Mehran Khaghani (Persian: مهران خاقانی; born May 25, 1976) is a British-American standup comedian,[1] comedic director, and comedy event producer based in the Boston Metro area, of Iranian descent. In 2010, a reader survey in the Boston Phoenix named him Boston's best comedian of the year.[2]
Born in London to Iranian parents, Mehran grew up in the United Kingdom, Iran, Turkey and the suburbs of Boston.[3] In 1993, at the age of 17, he cofounded Lexington High School's first LGBT organization, called Bi-GLASS, with two fellow students, Fred Simon, now a New York-based visual artist, and musician Amanda Palmer, longtime frontwoman of The Dresden Dolls and now a solo artist.[4]
After years in the hospitality industry and a four-year stint holding various administrative positions at Harvard University (including a year as Project Manager to the Office of the President and Provost under former President, Larry Summers[5]) Mehran began pursuing a career in standup comedy in 2007. He has toured with Maz Jobrani's Brown and Friendly Tour[1] and in his first year competing, ranked in the top 8 in the Boston International Comedy Festival.[6]
As of 2010, Khaghani hosts a monthly standup comedy show at Mottley's Comedy Club in Faneuil Hall, Boston called "The Mehran Show,"[7] building each showcase around a different theme. He recently headlined and hosted a sold-out show in San Francisco called "No Gays In Iran"[8] and was voted Boston's best comedian for 2010 by the readers of the Boston Phoenix.[2] In August 2010, he produced the cabaret comedy show "Criscotheque" at the American Repertory Theater's Club Oberon.[9]
