Iranian-American Comedian, Mehran Khaghani--Original Photo: Leah LaRiccia

The sexiest and most controversial Iranian stand up comedian has arrived!

Meet Mehran Khaghani, whose only time spent in the ”komode” (closet), is to choose an outfit for one of his many gigs!

A former PM for the office of the President of Provost at Harvard, Khaghani is an Iranian-American comedian who happens to be gay, but more importantly: lives and thinks fabulously.

“I’m tied to the most beautiful culture on the planet,” Khaghani proudly tells us. “Our poetry, music, architecture, the beauty of our hearts…And of course, seeing the Iranian people, and their faces, demonstrating against the Iranian election this past summer brought up the most intense feelings of solidarity and love.  I just kept crying, sometimes out of sadness and sometimes out of sheer inspiration.”

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L to R: Big Bad Boo Studios Founders; Aly Jetha and Shabnam Rezaei

Washington, DC–The 1979 revolution resulted in a clear and massive brain drain for Iran and created an estimated annual financial loss comparative to the  yearly cost of the Iran-Iraq War: Causing Iran to miss out on the power of its people’s collective intelligence. However, the flip side is: Iranians live all over the world now and some have had a chance to spread their reach over the last 30-plus years–unceasingly growing; with healthy force, and in hypersonic form.

Persianesque Magazine’s Iranian-American Woman of the Year for 2009, Tehran-born super-entrepreneur Shabnam Rezaei is a classic example. It takes a lot to be featured as our Iranian-American woman of the year, but Shabnam Rezaei has more than enough accomplishments to put even the most eager shaagerd avval (top student) to shame.

Chosen by “a panel of independent judges to participate in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women“, as well as being selected as one of Business in Vancouver’s “40 under 40″, Shabnam, also won an accolade  at the sixth annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business in New York, last November.

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Washington, DC–Marking the 30-year anniversary of the Islamic Republic’s existence and reign in Iran, the year 2009 went by…well, fast. The summer of 2009, not so much.

The Iranian election–which took the world by shock with its results and brutal force used on Iranian citizens by government-led orders–began in June and lasted throughout the summer: Most of which, we spent watching videos of our fellow Iranians in distress and under severe  and inhumane conditions. Seconds seemed like hours and hours seemed like seconds as we were entranced and lost in an intense phase of tweet-based news flowing out of Iran–much due to the effort of citizen journalists, social networking and micro-blogging sites–but one substantial and influential player in the game of reportage that needs to be credited is Pulitzer Prize-finalist Iranian-American journalist, and Persianesque Magazine’s “Man of the Year”: Borzou Daragahi.

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Original Photo Credit: Keyvan Mahmudi

A recent discovery in the Sahara desert by Italian archaeologists (and twin brothers)  Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni, might prove to be the remains of the indomitable Persian army, lead by the Persian King Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus the Great, while attempting to cross the desert some 2,500 years ago.

The brothers having unearthed artifacts  like Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring, along with hundreds of human bones are confident in their findings. Talking to Discovery News, expedition member Dario Del Bufalo said, “We have found the first archaeological evidence of a story reported by the Greek historian Herodotus.”

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The often-monikered “Bad boy” of Persian comedians, K-von whose name means: “Saturn”, in Persian, is by far one of the smartest and funniest Iranian comedians coming out of the West Coast. While he did grow up in Las Vegas, we assure you, you will not sense even an inkling of teardrop-drought while enjoying his side-splitting and constantly overflowing fountain of stand-up.

However, being able to send you into a roller-coaster of laughter via his hilarious comedy sets is not the witty Persian comedian’s only talent. Kayvon Moezzi (his real full name) is half Scottish, but he can also cook and teach you how to make ”Zereshk-polo with Joojeh Kabob” - thanks to his ammeh (aunt: dad’s sister) – on a budget.

Real, good-looking, fresh, and hilarious are just a few words that come to one’s mind when watching K-von’s authentic and unquestionably rare comedic style.

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Any fashion-conscious eye who has had a chance to see sharply fashion-savvy Iranian women in all their haute couture galore around the world (especially in Tehran), knows that Iranians are by far of the most fashionable sect on the planet. (In fact Iranians single-handedly made summer 2009, an inspiring and fiercely-emotional-yet-green one.)

Now we’re delighted to introduce you to the first Iranian fashion designer, Shirin Askari, on the show of shows in fashion: Project Runway.

In the words of Project Runway’s gorgeous German host, Heidi Klum: “In fashion, one day you’re in, and the next day… you’re out.” And we believe that as long as the fresh-faced designer continues to “make it work” a la’ Tim Gunn’s request, Shirin is sure to be in for a long time to come.

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Original Image via: Showtime

WASHINGTON, DC — “We’re kind of like UGG boots: brown, fury, and sweaty… and nobody can figure out why we’re so damn trendy,” quips the skiing/snowboarding Iranian-American comedienne and regular E! commentator Nadine Rajabi in a segment of her Showtime Comedy Special, Hot Tamales about being Persian. “I’m moving back home because my mom’s been having trouble paying both [of] our rents,” says the riotous and multitasking modern Persian-beauty.

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The Shahnameh (Book of Kings), was written by Persian literary-master: Ferdosi (also spelled Ferdowsi). The Persian literary masterpiece, amassed over several decades in the tenth and eleventh centuries, is a collection of some 60,000 couplets full of Persian Miniatures created to illustrate scenes from the Persian epic, and has now reemerged in the form of HYPERWERKS‘ highly-entertaining comic book  series: Rostam – Tales from the Shahnameh.

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Photo Credit: Hilary Jones

WASHINGTON, DC – From the release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi (who is incidentally half-Japanese) to the elections in Iran, Iranians continue to be quite the headline-nabbing theme du jour. And we’ve got another one for you to add to the list of Iranian notables: Dr. Reza Aslan. An assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, Aslan is a coveted commentator on CNN, CBS, NPR, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

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WASHINGTON, DC — The first time we had the pleasure of meeting the Parviz Sayyad of our generation (after-all, he did drop-out of a PhD. program in Political Science from Berkeley), our absolute favorite and wildly-brilliant actor/comedian: Maz Jobrani, it was in 2003 after he had finished his press tour for the movie ‘Maryam‘ (directed by Ramin Serry and co-starring David Ackert) and was making his first appearance at the DC Improv. (However, it must be mentioned that our all-time-favorite-Maz-role-to-date has been: Moly in the movie; ‘Friday After Next’ – his use of the word “buddy” in that film, definitely set off an early trend that’s still around.) His flying success and rightful popularity, as an Iranian comedian, is unprecedented. And the most parallel sensation that remains is that this is all, still, just the beginning of a long journey for him.

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WASHINGTON, DC – As a hardcore Iranian (whatever that means) and connoisseur of all art forms, we tend to think that some Americans don’t necessarily love “eye-ran” because, well, we live in the US and read the “news” here too — and have been aware of all the negative point-of-views and dehumanizing media descriptions of our people and country – but as we knowingly spew the wrong in an attempt to defend Iran, we’re quickly righted by yet another amazing artist that manages to bridge the pseudo-facts that decorate the newspapers (and our dinner-party conversations) with the beauty of human life… as it is in Iran, and has brought us back to: love.

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Born in Iran and a celebrity in her own right, Metal Sanaz is a regular on the metal-music scene and she’s got something to say.

Recently we got to chat with the metal goddes herself on her life, work, and daily adventures.

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Photo Credit: Sanaz Khalaj-Santos

Are you ready for another one?

We are! And we’re about to share the laughter with you.

As part of Maz Jobrani’s famed Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, Max Amini’s witty comedic style stands out in stand up.  Read the full story

It’s been a hot summer and we’re about to make it scorching-hot for you!

Check out our recent interview with the handsome and funny Reza Peyk, a young Canadian-Iranian comedian working his way up the comedy ladder – as we speak.

We know Maz Jobrani is at the top of your list, but give his up and coming entourage – who are following suit – a chance too.

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