Most cultures around the world have been given certain stereotypes about their native attitudes, accents, occupations, habits and the like. The “Exotic Imports: Max Amini and Friends” comedy show that played this past Friday and Saturday at the Bethesda Theater flaunted the stereotypes and inside jokes of native Middle Easterners.
Unfortunately, audience members who didn’t hail from the Middle East were on the outside of the jokes and missed a majority of the punch lines.
“I think the entire show was one big reminder that this is not my culture,” said Jared Bieschke, 22, a Caucasian male. “Sociologically, I think it was interesting to see the comedians joke about their culture. But because I couldn’t really relate to any of the jokes, I felt like I didn’t belong there at all.”
After the curtain opened 30 minutes late, the show began with a belly dancer, Samira Shuruk, who gracefully shook her booty for almost 40 minutes before any comedy acts took the stage. Her dazzling bra and knife routines were quite impressive, but the act could have been condensed into a 15-minute routine.
After Shuruk’s dancing, comedians Tehran SoParvaz, Vincent Oshana, Remy, Monrok and Max Amini did their best to entertain the crowd. SoParvaz, a half-black, half-Iranian D.C. native, hosted the show and did short comedy acts in between the main entertainers. His crude emphasis on race and unfunny stereotypes of “Hispanic janitors” and “Middle Eastern terrorists” left you anxious for the next act to take the stage.
Out of the four main performers, Monrok, the only female comic, was the most entertaining. She was like a version of MTV’s “Daria,” loaded with lots of sarcasm and very little enthusiasm for life. Her witty humor and cynical nature were quite enjoyable. She joked about the problems she faced growing up as a female Indian woman and her personal pet peeves in life.
“I really hate Halloween; it’s totally a white person holiday,” joked Monrok. “White girls can go out dressed as anything they want. But Indian girls have only two choices: Pocahontas or Princess Jasmine. Also, I hate baggage claims at airports. It’s like waiting for a prize when you’re really just getting your own shit.”
The three main male performers, Remy, Oshana and Amini, all had similar material that was slightly insulting and focused too much on Middle Eastern lifestyles. Oshana had a few great jokes about late night McDonald’s runs and stereotypical female habits, but couldn’t stay away from excluding the non-Middle Eastern audience members.
“All of Glendale, Calif., is Persian — there are just SO many Persians there,” Oshana said. “You go to any Glendale gym and it looks like the training ground for Al-Qaeda. Then you go to the locker room and there’s hair everywhere! Seriously, there’s hair on the ceilings. How the hell does it get up there?”
The main performance of the night was headliner Amini from Comedy Central’s “Mind of Mencia” and the upcoming film “Beer Pong.” His set consisted almost entirely of jokes catered to the Middle Eastern audience members. Several heads were bobbing in hysterical laughter, but others just looked around in confusion. He had some great material about crazy dancers at D.C. nightclubs, but missed the mark when he started talking about gay men.
“Just because I have a flower on my shirt and my shoes flip up doesn’t mean I’m gay,” Amini said. “Some dude walked by my apartment the other day and just yelled ‘fag’ before running up the stairs. I started walking all macho-like after that to embrace my inner man. I felt like yelling after him, ‘I’m not gay man, I’m just Persian.’”
If you appreciate jokes about unwanted hair, Persian rug devotion and crazy Iranian parents, you might’ve enjoyed seeing this show. Otherwise, you were probably better off going to the movies.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
