The show, which has become hugely popular among Iranians both inside and outside of Iran, pokes fun at some of the absurdities of life in the Islamic Republic.
People in Iran tune in via personal satellite dish or the web to watch Hosseini and Arbabi satirize Iranian government officials and religious leaders. The program, broadcast from Washington, D.C., has created such a stir that the Iranian government has responded with a show of its own popularly dubbed the anti-Parazit show.
The pair, both in their mid 30s, began their show as a 10-minute weekly segment in 2008. It now airs for 30 minutes each Friday.
VOA Director Danforth W. Austin told The Washington Post that he is not surprised by the attention Parazit is getting. “The show resonates with people in Iran, because it talks about issues and policies that are not discussed in the government-controlled media, and it does so in an entertaining, humorous way,” Austin said.
The show’s exact viewership is unknown, but posts on the show’s Facebook page were viewed more than 17 million times in December, and its YouTube postings are said to generate 45,000 hits weekly.
When Hosseini and Arbabi were invited to appear on The Daily Show, Hosseini said he was really excited. “I was like, ‘Finally,’ “ he told The Washington Post. “I’d been waiting for that e-mail for a long time.”
Hosseini said his friends called him before he appeared to give him advice. “People are calling me and saying, ‘You’ve got to look nice and wear your best clothes, because you’re representing the Iranian nation,” Hosseini said. “I’m like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m not representing any nation!’”
When the pair made their way from their homes in Washington to The Daily Show set in New York, they were greeted by Stewart, who explained that he had come across Parazit while browsing the Web. “You’re like the heart,” he told Hosseini, “and you’re like the eyes on the heart,” he told Arbabi.
“We learned a lot from you. We watch ‘The Daily Show’ all the time,” Hosseini said, asking Stewart if he would appear on their show. Stewart responded, “Absolutely.”
“You guys are us—but brave,” Stewart said. “You guys are us if we were really going after tyrants.”
Stewart and Hosseini went back and forth with compliments. “I can see the passion in what you do and it’s very engaging,” Stewart said.
“It’s all you, Jon,” Hosseini said, joking, “You are the prophet, you are the prophet, you are the prophet!”
Stewart jokingly responded, “So, you calling me a prophet, that will in no way get me in trouble, will it?”
Hosseini said the show describes life in Iran. He said growing up in Iran, he wasn’t allowed to express himself openly. But the show offers an outlet for him to express his frustrations and hopes for people still living in Iran.
At the end of last Thursday’s segment, Stewart and Hosseini swapped seats for a moment so Hosseini could see how it felt to be in Stewart’s seat. “It feels like driving a Hyundai all your life, and now you’re sitting in a Ferrari,” Hosseini laughed.
But even after the show was over and the lights died down, Hosseini and Arbabi were still the center of attention as members of the audience waited to talk with the Iranian pair.
When they finally got into their limo and headed off, Arbabi looked out the window and said, “I’m going to wake up tomorrow and finally realize what just happened.”
Arbabi wasn’t the only one in awe. “I still can’t believe it, it feels like a dream,” said Nazanin Ilchi, Arbabi’s sister, who had driven with her husband and daughter from Potomac, Maryland, to see the show. “I’m really proud, and he made my mom really proud, and he would have made my dad really proud.”
“Our fans are going to be so happy,” Arbabi said. Stewart “reached out tonight to what we do and he built a bridge to them. . . . It’s not about ‘Parazit,’ it’s not about Saman, it’s not about Kambiz. It’s about the Iranian people. We did what we did at the Iranian level and we are very successful at it. But this took their voice and took it up to the next level. And they totally deserve it.”
Hosseini is a playwright, actor and TV host at VOA. He was born in Rasht in 1975 and immigrated to the US in 2000. At 10 years of age, Hosseini was the host of a popular radio show called “Islamic Revolution Blossoms.” Since then he has written and directed many stage plays, radio and TV shows. He is currently the host and writer of Parazit. Hosseini studied dramatic literature and acting in Iran and the US.
Arbabi, the co-creator and executive producer of Parazit, is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Born in Tehran in 1973, he moved first to France and then to the United States in 1985. Arbabi has worked on assignment all across the Middle East. He has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the University of Maryland. Arbabi entered the media in 1995, when an ABC radio producer saw him cooking at the restaurant Hooters. The producer liked his sense of humor and asked him if he’d be interested in an internship. From there, Arbabi worked his way through the industry, eventually landing a job as a video journalist at VOA.