Mitra Jouhari (born January 18, 1993) is an Iranian-American comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known for starring in the television series Three Busy Debras, based on the sketch comedy group she co-founded, and voicing Cleopatra "Cleo" Smith in the second and third seasons of Clone High. Jouhari has written for the television series Big Mouth, High Maintenance, and Miracle Workers.[1][2]
Mitra Jouhari | |
|---|---|
 Jouhari in 2018. | |
| Born | January 18, 1993 |
| Education | Ohio State University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Notable work | Three Busy Debras Clone High |
Early life and education
editJouhari was raised in West Chester, Ohio and is Iranian-American.[3][4] She was a fan of comedy from childhood and considers the television shows The Daily Show and M*A*S*H pivotal to developing her interest.[2]
She attended Lakota West High School, graduating in 2011. Jouhari attended college at Ohio State University and began to perform improv comedy as a member of 8th Floor Improv, as well as writing for the Sundial Humor Magazine.[5][6] After taking internships at the TV shows The Daily Show and Late Night, she moved to New York City without graduating to pursue a career in comedy.[2]
Career
editShe contributes writing to the website The Reductress, and has written for the television series High Maintenance, Miracle Workers, and Big Mouth.[5] Jouhari's writing for The President Show was nominated for a 2017 Writers Guild of America award.[2]
In 2015, Jouhari co-founded the sketch comedy trio Three Busy Debras alongside Sandy Honig and Alyssa Stonoha.[7][5] They performed weekly at The Annoyance in Brooklyn, typically to a sold-out audience.[8] The trio later moved to Los Angeles to develop the show for television.[8] A live action comedy series of the same name was picked up by Adult Swim on May 7, 2019. Jouhari, Honig, and Stonoha star in and executive produce Three Busy Debras, which is about the "surreal day-to-day lives of three deranged housewives, all named Debra, in their affluent suburban town of Lemoncurd, Connecticut."[9] The series premiered on March 29, 2020.[10]
In 2015, Jouhari and Catherine Cohen, later joined by Patti Harrison, started co-hosting It's A Guy Thing, a monthly show in Brooklyn.[11]
Jouhari co-hosts podcast Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster + Mitra Jouhari with comedian Joel Kim Booster under Earwolf.[12]
In 2022, Jouhari guest-starred in an episode of Abbott Elementary, where she played an art teacher named Sahar.[13] In 2023 she was cast as the new voice of Cleopatra "Cleo" Smith in the second season of Clone High replacing Christa Miller on the Max streaming service.
Personal life
editJouhari resides in Los Angeles.[14] She is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.[15]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Big Sick | Yazmin | |
| 2023 | Urkel Saves Christmas: the Movie | Clerk Leslie (voice) | Direct-to-Video |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2018 | The Special Without Brett Davis | Various roles | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Above Average Presents | Cindi | Episode: "When You Find Out Your Boyfriend Is Short" |
| 2016 | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee | Mitra | Episode: "Full Frontal Election Documentary" |
| 2017 | Friends from College | Kristen | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Broad City | Greeter | Episode: "Twaining Day" |
| 2019 | High Maintenance | Mitra | Episode: "Proxy" |
| 2019, 2021 | Miracle Workers | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Search Party | Laney | |
| 2020–2021 | Big Mouth | Sorority Girl #1 (voice) | 4 episodes; also writer and story editor |
| 2020–2022 | Three Busy Debras | Debra | 16 episodes; also writer and creator |
| 2021 | Ten Year Old Tom | Nurse Denise (voice) | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Abbott Elementary | Sahar | Episode: "Art Teacher" |
| 2022 | Human Resources | Waiter (voice) | Episode: "International Creature Convention"; also writer |
| 2023 | History of the World, Part II | Various | 3 episodes |
| 2023–present | Digman! | Saltine (voice) | Main role |
| 2023–2024 | Clone High | Cleopatra "Cleo" Smith (voice) | Main role; replacing Christa Miller |
| 2023 | The Bear | Kelly |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy/Variety Sketch Series | The President Show | Nominated | [16] |
| 2023 | Short Form New Media | Three Busy Debras | Won | [17] |
References
edit- ^ Specter, Emma (16 December 2019). "Catherine Cohen, Patti Harrison, and Mitra Jouhari Spill Their Holiday Wish Lists". Vogue. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d Escandon, Rosa. "26-Year-Old Mitra Jouhari Balances Writing And Performing With Positivity". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "The 7 Funny People Reshaping Comedy Right Now". GQ. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "The YouTube Shooter May Be Iranian, but She Is Not Iran". Teen Vogue. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ a b c Boyd Walters, Amanda (2020-01-20). "This Cincinnati Native Has Her Hands in All Your Current—and Future—Favorite Comedy Shows". Cincinnati. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ "Mitra Jouhari – The Sundial Humor Magazine". org.osu.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
- ^ Nelson, Jenny (May 15, 2015). "Mitra Jouhari (@tweetrajouhari) on Making Connections Online and Writing Silly Tweets About Social Issues". Vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ a b "The Comedians Getting Busy While We All Do Nothing". Papermag.com. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ Thorne, Will (2019-05-07). "'Three Busy Debras' Ordered to Series at Adult Swim". Variety. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ Erbland, Kate (2020-03-30). "'Three Busy Debras' Review: Bite-Sized Absurdist Comedy Upends Suburban Boredom, but It Needs More Zing". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ Riedy, Jack (18 January 2019). "The three hilarious women of It's a Guy Thing bring their act to the Tomorrow Never Knows festival". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
- ^ "Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster and Mitra Jouhari". Earwolf.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ "Abbott Elementary IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ "Mitra Jouhari". Junior High. March 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
- ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/sarahsquirm/status/1306675146564931584. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Variety Staff (2018-02-12). "WGA Awards: The Complete Winners List". Variety. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ "2023 Writers Guild Awards Winners & Nominees". awards.wga.org. Retrieved 2023-03-06.