What's funny about being from a country whose dictator denies you even exist?

For gay Iranian-American comic Mehran Khaghani, humor is the best weapon. He'll be performing in There Are No Gays in Iran at Café du Nord, Friday, March 12, with straight comics Amir Malekpour, Tissa Hami and Max Amini, who each dispel myths and muses about their culture through humor.

So, Khaghani is asked, what is funny about dictatorial oppression?

"Well, there's dick, first."

Khaghani has a few nicknames for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who publicly declared that Iran has no homosexuals. A favorite: Napoleon II: Electric Boogaloo.

"He's basically a midget who's getting away with it," Khaghani said. "He's gotten in bed with the right people; he's essentially blown the status quo to get where he is. This guy isn't some revolutionary thinker, but smaller. He's like a fifth-generation asshole, donning Men's Wearhouse jackets so he can seem like a man of the people."

When he's not maligning deranged world leaders, Khaghani uses himself as fodder for his stand-up act. "I've been cannibalizing my own ball for two years," he bluntly joked while mentioning his singular testicular status and the length of his stand-up career.

Before that, Khaghani, who lives in Boston, performed in various theatre works, directed and performed improv comedy, and was even in a few rock bands. So, his early comedy gigs weren't his first time performing in public, "but stand-up is its own craft," he added.

How does a performer who tells the same jokes at each show keep it fresh? Khaghani mentions how a mentor said, "Every audience is a first date. It's proven to be so true. Someone like Jay Leno had to go for a clean act early on. Now he can say whatever he wants. I still have to re-introduce myself," he said, and does so, including at comedy festivals. Khaghani also has an advantage in a competitive field by "cornering a market on certain jokes," adding, "'Iranian homo' is my quick handshake."

Returning to Iran is impossible for the out gay performer, who has not returned since he was ten. "I wouldn't say that I'm on some Most Wanted list," said Khaghani. "Either they'd let me right in just to kill me – I'm not kidding – or would just not let me in at all. I don't plan on going there for any time soon, which is a shame. The geography to my bloodline belongs there. I can't even go to the Caspian Sea; maybe the Russian side."

Does comedy work to express such frustrations?

"It's a subversive medium," said Khaghani. "Funny is funny. There's a joy to it. Growing up disenfranchised, comedians were such a source of sanity for me. To be able to do that for someone else; de-mystifying, making the conservative majority look stupid; It's a tradition and a responsibility. I like to disempower the mean thinkers."

Whether Iranian or American, rightwing logic is often the subject of Khaghani's ascerbic humor. "Anything that limits the realm of possibility is stupid. Conservatives are like referees to a sport that they alone know the rules to."

While he enjoys living in Boston, Khaghani expressed a love for San Francisco, and said, "for comedy, you have to move to Los Angeles or New York City, unless you tour a lot. Then it doesn't matter."

Coming from a country and culture known for its oppression of gays, how do other gays treat Khaghani?

"Being an Iranian, I'm pretty 'white' and I'm pop culture-savvy, so there isn't that much of a disconnect," he said. "Boston is not as open-minded as elsewhere. But I appreciate the city. As much as it's conservative, I like it. People get away with being really nasty in New York. In Boston, they'll be told to shut up."

As for the gay community, Khaghani said, "I get more shit for not exercising. The preconceptions of masculinity and femininity; this idea of butchness and its stereotypes is a challenge for me. But I deal with it. I'm not a man of few words."

Fortunately, most of those words are pointed, funny and insightful as well.

There Are No Gays in Iran at Café du Nord, Friday March 12. Iranian-American comics Mehran Khaghani, Amir Malekpour, Tissa Hami and Max Amini perform. $35. 8pm. 2170 Market St. 861-5016. www.iranian.com/comedyshow.html  www.cafedunord.com