Tehran Von Ghasri
Tehran Von Ghasri, or simply Tehran Ghasri, professionally known as Tehran formerly Tehran SoParvaz, is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, television, radio, and podcast personality. Born of African-American and Persian ethnic descent, Tehran was born and raised in Washington D.C. and surrounding Washington Metropolitan Area, beginning his career hosting events and presenting on local television stations. Tehran is multilingual, performing stand-up comedy primarily in English for US audiences but also Persian, conversational Hebrew, and Arabic internationally.
Early life
Tehran Von Ghasri was born in Washington D.C. to an immigrant Iranian father and African-American mother. Named after Tehran, the capital of Iran, his parents chose the name "Tehran" as a reminder of his Persian roots.Tehran's background includes a Muslim paternal grandfather and Zoroastrian paternal grandmother on his father's side and Christian maternal grandfather and Jewish maternal grandmother on his mother's side. Muslim, Zoroastrian, and Jewish culture were part of his upbringing. Tehran talks about receiving both the adhan and having a bar mitzvah on stage. His maternal grandmother is of Egyptian mizrahi descent.
Tehran graduated with honors with undergrad degrees in International Politics and Communications with a concentration in Mid-East Conflict, a Masters of Arts in Economics from George Mason University, afterwards attending law school graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree..
Career
In a television show launched by VOA Persian called Minutes with Max Amini, he described his long-time friendship with Max Amini and said that Amini was his first motivator to be a comedian by putting him on stage in 2009. followed by a performance by Maz Jobrani at George Washington University in 2011 with Jobrani encouraging him to move to Los Angeles and pursue comedy full time which he did shortly after graduation.Tehran has hosted his own radio and television shows on Rangarang and Tapesh satellite television, which are US-based Persian language television channels. Tehran rose to popularity in the Iranian diaspora after appearing in the premiere episode of Parazit on VOA and has contributed to Persian trends and style.
In 2012, Tehran branched out, crossing over into the American and international markets with a radio program on Litt Live formerly Dash Radio. Tehran's debut on television was originally as a guest host, then becoming a main host and daily contributor on Take Part Live, the premier daily social commentary and political talk show on Pivot. This led to a role on the Fox nationally televised panel talk show "So Me".
Tehran has been in several TV and film projects including Dane Cook's American Typecast, the Sean Stone directed Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece, and featured in Maz Jobrani's project Jimmy Vestvood. Tehran has also been a main host on the national Fox "So-Me" panel show, daily host on Pivot's flagship show Take Part Live, The Young Turks, Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey, and regular on Fox Soul. Tehran has also hosted a variety of 'aftershows' including Fox's Empire, DC's Young Justice, Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. and others. From 2015 - 2020, Tehran was a panelist on several episodes of AfterBuzz TV aftershow podcast for the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well a variety of comic book related shows. Tehran hosted San Diego 2018 and Los Angeles Comic Con 2021.
Participating in Just For Laughs, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Netflix Is a Joke Festival, Tehran is a Los Angeles Laugh Factory regular and performs stand-up comedy in venues all over the world.. Tehran created and hosts Comedy Bazaar, a Middle East and North African themed weekly comedy show, as well as the inclusive Tehran Thursday which he headlines weekly at Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.