The Birds & The Bees

Maz Jobrani has spent decades playing the cultural diplomat on stage, using his Iranian heritage to poke fun at American xenophobia. But his seventh solo hour turns the focus inward to the humbling, chaotic realities of middle-aged fatherhood. The centerpiece of the set is his agonizing attempt to give his children the sex talk, a parental rite of passage that turns into absolute awkwardness.

Filmed in the Main Room of the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the set marks a homecoming for Jobrani. He reflects on his early stand-up days under the club’s longtime owner, Mitzi Shore, sharing a story about how he almost made his debut in an absurd outfit just to get stage time. Released on YouTube in 2023, the performance balances observations about the pandemic and politics with personal stories about his kids, including his son’s blunt method of handling camp bullies.