The kitchen is the most important room. All domestic, erotic and world-changing events happen in the kitchen. Everyone can feel sexy and daring in a kitchen, even someone called Gordon. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

An artist called me up this week: “Can I interview you about your ideas on heroism?” he asked. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

It is incredible the things people will tell a total stranger in the most unlikely situations. I had just finished a gig a few days ago when a man approached me. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

I had a phone call this week from a national newspaper asking me, “Shazia, do you think the 40 lashes facing the Sudanese woman for wearing trousers is too much or too little?” Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

Charity is alive and well, but the lengths that people go to… “Oh,but it’s for charity,” is always the line to coax me into doing the ridiculous. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

I am in Malmö, Sweden. To get here, I flew into Copenhagen, Denmark, where my driver very excitedly informed me that he would be driving me under the sea. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

The concept of holidays is relatively new to me. My dad always used to say, “You can have a holiday when you’re dead. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

I am a very private person. I do not converse with my neighbour over the garden fence about my new saucepans, I do not discuss my fertility problems with other women in the changing room at the gym, and I do not walk around the house naked. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

The Edinburgh festival has started. I won’t be there. I’m taking a break from the sex, drugs and bigotry. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

This country is turning into a game show. Welcome to Who Wants to Be a Citizen Here? Collect as many points as you can and go for the ultimate prize, a British passport. Your host is the immigration minister, Phil Woolas, who yesterday unveiled his calculator for awarding points towards “earned citizenship”. Continue reading “Comment is Free”

Trust is not what it used to be. When I was growing up, I was allowed to trust everyone. Even the “Polo man”, an old guy who used to stand on street corners in Birmingham giving sweets to kids. Nowadays if you did that, you would be labelled “abit simple” or a paedophile. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door the other morning. I opened the door by mistake, thinking it was the FedEx man with my Spiderman DVDs. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

I was filming this week, in my first comedy drama – it’s a very camp affair, which is great news because I’ve been a friend of the homosexual for a very long time. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”

My name is Shazia Mirza, but I often get mistaken for other people. I was walking down the street the other day when a man came up to me and said, “I love your work, Benazir”. Continue reading “Shazia Mirza’s Weekend Column”