Five Questions With Comedian Rahmein Mostafavi

Relax, because Rahmein Mostafavi will break the ice by pointing out the elephant in the room - himself. The 36-year-old Fredericksburg comic is Iranian-American, and soon the audience is in hysterics over his impression of a suicide bomber with a vest that doesn't work in an Israeli coffee shop.

"Oh, come on! I was just kidding you!" Rahmein, the failed bomber, shouts to the audience. "Are you serious? I was teasing you! You should see your faces… Could I get the mocha Frappuccino?"

Rahmein, who grew up in McLean, graduated with a theater degree from George Mason University, and spent eight years as a cast member of "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center. But the rigors of show business took a toll on his family (married with three kids), and he got a day job building museum exhibits in Manassas and took a hiatus from making people laugh for money.

But the break didn't last long. Rahmein, started doing stand-up routines two years ago, and performs regularly at Lorton's Workhouse Arts Center, the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse, DC Improv and other local venues. He's performed at comedy festivals and in clubs across the country, including the Cape May Comedy Festival and Laugh Your Ashville Off.

Five Questions

Patch: Tell me about why you make fun of Iranian and Islamic stereotypes.
 
Rahmein: It breaks the tension. Most people only know what they see on CNN or Fox, and they don't really have an association with an Iranian person… Being iranian as a stand up comedian - its just like any other elephant in the room. Just like if you are are very obese comic, you have to address it. You don't want the people in the room wondering about your elephant and you're not brining attention to it.

Most of the time I'll open with something Iranian if I'm working with an audience I don't know. A large percentage of my jokes have to do with racism, sexism, religion. I've been very liberal my whole life, and, to me, it's amazing that people can judge others and base their conclusions on their race or religion or whatever, and all because I'm Iranian.

So, here's a couple of bomb jokes, here's a couple of misogynistic jokes, because there is the stereotype. And they walk away having met an Iranian who isn't totally crazy. And it allows me to make more fun of other things, because I'm sort of a minority group. And then all of a sudden I drop a Jewish joke and they don't laugh, and I say: 'Aha! You can't laugh at the Jewish joke but you can laugh at the Iranian joke?'

Patch: You went from doing a show to doing a stand-up routine. What was that like?

Rahmein: Stand-up becomes an addiction. In my mind, it's kind of a science. It's a crazy thing to figure out what works in what room. The matter of one word can change everything. But "Sheer Madness" was my masters program of what funny is, like putting a hard consonant on a word rather than a vowel, or be very aware of what foods are funny. Like, you want to say quiche or kumquat rather than just hamburgers or pizza.

But very early on I realized I was going to spend so much time doing comedy that I had to justify making money doing it, not just doing open mics, spending money and not making money. I needed to produce something. So, I sought out the funniest people on the DC circuit, and started producing and performing in shows around the area.

Patch: How far do you want to take this? What's your ambition?

Rahmein: What started out as making income on the side has become its own job the family has come to depend on the income. As a comic I'm trying to perfect my hour-and-a-half set, be hired at a club and be my own comedian. I would like to see myself headlining, to hit a few colleges throughout the year. As a producer I get just as much satisfaction to create a great room for my peers as I do for myself.

Patch: How do deal with hecklers?
 
Rahmein: The thing about heckling, and I became aware of it with 'Sheer Madness', is that you have a microphone, you have a light on you and unless you've done something to piss everyone off everyone else wants you to win and the heckler is the odd man out.

You don't have to be a fantastic improv artist to squash a heckler. What you don't want to do is freak out and scream at them, because you become the bad guy and they want the heckler to win. For the most part there are simple shutdowns like: 'I'll do the jokes from here, buddy.'

Patch: Who are your comic idols?
 
Rahmein: I tend to view comedians from different eras like industries where you built on the shoulders of giants. I love Eddie Murphy, but without Bill Cosby there is no Eddie Murphy. And without Eddie Muprhy there is no Dave Chappell. But I would say Don Rickles is up there, so is Rodney Daingerfield, George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld and Louis C.K.

You can catch the comedy of Rahmein Mostafavi at the Workhouse Arts Center on Sunday, Aug. 11 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.