Category: Performing
Country: United Kingdom

About

Shazia Mirza is an award-winning, British Asian stand-up comedian from Birmingham, England. She has toured in the United States, Sweden, Denmark, France, Holland and Germany and has appeared on 60 Minutes (CBS), Last Comic Standing (NBC), and Have I Got News for You (BBC). Shazia’s comedic talent has been featured on television shows such as Beautiful People, F**K off I’m a Hairy Woman, Richard and Judy, and The World Stands Up, as well as radio programs like On the Dot – Comic Fringes, a Good Read, Midweek, The Now Show, Between Ourselves, and Women’s Hour.¹

Shazia was also credited as a script consultant on fellow comedian David Baddiel’s 2010 release The Infidel, a film that humorously addresses ethnic identity and the troubling competition between religious groups in Britain. The hero of the movie is played by Omid Djalili, who portrays a moderate Muslim living a quiet life in East London when he discovers he was adopted and his birth parents were Jewish.² 

Shazia has received rave reviews from a number of top publications including The New York Times, which stated, “In that global menagerie of Comedy Mirza is that rarest of rare creatures. Mirza is a proven draw.”³She has won a number of awards for her work including the GG2 Young Achiever of the Year Award in 2003, the Columnist of the Year PPA Awards in 2008, and the Arts and Culture Award in 2010.⁴

In regards to her work and her faith Shazia commented, “I totally believe in my religion. I think if I were a practicing Muslim and a stripper, then there would be a problem. But there isn’t a problem with me being a practicing Muslim and a stand-up comic.”⁵

[1] Shazia Mirza: Biography.

[2] “The Infidel,” The Guardian.

[3] Shazia Mirza: Biography.

[4] ibid.

[5] “Funny, Shazia Mirza Looks Muslim,” The San Francisco Chronicle.