Reviews

  • 23 October 2010

    Leicester Mercury Review 2010
    Shazia MIrza: Y Theatre Leicester
    PDF version of 'Leicester Mercury Review 2010'

  • 08 October 2010

    Daily Record Review

    Shazia's style wins plenty of praise
    Shazia Mirza The Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh October 5 2010
    4 stars ****

    Not long after the events of September 11, Shazia Mirza started her comedy career.

    Back then, the British- born Muslim woman would open her gigs by saying "My name is Shazia Mirza. At least that what it says on my pilot's licence."

     

    It was a great, shocking line that grabbed the attention of the audience and won the rookie comic a lot of headlines.

     

    The problem was that back in the early years of the new millennium, that one liner was Shazia's strongest gag and the rest of her early sets would seem disappointing in comparison.

     

    Switch to the present day and her set is packed with punchy gags that have the audiene gasping.

     

    Most of her material comes from her own life and Shazia mocks her own background with a directness that most of her fellow comics would not dare go near. She tells us that her mother is desperate for her to get married but there is a problem. "Asian men don't want to marry me," says Shazia, pausing just long enough before adding, "because I speak."

     

    Instead, she is dating an Irish atheist, which leads her to ponder the similarities between the Irish and her roots in Pakistan.

     

    I won't spell out the punchline but lets just say that explosions are of the things Shazia reckons that two cultures have a shared fascination for.

     

    In other hands, it could be offensive to some but part of Shazia's set explores what is offensive and what isn't.

     

    This was a cracking performance from a comic who can make an audience think as well as laugh.

     

    Jonathan Trew
    PDF version of 'Daily Record Review'

  • 05 October 2010

    one4review

    Wicked Wenches - 5 October 2010- The Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh
    Posted on 06/10/2010 by one4review

    Following the second interval and prize draw, Susan Calman introduced Shazia Mirza, our headline act of the evening.

    I have seen Ms Mirza quite a few times over the years and have to say have always enjoyed her as a performer. Birmingham born of Asian heritage she always has a lot to say and the quality of her material is never in doubt. As well as a stand-up she does a lot of writing too, and the erudite nature of her set is testimony to this. Shazia always has plenty to say on her culture and upbringing, possibly able to go places with it that others may fear to tread, but never pushes the boundaries too far.

     

    From the off she was drawing howls of laughter with the majority of her well written and confidently delivered performance, and when she smiled the whole stage was illuminated. She majored on a recent excursion to Buckingham Palace, an event that was comedy gold for a comedian of her calibre, and boy did she make use of this. Shazia, although pretty well known in the comedy world, in my opinion deserves to be a household name, and let's hope this occurs sooner than later.

    http://one4review.wordpress.com/?s=shazia+mirza

  • 22 August 2010

    Scotland on Sunday

    Shazia Mirza is the self proclaimed 'White sheep' of her Pakistani Muslim family. As you might imagine, her own life gives Mirza plenty of material to work with and, in this show, she busts countless taboos about race, multiculturalism and sex with enough gusto to make the Guardian readersin the audience squirm uncomfortably.

    Mirza is very much on form and the nonchalant disregard with which she strides through several PC minefields is wonderful to watch.

    She ends with a great, surprising set piece about meeting the Queen that should be included in the curriculum of all diversity training days.

    Jonathan Trew

  • 01 February 2007 - The Independant

    The Anvil, Basingstoke
    In 2001, the Muslim comic Shazia Mirza leapt to the attention of the media with her infamous post-September 11 joke
    PDF version of 'The Anvil, Basingstoke'

  • 01 November 2006 - DNA Mumbai

    From Britain with love, and laughter
    Mirza, who has been routinely heckled in London and inundated with hate mail, spent an incident-less evening in Mumbai.
    PDF version of 'From Britain with love, and laughter'

  • 01 November 2006 - Hindustan Times

    The only thing sacred was comedy
    The beachfront mocha at Juhu must have set a record on Thursday night. Never before has the café been packed to the hilt for a live performance as it was for British-Pakistani stand-up comic Shazia Mirsa's act.
    PDF version of 'The only thing sacred was comedy'

  • 01 June 2006 - The Evening Standard

    Soho Theatre
    Written by: Bruce Dessau
    Having first made a splash by performing i Muslim dress and doing terrorism gags, Shazia Mirza has latterly been diping her toes in the mainstream.
    PDF version of 'Soho Theatre'

  • 12 August 2005 - The Independant

    The stand-up revolution
    Written by: Johann Hari
    It's beyond a joke: comics at the Edinburgh Fringe have been addressing difficult political issues - and getting lots of laughs in the process.
    PDF version of 'The stand-up revolution'
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