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Biography
Maziyar “Maz” Jobrani (Persian: مازیار جبرانی; born February 26, 1972), also known as Persian Pink Panther, is an Iranian-American comedian and actor who is part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio, and in comedy clubs. His filmography includes roles in The Interpreter, Friday After Next, and Dragonfly.
Early life and education
Jobrani was born in Tehran, Iran. He and his parents moved to California when he was six years old. He was raised in Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay area. He attended Redwood High School in Larkspur. Jobrani studied political science and Italian at UC Berkeley, where he received a B.A. degree. He was enrolled in a Ph.D. program at UCLA when he decided to pursue his childhood dream of acting and performing comedy.
Career
Television and Radio
Jobrani has since made appearances on shows like The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Talkshow with Spike Feresten, "Whitney", and regularly performs at top comedy clubs (in California and New York) such as The Comedy Store. He made an appearance as a dental patient on an episode of Still Standing, in the pilot episodes of Better Off Ted, The Knights of Prosperity, on an episode of Cedric the Entertainer Presents, on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle as Robber#2 and on an episode of The West Wing as a Saudi prince. He also made an appearance in 13 Going on 30. He has toured with the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He provided the voice of Ahmed Farahnakian in the audiobook version of World War Z. Jobrani has written a movie with a friend called Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero.
Jobrani makes occasional appearances on NPR's news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and American Public Media's Wits. He appeared on episode 118, October 28, 2010 of WTF with Marc Maron. Additionally, Jobrani co-hosts his own podcast on the All Things Comedy podcasting network with fellow comedians Al Madrigal and Chris Spencer. Titled Minivan Men, the podcast chronicles the lives and experiences of the three hosts with particular focus on fatherhood.
He played Jafar in the 2015 musical fantasy television film Descendants.
Standup style
Jobrani's jokes focus on race and the misunderstanding of Middle Easterners in America. He also talks about his family.
Philanthropy
Jobrani sits on the board of the Persian American Cancer Institute (PACI.org) and also works with International Society for Children with Cancer (ISCC-Charity.org).
Personal life
In 2006, Jobrani married an Indian-American attorney named Preetha. They have a son and daughter and reside in California.