IRANIAN COMEDIAN TAKES ROLE ON FUNNY IN FARSI
CBC.ca
Jan 11 2010
Canada
Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-born comic who has been part of the Axis of
Evil comedy troupe and TV shows such as Knights of Prosperity and
Better Off Ted, will star in the new family sitcom Funny in Farsi.
The ABC comedy is based on the acclaimed comic memoir by Firoozeh
Dumas about her family’s move from Iran to California in the 1970s.
Jobrani will play the father, Mohammed Sayed Kazem Jazeyeri, an oil
company engineer in love with American ways who never quite learns
proper English.
Marjan Nehsat, also an Iranian-born actor, will play the mother,
who finds it harder to assimilate.
Jobrani has appeared on The Colbert Report and Comedy Central.
The jovial uncle in Funny in Farsi will be played by Armenian-American
Hrach Titizian, who also has an ongoing role as the president’s
assistant on 24.
The comedy is directed and produced by Barry Sonnenfeld, who is also
executive producer of Pushing Daisies. The book was adapted by Jeffrey
Hodes and Nastaran Dibai.
American network ABC has approved a pilot, but has yet to assign an
air date to the comedy about a Muslim family.
CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie was the first North American comedy
to centre on Muslim characters.