After too much time offstage, comedian Maz Jobrani is more than excited to be traveling again with his Things Are Looking Bright tour, especially returning to Las Vegas to be at the Laugh Factory in Tropicana Las Vegas from September 3rd to 5th to occur. The Iran-born comic, who has appeared on TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Last Man Standing, managed to stay productive during a difficult year by focusing on his educational podcast Back to School and major TV projects drives forward. But now it’s time to put up with the laughter and start interacting with a live audience again.
Plenty of comedians have been able to stay busy over the past year and a half and they did some virtual and drive-in shows before getting back on the stand-up stage. How were these experiences?
I remember when (the pandemic) first hit and I started doing some Instagram live shows and it wasn’t really a show. I just whined whatever was going on that day and people commented or put heart emojis. I was quickly reminded that as comedians we need to hear laughter because it affects the rhythm of our conversations. This wasn’t stand-up comedy, it was just kind of yelling on my phone and talking about life. I remember seeing John Legend or Chris Martin playing their piano at home and I was so jealous that they didn’t have to hear clapping or laughter, they can just play and move on to the next song. The drive-in shows were interesting because you’re doing a show and it’s projected onto a screen behind you and people are in their cars so you can’t hear them laughing, but I realized that the key is the audience to say if it pleases the joke to honk their horns. That really helped.
During the first few shows, did you get any sense of just how badly the audience needed comedy?
I flew to Arizona where the lockdown wasn’t that intense and they were doing shows with limited capacity, and I was there a week after the election so I knew it was going to be a split audience and I could handle it. In addition, half of the audience wore masks and the other half ate. Some people felt uncomfortable, but most of them really just wanted to laugh because it had been such a stressful year.
Do you think these strange performing experiences changed the way you perform?
I think it’s always on your mind that you have to go into the trenches to be good at it. Comedians who are worth their weight really invest their time, performing, and performing wherever they can. You hear stories about the start in the back room of a strip club, then you walk into the back room of a cafe and when you get to the punch line the barista makes a cappuccino and you can hear the foam over the punch line. That is how it reminded me of my beginnings.
You have played a couple of times at the legendary Laugh Factory at Trop. What do you love about this Vegas venue?
It’s a great club and people seem to find it easy. Harry Basil runs this club and he has a green room with a karaoke machine and it’s kind of a bat signal for telling other artists in town to go back after their shows. I think I found myself backstage at karaoke with George Wallace, Brian Regan and Brian Scolaro. But just for the average comedy fan, it’s a great place.
What’s new at Back to School?
I relied on it many times during the pandemic, and it started with my kids asking me questions I had no answers to. Instead of Googling everything, I bring in experts and learn. It’s a great excuse to talk to interesting people, a cave diver who goes under caves to find different organisms, a guy who helped land the rover on Mars. It’s still a big focus, but I also develop things for television, an animation project that I’m trying to find a home for (that is) based on an immigrant family who loves America, but America doesn’t love them back. It’s still a comedy. I’ve been lucky enough to tour everywhere and have people from different backgrounds getting to know my (background) so it would be great to do a TV show based on that.
Tropicana Las Vegas, Sept. 3-5, 18+. ticketmaster.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see, and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to you every week, you’ll find loads of great, money-saving deals on some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, hotels, and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content like restaurants to visit, cocktails to drink and attractions to enjoy.
