| Sadia Azmat | |
| Birth Place: | Leyton, London, UK |
| Medium: | Stand-up |
| Nationality: | British |
| Active: | 2010–present |
| Genre: | Observational comedy, self-deprecation |
| Subject: | British Asian culture, stereotypes, racism, Islamic humour |
Sadia Azmat (Urdu: عظمت سعدیہ; born 1990) is an English stand-up comedian.
Azmat was born to Indian parents in Leyton, England.[1] At the age of 19, she started wearing hijab.[2]
Azmat had been working in call-centres of varying descriptions,[1] [3] but in 2010, Azmat started performing stand-up comedy.[4]
In August 2011, she performed her debut show Please Hold – You're Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival[4] at the Laughing Horse @ Finnegan's Wake,[5] which was directed by Deborah Frances-White.[1] In August 2011, Azmat also featured on BBC Radio 4's Front Row[6] and a producer invited her to perform at the Cape Town Festival 2012.[4]
In December 2011, she performed at the Desi Central Comedy Tour in Glasgow.[7]
In August 2014, she performed her debut full-length show I'm not Malala at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Laughing Horse.[8] In September 2014, she was interviewed by Nadia Hussein and Sakinah Lenoir on British Muslim TV's Sisters' Hour.[9]
In June 2015, she made a short film Things I Have Been Asked As a British Muslim as part of the British Muslim Comedy series, five short films by Muslim comedians commissioned by the BBC for release on BBC iPlayer.[2] [10] [11] Azmat debunked Muslim stereotypes, including the "Muslim verdict", racism, Ramadan, integration and hijab,[10] thus providing a look at life as a Muslim woman.[12] In August 2015, she performed at the inaugural Muslim Lifestyle Expo at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.[13] [14] In September 2015, she appeared on Sky News's Morning Stories series on YouTube, questioning what people would be willing to do for someone we love.[15]
In January 2016, Azmat appeared on This Week where she criticised David Cameron's push for English language lessons for Muslim women to help them resist the lure of Islamic extremism.[16]
In March 2017, as part of our All Women Everywhere month, Azmat appeared on a video about Asian Women talking about stereotypes they deal with while dating.[17]
Azmat also a regular in the YouTube channel Bend It TV aimed to providing the news from an Asian perspective.[11]
Azmat's act is observational humour[4] about her experiences working as a call centre[3] operative for a well-known car insurance firm,[5] being a British Asian[4] Muslim[18] growing up in London,[4] and moves on to more general cross-cultural issues,[19] about race[20] and religion,[3] her difficulties in the UK job market and an Asian mum gag.[19]
Azmat is described by The Sunday Times as "hilarious and insightful" for her current set of I Am Not Malala.[11]
In September[21] 2011,[22] Azmat was shortlisted[23] for the Funny Women Awards final[24] in Leicester Square Theatre, London.[25]