Ordway books comedian Maz Jobrani as first performer since the start of the pandemic

May 27—Comedian Maz Jobrani will be the first performer to headline St. Paul's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts since the start of the pandemic.

Tickets for the Sept. 19 show are priced from $79 to $27 and are on sale now at ordway.org or by phone at 651-224-4222.

A native of Iran, Jobrani and his parents moved to California when he was 6 years old. He went on to study political science and Italian at UC Berkeley and was enrolled in a Ph.D. program at UCLA when he decided to take a shot at acting and stand-up comedy.

Jobrani has since become a comedy circuit favorite and has appeared on numerous TV shows, including "Grey's Anatomy," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Shameless." He also hosts a podcast, "Back to School with Maz Jobrani," and has the comedy special "Pandemic Warrior" currently streaming on Peacock.

"Maz Jobrani has an energetic presence that transcends everything he does, from stand-up to podcasting," said Dayna Martinez, the Ordway's senior programming director, in a news release. "His cleverly crafted comedy is just the relief many of us are searching for right now and I can't think of a better performer to kick off the Ordway's highly anticipated return to in-person programming."