Shazia Mirza (Part One)
About this episode
Emily and Ray take a walk with comedian Shazia Mirza, discussing her journey from a strict upbringing to becoming a prominent figure in British comedy.
This week Emily and Ray take a stroll with the fabulous comedian Shazia Mirza . Emily and Shazia actually go back a long way, as when Shazia first decided to pursue comedy, she took performance lessons with Emily’s late mum, an acting teacher who became a great friend and source of encouragement. This is Shazia’s first meeting with Ray, though, and despite admitting she’s usually a little nervous around dogs, it isn’t long before he’s won her over and been officially declared Britain’s first halal dog. Shazia talks about growing up in Birmingham in a strict household with strong academic expectations, studying biochemistry at university and becoming a science teacher, before eventually realising that what she really wanted to do was stand-up. She began performing comedy in secret, and within just a few years found herself appearing on the hugely influential American programme 60 Minutes as the world’s only female Muslim stand-up comedian. Since then, Shazia has become a fixture of British comedy, appearing on shows including Have I Got News for You , QI and Would I Lie to You? , as well as memorably reducing Hugh Jackman to hysterics on The Jonathan Ross Show . It’s a funny…
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