Iran's taboo-busting female standup star
Nisaa FM: - Zeynab Mousavi has found fame in a country where standup comedy is relatively new and where being a female performer is frowned upon. But it comes with a price, says Mousavi, “I get threats, I get sworn at.”
Breaking numerous barriers in Iran
Born and raised in the holy city of Qom, 28-year-old computer software graduate Zeynab Mousavi is breaking numerous barriers to become the country’s first female standup comic to find fame.
Mousavi has found legions of young fans, but has also touched a nerve in a country where standup comedy is relatively new, and being a female performer remains taboo for many.
“Being a female standup comedian in Iran is like competing in a swimming competition whilst you are three meters behind the starting line and your hands and legs are tied,” she says.
Mousavi was the anonymous woman behind the Instagram character of Empress Kuzcooo, an internet sensation who wears an exaggerated hijab showing only her nose to deliver video sermons in front of an open wardrobe.
The latest Empress Kuzcooo video is about the recent Fifa world cup draw, where Iran was drawn in a group with football giants Spain and Portugal. She decries it as an “American conspiracy”, spearheaded by Cafu, the famous former Brazilian player who picked Iran in the group. “This was American’s work. Saudi Arabia is in an easy group,” the empress says.
Her real identity was a mystery until Iranian state television asked viewers to enter a standup competition. Mousavi was selected to perform on national TV, and instantly became a hit among Iran’s internet-savvy youth, but notorious among its hardliners.
Challenging cultural and social norms
There is no doubt that due to Iranian cultural and social norms, doing standup here is by itself really difficult, and doing it as a female comedian is even harder. Standup comedy is a genre introduced only recently thanks to a popular state TV programme called Khandevaneh.
“The reaction was incredible,” says Mousavi of her performance on Khandevaneh. “People were first talking about seeing the face of Empress Kuzcooo... [and] my first performance created a wave of comments that women can also be successful comedians.”
State television, where censorship is rife, is pushing boundaries to appeal to dwindling viewers who have increasingly turned to illegal satellite channels. And Mousavi has not shied away from controversial subjects.
In one of her performances, Mousavi jokes that “people are naming their kids after all sorts of things, and in a few years it’s not strange to name your kid after Barjam”, referring to the Persian acronym for the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the west in 2015. “But [it’s ironic because] Barjam means Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. How can you name a child Barjam, when the child is the result of join comprehensive efforts without any plan for action.”
It’s for material like this that Mousavi has received threats.
Source: www.theguardian.com