Shazia Mirza Archives

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Shazia Mirza

July 20, 2017 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Shazia Mirza’s comedy is known for being packed with social and political comment, and it looks as though her latest show With Love From St Tropez will not disappoint, delving deeper into issues relating to what we wear, what we look like, and how this affects how society treats us. Shazia will be performing at the Gilded Balloon Teviot throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

That I don’t have to pay any bills, or post any letters, or clean the house and do the gardening, or argue with my neighbour. It is a great escape from my mundane domestic life.

2) What was your first Edinburgh show about?

I can’t even remember what it was about, but I definitely remember dying on my arse every night for a whole month. I think the audience will probably remember that horror too.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

Yes. Gay men and Guardian readers. Although everyone is welcome. The Guardian readers like to come because they like to learn and they think I’m going to teach them something, and I have always had a gay following ever since I was a regular headliner at Comedy Camp in Soho. The gays are a very loyal and supportive audience and love a strong bitter woman.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

I turned up one year to a flat my agent had a arranged for me and the bed was in the kitchen. I was meant to sleep on the bed in the kitchen, and cook my dinner in the kitchen and eat my dinner on the bed. The bathroom was next to the bed. And it was very expensive to live there. I moved out after 24 hours, it was like being in solitary confinement.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Performing with Robin Williams at The Throckmorton Theatre San Francisco, a year before he died.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

Something random and obscure that I would never see anywhere else.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

I hope that by the end of the festival, I will have a really great show that I will take on tour, and that I will become a better comic.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

The Afterlife.

BOOK TICKETS FOR SHAZIA MIRZA: WITH LOVE FROM ST TROPEZ, AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

Seven Questions With… Shazia Mirza

November 27, 2015 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Shazia Mirza is a comedian and columnist from my home city of Birmingham. Where others may stay well back, Mirza tackles difficult political topics head-on, effortlessly demonstrating to us all why comedy is so vital in this day and age and using her stand up as a platform to get us talking about important social issues. Shazia is currently preparing to take her 2015 Edinburgh show The Kardashians Made Me Do It on tour across the UK.

I asked Shazia these seven questions to learn more about her…

1) Is it important to you to find humour in serious subjects?

It’s not important, I just try to do material on whatever I feel something about. So if I’m angry, sad, happy about something, I’ll try and find jokes about that because at least I feel something about it. It’s when I don’t feel anything about anything that I feel stuck, which happens often, as you can’t care about everything and sometimes its tiring so I just think oh I’ll go to bed and have a cup of tea.

2) Which part of the country is your favourite?

I love the Midlands, because I was born in Birmingham and the humour feels very familiar when I go home. I feel like they get me, they are laughing with me, and I can make in house jokes that only we can laugh at. I can also talk ‘Birmingham’ – that is my lingo with my accent, which just makes people run from me if I do it elsewhere.

3) What is it that made you quit being a teacher?

The tipping point was when someone kept stealing my mug in the staffroom. I thought I’m not having this anymore. Also I was doing jokes in the classroom, which they just didn’t get, and I thought I could make more money doing this out in the clubs, so I did.

4) Which month of the year is your favourite?

September. I can go on holiday, it’s cheaper but it’s still hot and the kids have all gone back to school so there is peace and quiet on the beaches of the South of France.

5) Are you usually early or late for things?

Late. Because I try to fit in 20 things in one day. For some reason I still think I can do a gig in San Francisco and Leicester on the same night.

6) Do you fear failure?

I’ve failed so much that I can’t imagine progressing any further without failure. If I don’t fail at something every few months, it feels weird. Everyone needs a car crash to remind them they are not invincible.

7) Is 2015 a good time to be a comedian?

I have been a comedian in other years too, but it seems like now there is so much you can’t help but joke about. There is so much in your face that’s getting people angry and frustrated every day that there is loads to say. Everyone is being affected by something these days that can make them angry.

SHAZIA MIRZA IS TOURING HER LATEST SHOW ‘THE KARDASHIANS MADE ME DO IT’ IN EARLY 2016

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…