Shazia Mirza

Shazia Mirza is an English stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known for her stand up comedy The Kardashians Made Me Do It, together with her articles in British newspapers The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.[2][3][4]

Shazia Mirza
Mirza in September 2010
Native nameشازیہ مرزا‎ (in Urdu)
BornBirmingham, West Midlands, England
Mediumcomedian, actor, columnist
NationalityBritish
Years active2000[1]–present
GenresObservational comedy
Subject(s)Social commentary, Family
Websitewww.shazia-mirza.com

Early life

Mirza was born in Birmingham, England - the eldest daughter of Muslim Pakistani parents who moved to Birmingham, England in the 1960s.[5][6]

Mirza read Biochemistry at the University of Manchester and then achieved a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Goldsmiths, University of London. Before beginning her career in comedy, Mirza was a science teacher in Langdon Park School, where she taught Dylan Mills, now known as the grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal.[7][8][9] She later attended Rose Bruford College, where she studied acting part time while working as a supply teacher,[7] taking the final year of the course full time.[10]

Career

Stand-up

About a year into her comedy career, after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mirza performed a routine which began "My name is Shazia Mirza. At least, that's what it says on my pilot's licence". The routine was widely commented upon, and she was profiled as a ground breaking comedian on CBS's 60 Minutes and interviewed by Ed Bradley.

In April 2007, she presented a documentary on BBC Three called F*** Off, I'm a Hairy Woman.[11][12] She has since performed at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Halifax Comedy Festival in Canada, Lund and Malmö Comedy Festivals in Sweden, and the Glastonbury Festival, Hay Festival and The Edinburgh Festival in the United Kingdom.

Her show 'The Kardashians Made Me Do It' premiered at Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre and went on to sell out runs at London's Soho Theatre. The show was a satire on offence and political correctness and was critically well received. It also toured for 103 performances in Europe. Her comedy is said to push barriers and as a comedian she is often referred to as 'brave'.[2][3][4][13]

Writing

Mirza has been a columnist for The Guardian since 2008.[14] In 2006, she also began writing a fortnightly column in the New Statesman magazine. She has had a regular column in Dawn newspaper, published on a Saturday and has also written articles for FT Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, and the Chicago Tribune.[15]

Television and radio

Mirza has made guest appearances on several shows, including The Jonathan Ross Show,[16] Loose Women and The Late Late Show in Ireland. She was a regular panelist on the Channel 5 topical discussion series The Wright Stuff.[17] In 2016 she appeared as a panelist on The Dog Ate My Homework[18] and Have I Got News for You.[19] In March 2017 she appeared on BBC's Top Gear as the "star in the reasonably fast car". She also played a role in Episode 2 of the web-based sitcom The Vessel playing an inconsiderate doctor.[20]

Her radio appearances include 'Pause for Thought' on BBC Radio 2, Graham Norton's Radio 2 show,[21] Midweek presented by Libby Purves,[22] and the Vanessa Feltz show.[23]

Mirza has also appeared in reality game shows Celebrity The Island with Bear Grylls on Channel 4 (2017), and in 2018, the Channel 5 show Celebs in Solitary, where she attempted to spend 5 days in solitary confinement.[24]

Awards and recognition
  • 2002 Winner of The London Comedy Festival and Hackney Empire New Act of the Year
  • 2002 Runner Up Birmingham Comedy Festival
  • 2003, The Observer lists her as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy[25]
  • 2008, Awarded Columnist of the Year at PPA Awards 2008 for her bi-weekly column in the New Statesman magazine which she shared with the comedian Julian Clary
  • 2009 Semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing season 6 in the United States
  • 2010 Awarded an Honorary Fellowship to Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance[1]
  • 2010 Winner AWA The Arts and Culture Award
  • One of the annual London Evening Standard's 2016 "1000 Most Influential People in London" in the comedy category

References
  1. "Rose Bruford College Appoints its first President – Rose Bruford College". Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  2. "Edinburgh 2015: Shazia Mirza, A Work in Progress, The Stand, review: 'brave and urgent'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  3. "Shazia Mirza, comedy review: nothing if not brave". London Evening Standard. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  4. "Laughs in the face of terror | Tribune". www.tribunemagazine.org. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. Mckeown, Jack (27 May 2016). "Shazia Mirza: The Kardashians Made Me Do It". The Courier. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. Mirza, Shazia (3 August 2008). "What I know about men". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  7. Time Out London: Shazia Mirza: interview Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine 17 June 2008
  8. Shazia Mirza: Diary of a disappointing daughter Archived 2 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Shazia Mirza's weekend column 22 May 2010
  9. Interview: Shazia Mirza Archived 27 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine 23 June 2010
  10. Bedell, Geraldine (20 April 2003). "Veiled Humour". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  11. "F*** Off I'm A Hairy Woman, Series 2, Body Image – BBC Three". BBC. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  12. Mirza, Shazia (14 February 2007). "How I learned to love my hairy bits". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  13. "REVIEW: Shazia Mirza – The Kardashians Made Me Do It at Exeter Corn Exchange". Exeter Express and Echo. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  14. "Profile: Shazia Mirza". London: The Guardian UK. 23 July 2008. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  15. "Chicargo Tribune". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  16. "The Jonathan Ross Show Episode 11". "ITV Press Centre". Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  17. Wright, Matthew; Johnson, Eric; Duffy, Kirsty (11 September 2000), The Wright Stuff, archived from the original on 19 January 2017, retrieved 8 December 2016
  18. "The Dog Ate My Homework – CBBC – BBC". Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  19. TV.com. "Have I Got News for You: Shazia Mirza, Boris Johnson". TV.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  20. thevesselseries (28 October 2012), How to get pregnant – The Vessel Episode 2 – Shazia Mirza, retrieved 8 December 2016
  21. Norton, Graham Norton Radio Show (28 January 2017). "Graham". BBC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  22. "MIDWEEK". BBC. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018.
  23. "PAUSE FOR THOUGHT". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018.
  24. "Celebs in Solitary: Meltdown".
  25. The A-Z of laughter (part two) Archived 2 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian 7 December 2003
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