Persianesque: Iranian Magazine

K-von as a "juicehead" on MTV's Disaster Date--Original Photo: MTV

The highest rated episode this season of MTV’s Disaster Date, #236: Jersey Shore Juicehead,”–where Persian Actor/comedian K-von plays a “Situation”-esque character on the dating prank show–sets up disaster-dater Juliette (via accomplice Samira) for a hilariously fist-pump-induced jaryaan (situation).

And if you’ve seen at least one of the show’s episodes featuring K-von, like us, you’re wondering how he keeps his act going for so long without making himself laugh…

“A lot of people only know me as a comedian, but I’ve spent years studying the art of acting.” K-von tells us. ”It’s funny because ‘playing make believe’ comes so natural to most of us as kids.  A kid never gets embarrassed or laughs at themselves when pretending to be the captain of a spaceship on a playground.  Then somewhere down the line we all ‘grow up’ and get nervous and self conscious about all these things which causes us to laugh and blush.  Acting class is where adults come together to pretend and make believe and half the time we are just working so hard to learn how to become that naive kid again.  When you are fully invested in your character or your situation you won’t laugh as much because you are thinking like the character not the spectator.  Being fully invested in your character also results in an out of body experience.  I can’t tell you how many times when it’s all over I watch the clips and laugh thinking, ‘Wow, I said and did that?!’”

Where does the Iranian hottie get inspiration for the characters he plays so well?  

“We meet once a week and come up with new ideas for characters and new situations we can build a funny ‘date’ around.” Says K-von of his process. “Personally, I would try to submit a handful of ideas every few weeks and a number of them made it on the show which was very rewarding.  However we also utilized the help of a great staff of writers that have been involved in movies and other large Hollywood projects, so a lot of planning went into making these dates look effortless.”

Maybe he’ll host the “After Show” show for Jersey Shore’s upcoming season as The Hot Spot?

“I don’t think they will let me since I am Persian.  The Italians don’t want our people stealing all their thunder and it wouldn’t be hard at all.  Put a couple of good looking Persian girls on TV and America would forget all about ‘Shnookie’ which I think is Italian for gerbil.” 

Outside of…Well…The part about Persians “stealing all their thunder,”–(we come fully charged with dangerously high-wattage electricity)–half of the current cast members of The Jersey Shore aren’t technically Italian either–including…Shnookie. So we don’t see why they wouldn’t choose K-von’s pseudo-guido to host the gab-fest post-show. (Of course we say this wearing our heavily Perr-zhie-tinted lenses.)

Don’t miss the Disaster Date marathon on MTV today or watch the episode(s) online.

Original Photo: Liza Chrust/MTV

Did we call this one?

Or…Did we call this one?

Nearly four months ago, in a chat with Persian comedian K-von, we asked the Disaster Date actor  if he thought it was time to showcase a Persian-filled cast series, to which he responded:

“Of course. I have been giving [MTV] ideas for possible shows for 5 years now. I think I’m like an annoying kid that keeps asking his parents for things. I bet I can wear them out! I think they should have a show where they send a beautiful Persian girl and a half-Persian comedian around the world to party at the most exotic hot spots and do on-site filming of the trip. Each week it could be somewhere different like: Dubai, Hawaii, Thailand, or Paris.  It’d be a mix of the Travel Channel and the Real World; I would call it ‘Persians in Paradise.’”

So it didn’t turn out exactly as K-von’s most recent pitch suggested, but listen up all you Persian Princes and Persian Princesses your time to shine–albeit in reality-TV-show land–has arrived.

The situation is: “The Persian Version“, we’ve confirmed, is casting for Iroonies (Iranians)!

Not wasting any time, Doron Ofir Casting is looking for ”Los Angeles[-based] proud Persian-Americans who rule the Hollywood nightlife and own Beverly Hills” for the Perzhie-filled show.

Part of the original casting call reads:

“Two thousand years ago the Persian Empire ruled the ancient world…but they didn’t have your soundtrack, your style, or your swagger! Today there’s a new Persian empire growing right here in LA and it’s ready to conquer the world all over again. It’s a bad-ass new dynasty where exotic beauty and wild style dominates the sexiest nightlife, exclusive venues and hottest beaches the modern world has to offer.”

Tehrangeles Persian-Americans own most of LA’s hottest venues–and probably have at least a load of “buddies” or “cousins” who are at home in their VIP sections far too often–so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the cast type they’re looking for.

“Its time to show the world that being Persian-American is a celebration of the American dream” says Doron Ofir Executive Casting Director.

What Persian versions are they looking for?

If your life is “all about Gucci, Gabbana, Cavalli and Cristal” or if  buying anything “from BMWs and Bugatis, to Mercedes and Movado–money is no object,” then you basically qualify. But, you must be ”at least 21 years old, appear younger than thirty, outrageous, outspoken, and a proud Persian-American.”

Well, one thing we know is: They won’t have any problem finding a “proud Persian-American!”

We hope our Persianettes and Pessies (modern Persian slang term: “Boys”) make us proud!

If you want to be considered for The Persian Version make sure to email Persianversioncasting@gmail.com with your name, age, 2 pics, phone number, and why they should pick you…as soon as you’re done reading this!

L to R, K-von, Snookie, and The Situation -- Photo Credit: K-von

At a recent industry party in Hollywood, CA, Italian-Americans and Iranian-Americans had a little more than just their homeland flag colors in common. Iranian-American comedian, K-von, was hanging with MTV’s Jersey Shore cast members and current media-obsessions, Mike “The situation” Sorrentino and Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi.

Having been on “a handful of TV shows,” K-von is in talks with producers about being on yet another show.  ”This was a great networking party for me and it became even better when the stars of one of today’s most talked about reality shows walked in the door and joined our table.” Says the “Bad Boy of Persian Comedy” of the partial Jersey Shore crew that “showed up 15 minutes after” he did.

“We talked about the show, their success, the fact that they get paid to go to parties now, and the rest was very casual stuff.” Adds K-von of his time with The Situation and Snookie. “I also congratulated Snookie on getting on Leno–since that’s been a dream of mine for years.  Most of all, I listened to them talk, so I can eventually use that harsh ‘New Joisy’ accent in my comedy act.  I can’t wait.”

The concept of ethnicity-driven shows–whether in the reality genre or not–is not only interesting but a foreseeable staple category contender in your future TV-show line-up.

So? Is it time for a Persian-filled-cast series on MTV?

“Of course,” K-von tells Persianesque Magazine. “I have been giving them ideas for possible shows for 5 years now. I think I’m like an annoying kid that keeps asking his parents for things. I bet I can wear them out! I think they should have a show where they send a beautiful Persian girl and a half-Persian comedian around the world to party at the most exotic hot spots and do on-site filming of the trip. Each week it could be somewhere different like: Dubai, Hawaii, Thailand, or Paris.  It’d be a mix of the Travel Channel and the Real World; I would call it ‘Persians in Paradise.’”

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