TAMPA — In the Middle East, more strife between Palestinians and Israelis, more trouble in Iraq, and, oh yeah, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made headlines by announcing he was thinking about visiting ground zero in New York.
Bad news for the world, perhaps.
But fodder for Maz Jobrani.
“It’s just like the news,” says Jobrani, a veteran comic and member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. “Without all this going on, there would be nothing to report. The same goes for comedy.”
Jobrani and his cohorts, Aron Kader and Ahmed Ahmed, take on more than the normal foibles of life.
Jobrani has roots in Iran. Ahmed is from Egypt, and Kader is a Palestinian Mormon (which, he likes to joke, gives him endless material).
Digging into their Middle Eastern heritage, they put together a raucously funny Comedy Central special that busts on stereotypes, blasts hypocrisy and scores on the fact that Uncle Omar, Uncle Moishe and Uncle Seamus do pretty much the same funny things.
Now they are touring the country, with a stop Friday in Tampa.
Jobrani likes to take on the Iranian president — making fun of Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust — as well as more esoteric issues, such as the differences between Persians (his background) and Arabs and the state of world affairs.
“I have created a character called Tony Karbala, the Iraqi lounge lizard,” he says, launching into one of Tony’s lines. “How many Iraqis does it take to screw in a light bulb? None — we have no electricity.”
In a telephone interview from his home in the San Francisco Bay area, Jobrani extols the virtues of peace through laughter.
“We have to laugh together,” he says. “Our shows, thank God, are crossing into the mainstream.
“We have a large white American audience as well as a Middle Eastern audience. Whenever Muslims, Christians and Jews are laughing together, that is important. We need to laugh to live longer.”
Middle Easterners laughing about their heritage is both cathartic and enlightening Jobrani says — for everyone.
“This is first time this is happening,” he says. “We are comedians who are American; we came up with American-style stand-up comedy. Middle Easterners have not seen this.”
In addition to traveling the United States, the Axis of Evil tour will hit the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. Jobrani says he would one day like to play Tel Aviv.
“I would really enjoy going to Israel,” he says. “We’ve been talking about it.
“The places we have gone are more metropolitan, have more ethnic diversity. If you know what is going on in the Middle East, you will enjoy our show.”
Sidebar On Stage — Axis of Evil Comedy Tour
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ferguson Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa
How Much: $36.25 to $46.25 (813) 229-7827