For a stand-up comic, sparring with a heckler can bring the house down.
The heightened state of the audience, not to mention the rapid-fire exchange between stage and crowd, can result in memorable and viral moments.
However, when the banter doesn’t work, gloom permeates the room.
This is what Maz Jobrani, 49, found out four years ago during a US tour.
The acerbic and politically tinged material in the Iranian-American comic's show, held within the tenure of former president Donald Trump, didn't go down well with some in the audience.
"The first time this really happened to me, I engaged with the audience member and tried to find the funny side while still arguing," he tells The National, ahead of his Dubai Comedy Festival show this month.
He was talking generally about the state of US politics. "I learnt this was not the best way to go about it, as people, particularly in the US, were too heated.
"So I decided to tai-chi the situation, in a way, and let the person talk and then let them ultimately understand that we are not going to agree with each other and that's just how it is."
Not only was it a shrewd lesson in crowd control, but also a creative breakthrough that added a deeper and timely resonance to subsequent tours.
UAE fans got a taste of the new approach in a 2019 taped show at the Dubai International Financial Centre's Gate Avenue, now available for streaming on OSN under the title Pandemic Warrior.
Jobrani is excited to pick up where he left off when stepping on to the Dubai World Trade Centre stage on Friday, May 21.
Honk your horns for laughs
This new performance has been a long-time coming, he says, as the global pandemic forced the US comedy scene to be more resourceful when putting on shows.
“The drive-in shows were interesting because, although they project your image on a screen behind you, all you see in front, from the stage, is a bunch of cars.
“I realised what I needed to do was ask them to honk their horns for laughter,” he says.
“I also did a bunch of Zoom shows and only a couple of weeks ago I did a gig in this small airport in front of one of these old-fashioned planes. That was kind of weird.”
Jobrani wouldn’t have it any other way, though.
While figures from the US and UK live comedy industry have decried how the pandemic has resulted in a lost generation of talents, Jobrani says he plans never to step off the "comedy treadmill", no matter where the path leads.
After all, he's worked hard to get where he is today.
Who is Maz Jobrani?
Born in Tehran, Jobrani moved to the US with his family as a six-year-old.
An academically gifted student, he studied to be a lawyer more to satisfy his parents than his own ambitions.
But Jobrani envisioned himself on stage as a comedian and an actor.
“The plan was to be a lawyer and then maybe some kind of professor," he says.
"There would be days when I would be driving to work or school and my mind would be daydreaming and I wasn't really into what I was doing.
"And it wasn't really until my mid-twenties that I decided to really go for it.”
The legacy of the 'Axis of Evil' tour
Amid the grind of the US comedy circuit, Jobrani found his niche through material blending his heritage with social commentary.
Both strands came together in 2005's Axis of Evil Comedy Tour.
The title was derived from a 2002 speech by former US president George W Bush, during which he designated Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the "axis of evil".
The hilarious and poignant show featured Middle Eastern comics, including Jobrani and Egyptian-American Ahmed Ahmed, coming to terms with life after the September 11 attacks.
The tour also launched the career of Wonho Chung. The Dubai funnyman and actor, born to a South Korean father and Vietnamese mother, and raised as an Arab in Jordan, became an in-demand Arabic-language performer and actor after making a guest appearance on the Axis of Evil regional tour in 2007.
With such a febrile political atmosphere in the US, surely the time is right to reboot the seminal show. It could perhaps even be renamed as The Bigly or Covfefe Tour after Trump's most viral gaffes.
Jobrani doesn't think so.
The show, he says, wouldn't cut it with US audiences today.
"Since that time we have become more divided. At least during the Axis of Evil shows most people from the Middle East were of the same mind and against discrimination of Muslims and others in America.
"We agreed then to what the truths were,” he says.
"With the more recent turns of events under Trump, Black Lives Matter and the rise of right-wing extremism, all of a sudden you are seeing people who you thought you agree with are not on the same page.
“It seems the world has flipped on its head right now and the pandemic only went on to exacerbate that."
Maz Jobrani performs on Friday, May 21, at Dubai World Trade Centre. Tickets from Dh150. More information is at www.dubaicomedyfest.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Florence and the Machine – High as Hope
Three stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
Results
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m | Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Al Shamkhah, Royston Ffrench, Sandeep Jadhav
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m | Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m | Winner: Kawasir, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m | Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Bochart, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m | Winner: Quartier Francais, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
More on Quran memorisation:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
More on animal trafficking
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
The years Ramadan fell in May
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Read more about the coronavirus
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More on Quran memorisation:
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Cheb%20Khaled'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKhaled%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBelieve%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
