They wanted to accommodate for Muslim girls, but the uniform was so ugly.Comedian Mae Da on Australian schools
Aditya Gautam
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land I'm recording from. I pay my respect to the Cammaraygal people and their elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the traditional owners from all Aboriginal and Torres State Islander lands. You're listening from coming up in this
episode.
Mae Da
That was the indication that, oh, I'm attractive. Oh, I'm, So we. It wasn't something we didn't like as girls. We were like, okay, I got catcalled. I. I got it, like, because my family was in Australia at the time. That's why I was doing what I was doing. You know, hanging out with boys late at
night. It was terrible. And exactly the first three years, it was terrible. I hated. I didn't hate Australia. I hated being away from Iran. I was, like, very attached to Iran. I loved. And I was a teenager. Like, imagine. That was a very wrong, like, not, not. It was the wrong time for me to move.
Aditya Gautam
Hello, everybody. Welcome to Comedy Karma season two. I'm your host, Aditya Gautam. In this podcast, I talk to comedians from all over the world who now live and perform in the great country of Australia. In today's episode, I am talking to Mae Da, She is a Middle Eastern Australian comedian who
lives in Sydney. She performed her first solo show, comedy, solo show in Sydney Fringe, in 2024. this year, 2025, she performed the same show in Adelaide Fringe, one of the biggest, fringe festivals in the world. And we'll talk to her about comedy and other great things. Let's start the show with
one of her jokes.
Mae Da
Do you guys know my country called Iran? Yeah. Nice. You've done geography. That's where, I was born in Iran, raised there. I did all my schooling there. one thing we used to do in the mornings in the school was, to line up during assembly and we had to all chant down m with the name of the
countries that screwed us over. So you can imagine it took us a while to cover everybody. We were always late to the class. And don't worry, Australia was not one of them. Quite frankly, I only found out about you guys when the human smuggler on the boat said, that's where we're heading to.
Australia. Oh, I wonder where it is. I guess that's where we're seeking asylum. Hope it doesn't have any spiders.
Aditya Gautam
Hello, Mae Da. welcome to Comedy Karma. How are you doing. You're doing good.
Mae Da
Hello. I'm good, thank you. Thanks for having me. M. I'm doing good. Yes.
Aditya Gautam
Did you actually do that in school?
Mae Da
Of course we did.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, man, that's so.
Mae Da
Obviously, I've written a joke of tweak. I've twisted things, tweaked things, you know. You know that as a comedian, we would probably not do that every single morning. Like, in the joke I say in assembly, blah, blah, blah. I'm just ruining my own joke. One of my good jokes. But, there were some.
Let's say, if there was a big ceremony, if. Or if it was, anniversary of, you know, some. Something like, you know, the revolution. You know, the. The anniversary of the revolution, we would definitely say that that's where, you know.
Aditya Gautam
Okay, so it was. It was saved for the big occasions. That's even funnier.
Mae Da
Yeah, exactly. or, like, if there was. If there was a protest. Oh, like, if this is. This is bad. It's. It's gonna backlash, obviously.
Aditya Gautam
Let's do it.
Mae Da
Some people are gonna hate.
Aditya Gautam
All publicity is good publicity.
Mae Da
Like, okay, say when there was a. Ah. Because Iran is an Islamic country. When there was the jum' ah prayer, which is like Friday prayers in the, you know, the congregational prayer. People would say that, during that time. And the funny thing about it was there were a number of groups or, you know,
countries that we would say that to, but there was one that was saved for a very special occasion.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, is it.
Mae Da
I don't reveal that in that joke. But that was only. You would only say that place when you had the supreme Leader right in front of you. That's when you wanted to, you know, impress him.
Aditya Gautam
I think I can guess. We won't go there. That's so fascinating. Is it? but was there any. Anything else that pops into your head? You're like, oh, man, that was weird that we did that in school.
Mae Da
I think one thing that pops in my head is, cat calling. You know, I don't know if that's something relevant. Cat calling. I don't know what's happening in Iran now. So I was born and raised in Tehran, the capital city. and we would start getting catcalled when, you know, as. As girls, when we would
start hit basically at the puberty. You know, that's when that's. That was the indication that, oh, I'm attractive. Oh, I'm. So we. It wasn't something we didn't like as girls. We were like, okay, I got cat called. I Got it. Like, I'm,
Aditya Gautam
I'm from India. I know what you're talking about.
Mae Da
Oh, yeah? Yeah. Okay, great. Because like, I've seen influences like American influencers, comedy, reels or skits about cat calling, basically criticising it, but I totally understand it needs to be criticised. It's not the right thing to do. But growing up in that environment, I. Let's put it this
way. When I came to Australia and I was not cat called, it was very sad for me. And I got cat called after like months. And I was so happy. I was like, oh, my God, it happened again. Oh my God, this is so good. I am loved, I am wanted, I'm attractive. It's really silly. It's really silly. Ah, but
now that I've grown up here and obviously I'm not a, 14 year old anymore and I look back and I have like, I have a better self worth. I'm like, that was so wrong. Like why? That is disgusting. Yeah, so that's something I can reflect.
Aditya Gautam
one thing that I was thinking about when I heard this was, for me, one of the things that was like noticeable when I moved was, was police. So in India, the idea of police was always like, you had to be. Scared of the police. They were like goons.
Mae Da
Yeah yeah yeah. They're not on your, they're not on your side.
Aditya Gautam
They're not on your side. Yes.
Mae Da
Oh, yeah, I can relate to that, man.
Aditya Gautam
So the first time, I remember I got pulled over by a cop. I was scared. And the guy came up in Australia, in Australia. And he came up and he started having like a normal chat and I was like, why is he talking to me like this? Like, he was like, oh, how are you doing? How is your day going? I was
like, okay.
Mae Da
Is this a game? I'm not falling for it. I've seen it all.
Aditya Gautam
He's like, you know why I've stopped you? I was like, I don't know. He's like, oh, you crossed. It was yellow and you crossed and you shouldn't have. So next time just be careful. And he left. I was like, that's it. That was the whole conversation.
Mae Da
That's good parenting.
Aditya Gautam
Gentle parenting in India, man a cop. You freaking, you get alert and you're like, I. I don't want to have a conversation with them in any circumstance.
Mae Da
Yeah, yeah. So another thing in Iran, again, obviously my references is from 20 years ago.
Aditya Gautam
Sure.
Mae Da
things definitely has changed. so there. So it was illegal, for opposite sex to hang out. Like what? Like girlfriend, boyfriends. That's what I'm talking about. So the police had the right to come and catch. As a. If you. If you're a young woman or a girl. Oh, my God. that was like, if you were in a
park or you were. If you were in. In a car, like, pulled over, to have a chat with your, you know, date, you would get. Knock on a window, and that was it. It was over. So they would take you and they would contact your family, and, oh, my God, it was. It was scary.
Aditya Gautam
Holy. So. So you had to prove that you're in a relationship, like, married, otherwise, you're going to the cops, to the, station. Oh, man. So you've had such a moment.
Mae Da
So that's why I was like, oh, I shouldn't be saying this, because when I lived in Iran, I was a very good girl. I never did anything wrong. But I hope they don't watch this. But once, or twice when I went back to visit Iran, and I was like, well, I'm not living here. I can do whatever. at the time,
I was. I. I d. someone. And I was inside that person's car. And, yes. we got knocks, and I just saw the guy's face changed. He started begging, the cops to let us go. And I was like, I don't know if, you know, like, Iranian boys have so much pride and ego. And I just saw another side of that guy.
The guy I was dating, because he knew what he was to come, and I didn't. Like, I was worried a little bit, but he just went, we're ruined. and later, he. He told me, that I knew they were gonna call your uncle because my family was in Australia at the time. That's why I was doing what I was doing,
you know, hanging out with boys late at night. But he knew they would not release me until someone from the family come and, you know, release me. And that would have been my uncle, and that would have been terrible, of course. So, yeah.
Aditya Gautam
So did he. Did you. Did they take you to the station or.
Mae Da
The begging worked.
Aditya Gautam
The begging. Was there bribery? Because I'm thinking in Indian context, you would bribe someone. Like.
Mae Da
No, they didn't. He. They. He. They let us go. The other thing was, at the time, I used to. So. Well, in Iran, hijab is compulsory. I was wearing hijab, and I was wearing it, like, really properly, so you could not see it. And I look, when you look at my face, like, they. People can tell that She's.
I mean, not now, probably. She's a good girl. She doesn't do anything. So they let us go. They should watch. They should watch my shows now. They wouldn't let me go in India.
Aditya Gautam
Cops can be weird with the relationship thing too. It's weird, yes. So it's, It's. It's because they're. They. It's. It's for a very different reason. So. Yeah.
Mae Da
So because for us, they play their relationship religion card.
Aditya Gautam
Sure. So that's not the card there. But the, The. The reason they'll do it is because they know these young kids haven't told their parents.
Mae Da
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
And they can get some money out of them. That's their reason why they do it. So they will catch you and they will torment you because you don't want your parents to find out that you were hanging out with a guy or a girl late at night. So you. Eventually they'll take some money and let you. That's
the whole game.
Mae Da
So would you say that's cultural?
Aditya Gautam
I guess it's.
Mae Da
It's cultural. And then they monetize it, basically.
Aditya Gautam
Exactly 100. So it is cultural. So if the parents were okay with it, they couldn't. Right. So they're only getting away with it with, making a big deal out of it. so. So you moved here when you were 17. You moved to Melbourne. How were the first two, three years, again, massive cultural shift.
Melbourne to Tehran. how were the first few years of you adjusting and getting around? It was. Was it, like, easy? Was it hard? Or was it like, do you have siblings? Did that make it easy? Or.
Mae Da
So if I'm honest, it was terrible. And. Exactly the first three years, it was terrible. I hated. I didn't hate Australia. I hated being away from Iran. I was, like, very attached to Iran. I loved. And I was a teenager. Like, imagine. That was a very wr. Like, not. Not. It was a wrong time for me to
move. and.
Aditya Gautam
Because you had, like, close friends there.
Mae Da
Yeah. And the other thing is, so I'm half. My mum is Iranian. My dad is Afghan. I was born and raised in Iran. my. My dad and my brother, came to Australia as asylum seekers. So my mum and I lived in Iran, for five years alone. And during that time, I don't know, my. Was being shaped. I had so much
freedom. I was, it was really great in terms of shaping who I am today. And all of the sudden, all that was taken away from me. And as a teenager, I could not come to terms. Why? You know, obviously for. For my family, we're like, oh, ah, we are one family. We're supposed to be together. so being in
Australia, it was tough for me, and I just could not wait to go back to Iran.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, wow.
Mae Da
Ah, it was tough. And then the other thing is, yeah, I didn't have any friends here. English was, My English was really, really poor. and my family especially, the ones who were already in Australia did not help me to settle in. They just brought us here and then left us on our own devices. Like, I
had to figure out, okay, what to do. Do I go to high school, do I go to university? What's the pathway? I have to. I had to figure that all out by myself while not knowing good English. And then, the hardest part was, going back to high school. I went back to high school, and did year 12.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, man, that would have been brutal.
Mae Da
That was brutal. Oh, wow, that was really brutal. I mean, put the language aside, being a, ah, teenager, going back into another place full of teenagers and oh, my God, mean girls. Yeah, we do not have mean girls in Iran. And I had to deal with all that. And I was more senior to everybody else. I
was already 18 when I moved back, to high school. And all the kids in my class were like 15, 16.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Mae Da
And they, they were more competent compared to me. It was, it was tough. Like m. mentally it was really tough. And I didn't have any friends. I didn't have any because, you know, by that time, everyone has their own friends, of course.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, yeah, exactly. You're. You're sort of settled in your group.
Mae Da
The other thing was, like, just wearing uniform. Like, imagine.
Aditya Gautam
So you didn't in Tehran?
Mae Da
Yes, we did. But the one we had in Australia was because they wanted to. So at the time, I wore hijab. I, I was like, fully covered. because the high school I was at, they wanted to accommodate for the Muslim girls. They offered, like, long dress and well. But it was so freaking ugly.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, was it?
Aditya Gautam
Damn.
Mae Da
Because I was. They were like, okay, we're gonna accommodate for your. Sure.
Aditya Gautam
But it's not.
Mae Da
But we're not going to accommodate for.
Aditya Gautam
We're not going to make any effort.
Mae Da
So. So imagine you're like, I looked ugly, man. If you look at those pictures, I looked so ugly.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, man. yeah. Damn, that's a lot of things working. You should do that. Should be a next show. okay, I'm going to play.
Mae Da
The next show and I Just lost my four. Oh. I wanted to say. Okay, all right, this is what I wanted to do a callback. I wanted. Okay, just, just unhear what you. What I was gonna say was I've never done cold bags. Can you tell? I wanted to say, yes, I'm a brown mouse, but an extraordinary sceptical
brown mouse. And then that's where you laugh. Why did you choose that one?
Aditya Gautam
I know you hadn't sent me this one, but I.
Mae Da
That's very cheeky.
Aditya Gautam
But I, I still chose this one because one. It's such a real moment of comedy where something very real is happening. And I love that when that happens.
Mae Da
Yeah.
Aditya Gautam
on stage where you're actually forgetting something. but it's, it was, it's also, it's like, you know, you're doing it. You're doing comedy. You're doing comedy on stage. Why. So I wanted to ask you my. Like, is my Mae Da you. You prefer the whole. Or haven't Australians, like, done a shorter
version of that yet?
Mae Da
Okay, that's a whole segment. My name is actually.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, okay.
Mae Da
And Mae Da is my stage name, which is like closer to what is ease. Would be easier to, an Australian to pronounce. but the way I put like a capital D is just to make it look, I don't know, like Lady Gaga. What does that mean?
Aditya Gautam
Sure, you know. Yeah.
Mae Da
otherwise my name is Mae Da
Aditya Gautam
Oh, okay. Sweet. What does it mean?
Mae Da
food from heaven.
Aditya Gautam
Oh, man, that's such a sweet meaning.
Mae Da
Yes.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, it's a sweet name.
Mae Da
Very spiritual.
Aditya Gautam
Very spiritual. Food from heaven.
Mae Da
Food from heaven.
Aditya Gautam
Wanted to ask you after this joke is. You're doing, you're doing stand up comedy. Comedy. You're doing comedy. Out of all the, all the things you could have done with this precious time of yours, Mae Da you've chosen to do stand up comedy. Why have you chosen to do stand up comedy?
Mae Da
Therapy is very expensive. That's why.
Aditya Gautam
That was one of your other jokes that I was listening that I haven't brought it up. Is that true?
Mae Da
That is true. Yeah, that is true. So I went through, so I, I went through a divorce, over two years ago, and it was a tough time and I didn't have anyone to talk to, because, you know, divorce is not really something, accepted or embraced in the culture. so I kept everything to myself. And after a
couple of months, it started taking a toll on me. and I needed to keep myself healthy for my, at the time, two year old Son. and as I said before, I was always a good girl, kept everything to myself. So before. But I needed to let things out and I think it's very common to a lot of artists or
comedians, arts and creativity comes handy in those situations. So that's when I chose comedy. And it hasn't been easy because it's not like I'm living a healthy, happy life and I'm just writing really cool fantasy content. No, I actually talk about things that is bothering me as we speak. But it's
it's like venting but in a very creative, crowd pleasing way. So it has been very therapeutic. Oh it has, it has. Yeah. So there was a, Ah. So when I started comedy I was in a very bad place. Like just like to a point where. Just discharged from hospital to that level of, you know, it was pretty
bad. And when my sole intention for my Sydney Fringe show was for me to heal, to feel better because I was really, really unwell. and after that show I started feeling better. So every time I run my solo shows while I'm doing it, it's really tough. Like mentally it's really tough. But then after the
show I'm a few steps closer to health, you know, wellness.
Aditya Gautam
Ah, that's super interesting. Comedy is, I think, maybe I, again I think it applies to all art forms but for comedy, because we know a bit about it, is that it can not only be healing for the performer, it can also be healing for the audience members. Because you, when you, because everybody has
gone through some sort of traumas in their lives and when you talk about it on stage, through that you can help others sort of heal.
Mae Da
So I experienced that in Adelaide Fringe, and I obviously know that by now. I'm much better in terms of like the way I deliver, my jokes and my content. so in Adelaide Fringe, almost every time I finished the solo show, people, the audience member would come to me and thank me and they would be from
all sorts of different backgrounds, even like elderly. There was this room that was my audience where elderly female, audience from the queer community. So I imagine they've been queer since let's say they're, they're in their 70s now. They would come and say, I could relate to what you said.
Aditya Gautam
Oh wow.
Mae Da
And I'm like a Muslim Middle Eastern woman. Like how do you. So it was, it was amazing. You're, you're, you're absolutely right. And they were so grateful for for me, being on stage and talking about my experience because they could remember how they were treated or how they felt when they were in
their 20s and you know, had felt isolated and things like that, going through a completely different experience, different reason for a different reason. So. Yeah, absolutely.
Aditya Gautam
Right, yeah. But what I wanted to ask you is, that what was your experience of expo, exposure to humour and comedy growing up in Tehran? what was your exposure to it?
Mae Da
so in Iran we have really good comedians, like comedy shows on tv. we all grow up watching them. There are two people that Iranians know. Ah, the main ones are, their name is like Mehran Ghafourian and Mehran Modiri. They're both directors and actors. And they've made these different series of
comedy shows that, that would get really viral. I mean at the time we didn't have like social media, but everyone in the streets would start repeating what they say. And so it was, it was always like that. I never thought I was a funny person though. I never thought I was a comedian. I was always
the actor. Like I would do theatre at school. and the other thing was like Iran being ah, an Islamic republic. in the comedy shows, the female actors, their role was like really limited because they're not supposed to move around much or they're not supposed to look too attractive or provoke. So I
could never see like there was no role model for me.
Aditya Gautam
these two comedians that you mentioned, were they, what sort of comedy were they doing? was it like.
Mae Da
Let's say they were, let's say they, they would produce things like the Big Bang Theory.
Aditya Gautam
Like proper shows, comedy shows. Ah, okay.
Mae Da
So it wasn't, yeah, it wasn't stand up comedy. and also because again being in a conservative environment, you know, comedy has a lot of crude and rude jokes. They're not allowed to say it's like on national TV and stuff. So obviously behind the doors and when the cameras are off they would probably
go nuts. But and then there's another guy, Reza Attaran. I know he's a really, he was a really good writer. So I was exposed to their comedy, like comedy shows and things like that. And also, I don't know if I believe environments where there's a lot of suppression, sadness, people actually start
becoming extremely funny.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Mae Da
So Iranians in general are really funny. Like or like Irish people are extremely funny because of the pro, you know, the trauma they've gone through.
Aditya Gautam
100 true. So I worked in a prison for a couple of months in 2020. and man, everyone in, all the prison guards and stuff because it's such a serious, intense environment. It's such an it's not just serious, it's such a unnatural environment of just like 1300 men locked in with like in these walls and
they can't allow, they're not allowed to smoke, they're being told what to do, when to do. It's such an unnatural environment. And everybody was so funny in there.
Mae Da
No way.
Aditya Gautam
Everybody was cracking like amazing jokes every few minutes. So you're right, that's something. It's like you need a release of that pressure when you're living in such environment.
Mae Da
the one thing that was really common in Iran, people would get like, you know, viral. A text message would get so viral it was like just hilarious.
Aditya Gautam
And people are just forwarding that text.
Mae Da
Oh, like for example, something would happen like let's say a couple of months ago or a year ago, the the president of Iran, died in a, in a, what do you call it? Oh yeah, yeah, crash. And I was like, damn it, I wish I was in Iran. Yeah, I want to see those text messages because something bad would
happen and people would write the funniest jokes and I think that's the way people, they're coping, you know, that's the coping mechanism, which is hilarious.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah. Yeah.
Mae Da
So, so I guess if I, if I compare, probably if I compare myself to ah, an average Iranian, I'm not that funny. But I just, I'm very gutsy to be able to be on stage and say things.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah, fair.
Aditya Gautam
Cool. I'll play your last joke.
Mae Da
Is. Is I am toilet training my 3 year old. Let's just say if you guys don't find my jokes funny, m, it's not going to be the worst thing that's happened to me in the past. It's really hard for me to pick which one was the hardest. Scooping his poo with bare hands and scrubbing my Persian rug off his
we. Or having to smile at him and give him words of encouragement after he did that. My life. You used one of my f words
Aditya Gautam
You did? No, you beeped it out. Did you. Did you beep it.
Mae Da
No. Instagram does it,
Aditya Gautam
Automatically. Oh, does it? I had no idea. I, So. I know. So it's hard doing comedy as it is. Doing it while being a mother is probably like a hundred times harder. I know. I saw like instance of how hard this is live in Adelaide because you had to leave early because your son was sick. so is it. It
how like you being. But also I was thinking about it that there must be a lot of benefits that come from it as well because man, once you like once you've dealt with that like this exactly with what you say in this joke, you're like, ah, I'm okay with bombing absolutely.
Mae Da
100%. I think that's. I think it makes you more, resilient. This is one of my best deliveries because I was not. I did not care about how my set went because I was actually at home for three days with my son toilet training him. It's a desire. It's basically, especially coming from Iranian Muslim
background where we are all ocd, we care about cleanliness and everything. For toilet training, you're just supposed to let your child pee and wee everywhere. And yes, I have Persian rugs that are so precious to me just mentally and physically. It was just so exhausting. So I took a break from
toilet training, for only like 2, 3 hours to come and do that graduation show. I could not care less about the show. It was my break. I was just so happy to be out and it went so well because I wasn't overthinking my delivery and somehow people loved. But it is really hard being a mum especially
being a single mum Like just being a mum especially mum Obviously I'm generalising. There are dads who are like, hands on, but generally speaking, mums it's really hard to do anything, other than being a. mum.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Mae Da
and imagine comedy because, yeah, it's, it's hard because, yeah, your biology pulls you back, keeps pulling you back to your, to your child. and yes, you're right. I went to Adelaide Fringe. It was already hard that I left him here in Sydney with his dad and I was missing him, but I was like, it's
okay. This is a good cause. He's also going to get a benefit when I come back. I'm going to be more healed, I'm going to feel good about myself. I'm going to inject all the, you know, happy excitement into him. But then while I was there, he got sick. and it was pretty bad. It was the whooping
cough, which is pretty. Bad.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Mae Da
And I had to cancel my last show, change my flight and fly back to Sydney. And it costs you a lot because you, yes. From the comedy side, you lose a lot of opportunities. for example, there's so many good gigs on Thursdays. I cannot do any of those gigs because I'm on mum duty on. Thursdays.
Aditya Gautam
Okay.
Mae Da
There's a women only, gig I have never performed there because it's on. Thursday. I didn't. I
Aditya Gautam
see. I wouldn't even think about.
Mae Da
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Things like that or Saturdays. Saturday nights are really important for comedy. I'm not available on the Saturdays. I've got my son and I think. But it also makes me more, efficient. Like when I have. I know. Okay. Wednesdays I'm not on mum duty. This is the only time I have. Every
single Wednesday I would show up at open mics, and I would make the best use of that, you know, three minutes that I did that. Open mics. Because I had a purpose and I knew this is my only. Chance.
Aditya Gautam
Yeah.
Mae Da
So it works both ways.
Aditya Gautam
But thanks a lot for doing this. It was really great conversation. I'm m glad I got to talk to you. What is your social, media handles if anyone listening to this wants to follow you and check out what you're doing?
Mae Da
I try to make it, simpler. It's Mae Da comedy. It's M, M A E D. A. Comedy.
Aditya Gautam
Awesome. So at my dark, comedy on Instagram.
Mae Da
Facebook.
Aditya Gautam
Yes. Tick Tok?
Mae Da
Not yet.
Aditya Gautam
Not yet. Okay. Eventually
Mae Da
I have a child. I don't have time.
Aditya Gautam
Thank you, everybody. Thanks for watching Comedy Karma Season 2 with Mae Da Comedy Karma. Is an SPS original original podcast. It was created and produced by me, Aditya Gautam with editing help from Tarun Tyagi. I would like to give a huge thanks to the SBS teams at the Melbourne and Sydney offices
and to Joel Supple for her guidance. You can find Comedy Karma on SBS or on any other platform where you get your podcasts. Go listen to more episodes and listen to more jokes. Go do it.
