Comedian Martin Amini was just hitting his stride in Los Angeles when the pandemic hit in March of 2020 and forced him to leave his dreams behind in Los Angeles and move back in with his family in Montgomery County where he grew up.
Prior to the pandemic, he made Thrillist’s “Best Undiscovered Stand Up Comedian list” and while Covid slowed things down for stand-up comedy, Amini came out of it better than ever. When comedy clubs were shut down and there wasn’t much people could do back in June 2020, Amini put on a socially distanced comedy show in his father’s backyard in Gaithersburg. A little more than four years later, he sold out Warner Theatre in DC on November 16th, 2024.
Amini’s stand-up material touches on what it’s like growing up mixed in America (primarily here in Montgomery County) and coming from an Iranian and Bolivian background. His interactions with the crowd has earned him millions of likes and shares on social media.
In 2021, he opened Room 808 (808 Upshur Street, NW) in DC to try to bring back a space where he and other entertainers could perform.“The art community had been impacted and there was a huge void.” Amini told us. “Those with dreams to grow in the arts were finding their dreams crushed.” He continued to tour and post clips online, which led to touring with comedian Matt Rife in 2023/2024 and then headlining sold out shows across the country.
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