people was about how many were on the.

[Maz Jobrani]

At that time.

[Brian Green]

So anyway, well, best of luck to Fireside.

[Maz Jobrani]

Yes, yes.

[Brian Green]

Listen, maybe there's a master plan that I don't know about. I heard they just got around to funding, like not even a year ago. And I thought, what are they funding? I mean, you know, but who knows? I don't know. You never know. Mark's smart. He's up to something. He actually developed the concept of streaming. Did you know that his company was one of the first companies to ever stream anything?

[Miles]

Not know that, yes.

[Brian Green]

And so Mark did pretty well for himself.

[Miles]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. So I think every time we stream, we have to pay him a dollar or something like that. Okay. We are going to be in Florida. Wonderful, beautiful. The lovely Florida. We're gonna be in Dana beach, which is just south of Fort Lauderdale, just north of Miami. We're calling it Miami area because that sounds better. It's going to be in. In Miami. Let's just say Miami. It's in Miami. Dana Beach Improv. Those tickets are now available. More information on the website. You can go to the Dana Beach Improv website, buy them directly. Do not buy them anywhere else. Orlando Funny bone on the 25th. So that's the 24th at in Miami and the 25th in Orlando at the Funny Bone. You can buy the tickets on their website or you can find the link on our website or social media. 212-4333. TCB questions, comments, concerns, content, Ideas. Let us know if you're going to be at the show at the commercial break on Instagram. Finally posting on Tik Tok again, the commercial [e-mail] the commercial break for my and Chrissy's interview with Ma Jabrani and selected episode. Chrissy, that's all I can do for today.

[Miles]

I think so.

[Brian Green]

I love you.

[Miles]

I love you.

[Brian Green]

Best of you. Best of you out there in the podcast universe. So until next time. Chrisy and I always say, we do say and we must say goodbye.

[Maz Jobrani]

Ra.