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Jay Islaam
MediumStand-up comedy
NationalityBritish
Years active2013 – present
GenresObservational humour, Character comedy, Satire
Subject(s)Autism, Political Correctness, Racism, Islam
Websitewww.jayislaam.com

Jay Islaam is an award-winning British stand-up comedian, broadcaster, podcaster and social commentator.[1][2]

Islaam has written for The Guardian,[3] Huffington Post,[4] Chortle, Beyond The Joke and Gigglebeats. He presents weekly arts and culture shows on Radio Peterborough[5][6] and Switch Radio,[7][8] and has also appeared on BBC Radio London,[9] BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio WM[10] and BBC Asian Network.[11]

Personal life

Islaam is from Birmingham, England, and lives in the Cambridgeshire city of Peterborough.[12] He previously worked as a marketing consultant, and started performing stand-up comedy when he visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2013.[1] He is teetotal and vegan.[13]

Career

Islaam is a Muslim[14] of Punjabi heritage.[15] He refuses to label himself as an "ethnic comedian", and has written about his objection to positive discrimination.[16][17] He has described his comedy as "neither left-wing nor right-wing" and cites George Carlin, Omid Djalili and Bill Hicks as influences.[18]

Islaam has been called "one of the bad boys of British comedy".[6] He performs "political satire" that has been described as "cleverly controversial",[19] "risqué"[20] and "comedy genius".[21] Islaam has performed at The Glee Club[20] and The Comedy Store.[14]

In 2014, Islaam created the Midlands Comedy Awards "to recognise the huge number of hard working and talented people in [the] regional comedy community".[22][23][24]

In August 2014, he was due to premiere his debut solo show, titled Racist Joke Show, about the evolution of political correctness[18] and the rise of the far right. The show's publicity featured a golliwog on the poster. Due to the controversy the show generated, it was banned from being performed by its host venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Islaam described the cancellation of his show as "a difficult and unhappy outcome" that was outside of his control and stated he was "very disappointed about the situation".[25][26]

In February 2016, he performed a show at the Leicester Comedy Festival exploring the subject of Autism, titled Travels with Autism. This was his first full-length solo show,[27] which was then performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2016 for a short run.[28][29] The show, about Islaam's life and his struggle with Asperger syndrome, was described by one reviewer as a "raw and personal show" with "dry wit and intelligence".[30]

In October 2016, Islaam was part of the Super Muslim Comedy Tour of standup comedy, along with Azhar Usman and Omar Regan, that visited twelve cities in England.[31][32]

Awards

As a new act Islaam won 20 comedy competitions.[6] In July 2014, he won his first national award, within a year of starting his comedy career, when he beat more than 100 new comedians to be recognised as Breakthrough Act 2014.[33] In 2015 he was a semi-finalist in the English Comedian of the Year competition,[34] and runner-up for the Joker of the Year award.[11]

In February 2016 it was reported that Islaam had become a finalist in three different British comedy awards,[15] and later that month he was given the New Act of the Year Award 2016 at Moseley Comedy Festival.[35][34] In August 2016 he was one of three finalists for the Asian Arts Award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show Travels with Autism.[36] In October 2016, Islaam was runner-up for the New Comedian of the Year Award at Colchester Comedy Festival.[37][38]

References

  1. ^ a b Lamy, Joel (9 August 2014). "Dream comes true for Peterborough comedy award-winner". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. ^ "The Comedy Cannon". iTunes. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Jay Islaam Guardian Articles". The Guardian. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Jay Islaam Profile". The Huffington Post. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Radio Peterborough schedule". Peterborough: Radio Peterborough. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Habib, Adam (15 February 2016). "Britain's Muslim Comedy Revolution". Edge Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  7. ^ "The Comedy Cannon". Switch Radio. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Britain's Muslim Comedy Revolution". Huffington Post. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  9. ^ Lederman, Simon (30 July 2014). "Overweight doctors, cyclists with headphones and sibling rivalry". BBC Radio London. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  10. ^ Islaam, Jay (7 January 2014). "In The Media". Jay Islaam. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  11. ^ a b Khan, Noreen (9 March 2016). "Comedian Jay Islaam". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Stamford comedy club is no joke as it wins top prize". Rutland & Stamford Mercury. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Jay Islaam: 10 Edinburgh Fringe questions". British Comedy Guide. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Muslim Comedian Wins National Comedy Award". Middle East Online. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Muslim funnyman up for three comedy awards". East London: East London News. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  16. ^ "I refuse to be an ethnic comedian". Gigglebeats. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  17. ^ "I refuse to be an ethnic comedian". Huffington Post. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  18. ^ a b Walker, Martin (16 July 2014). "The Jay Islaam Three Minute Interview". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Fringe Festival Comedy Prelude". Mumble Comedy. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  20. ^ a b Bourke, Fionnuala (16 September 2014). "The Glee Club at The Arcadian in Birmingham's Southside". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  21. ^ Musa, Junaid (24 March 2014). "World of Comedy 2014 Show 3 Review". World of Comedy. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Stamford comedy club is no joke as it wins top prize". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  23. ^ "Nottingham acts and events recognised in Midlands Comedy Awards". Nottingham Post. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Midlands Comedy Awards 2016 results". British Comedy Guide. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Racist Joke Show Axed From The Fringe". Chortle. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  26. ^ Fleming, John (20 August 2014). "Edinburgh Fringe: How the banned "Racist Joke Show" was a cunning stunt". So It Goes. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  27. ^ "Austistic Fantastic". Leicester Comedy Festival. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  28. ^ "Travels With Autism". British Comedy Guide. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  29. ^ "Travels With Autism". edfringe.com. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  30. ^ Farnham, Matt (17 August 2016). "Review: Travels with Autism". The Reviews Hub. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  31. ^ "The Super Muslim Comedy Tour 2016". Penny Appeal. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  32. ^ "Jay Islaam and a whole host of Super Muslims". Facebook: Penny Appeal. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Muslim comedian wins national comedy award". East London News. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  34. ^ a b "Stage set for comedy night". Sleaford: Sleaford Standard. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  35. ^ "Moseley Comedy Festival New Act competition". Cheeky Monkey Comedy. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  36. ^ "Brummie DJ nominated for Edinburgh festival award". Birmingham: The Birmingham Press. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  37. ^ "Colchester Comedy Festival". Colchester: Colchester Comedy Festival. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  38. ^ "Colchester Comedy Festival". Colchester: Twitter. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
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