Jay Shareef

Jay Shareef (born 1982) is an award-winning British stand-up comedian, broadcaster, podcaster and social commentator,[1][2] also known by the stage name Jay Islaam.[3][4]

Jay Shareef
Born1982 (age 38–39)
MediumStand-up
NationalityBritish
Years active2013–present
GenresObservational humour, Character comedy, Satire
Subject(s)Autism, Political Correctness, Racism, Islam
Websitejayshareef.com

Shareef has written for The Guardian,[5] Huffington Post,[6] Birmingham Mail,[7] Chortle, Beyond The Joke and Gigglebeats. He presents weekly arts and culture shows on Radio Peterborough[8][9] and Switch Radio,[10][11] and has also appeared on BBC Radio London,[12] BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio WM[13] and BBC Asian Network.[14]

Personal life

Shareef is from Birmingham, England, and lives in the Cambridgeshire city of Peterborough.[15] 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.[16]

Career

Shareef is a Muslim[17] of Punjabi heritage.[18] He refuses to label himself as an "ethnic comedian", and has written about his objection to positive discrimination.[19][20] He has described his comedy as "neither left-wing nor right-wing" and cites George Carlin, Omid Djalili and Bill Hicks as influences.[21]

Shareef has been called "one of the bad boys of British comedy".[9] He performs "political satire" that has been described as "cleverly controversial",[22] "risqué"[23] and "comedy genius".[24] He has performed at The Glee Club[23] and The Comedy Store.[17]

In 2014, Shareef created the Midlands Comedy Awards "to recognise the huge number of hard working and talented people in [the] regional comedy community".[25][26][27]

In August 2014, he was due to premiere his debut solo show, titled Racist Joke Show, about the evolution of political correctness[21] 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. He 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".[28][29]

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,[30] which was then performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2016 for a short run.[31][32] The show, about his life and his struggle with Asperger syndrome, was described by one reviewer as a "raw and personal show" with "dry wit and intelligence".[33]

In October 2016, Shareef was part of the Super Muslim Comedy Tour of standup comedy, along with Azhar Usman and Omar Regan, that visited twelve cities in England.[34]

Awards

As a new act Shareef won 20 comedy competitions.[9] 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.[35] In 2015 he was a semi-finalist in the English Comedian of the Year competition,[36] and runner-up for the Joker of the Year award.[14]

In February 2016. it was reported that he had become a finalist in three different British comedy awards,[18] and later that month he was given the New Act of the Year Award 2016 at Moseley Comedy Festival.[37][36] 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.[38] In October 2016, he was runner-up for the New Comedian of the Year Award at Colchester Comedy Festival.[39]

In January 2017, he was chosen as one of five finalists for the "Best Midlands Comedian Award 2017" by What's on magazine, and was also a finalist for the Arts and Culture Award for the British Muslim Awards 2017.[40][41]

References
  1. 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 Store. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. "Midlands Bankers". Chortle. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. "Midlands Comedy Awards 2019 results". British Comedy Guide. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. "Jay Islaam Guardian Articles". The Guardian. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  6. "Jay Islaam Profile". HuffPost. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. Islaam, Jay (22 January 2017). "8 comedians you should go see in Birmingham during 2017". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  8. "Radio Peterborough schedule". Peterborough: Radio Peterborough. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  9. Habib, Adam (15 February 2016). "Britain's Muslim Comedy Revolution". Edge Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  10. "The Comedy Cannon". Switch Radio. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  11. "Britain's Muslim Comedy Revolution". HuffPost. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  12. Lederman, Simon (30 July 2014). "Overweight doctors, cyclists with headphones and sibling rivalry". BBC Radio London. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  13. Islaam, Jay (7 January 2014). "In The Media". Jay Islaam. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  14. Khan, Noreen (9 March 2016). "Comedian Jay Islaam". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  15. "Stamford comedy club is no joke as it wins top prize". Rutland & Stamford Mercury. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  16. "Jay Islaam: 10 Edinburgh Fringe questions". British Comedy Guide. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  17. "Muslim Comedian Wins National Comedy Award". Middle East Online. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  18. "Muslim funnyman up for three comedy awards". East London: East London News. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  19. "I refuse to be an ethnic comedian". Gigglebeats. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  20. "I refuse to be an ethnic comedian". HuffPost. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  21. Walker, Martin (16 July 2014). "The Jay Islaam Three Minute Interview". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  22. "Fringe Festival Comedy Prelude". Mumble Comedy. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  23. Bourke, Fionnuala (16 September 2014). "The Glee Club at The Arcadian in Birmingham's Southside". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  24. Musa, Junaid (24 March 2014). "World of Comedy 2014 Show 3 Review". World of Comedy. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  25. "Stamford comedy club is no joke as it wins top prize". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  26. "Nottingham acts and events recognised in Midlands Comedy Awards". Nottingham Post. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  27. "Midlands Comedy Awards 2016 results". British Comedy Guide. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  28. "Racist Joke Show Axed From The Fringe". Chortle. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  29. Fleming, John (20 August 2014). "Edinburgh Fringe: How the banned "Racist Joke Show" was a cunning stunt". So It Goes. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  30. "Austistic Fantastic". Leicester Comedy Festival. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  31. "Travels With Autism". British Comedy Guide. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  32. "Travels With Autism". The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  33. Farnham, Matt (17 August 2016). "Review: Travels with Autism". The Reviews Hub. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  34. "The Super Muslim Comedy Tour 2016". Penny Appeal. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  35. "Muslim comedian wins national comedy award". East London News. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  36. "Stage set for comedy night". Sleaford: Sleaford Standard. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  37. "Moseley Comedy Festival New Act competition". Cheeky Monkey Comedy. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  38. "Brummie DJ nominated for Edinburgh festival award". Birmingham: The Birmingham Press. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  39. "Colchester Comedy Festival". Colchester: Colchester Comedy Festival. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  40. "What's on Readers' Awards Finalists announced". What's on magazine. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  41. Kavanagh, Dean (28 January 2017). "Switch Radio presenter nominated for local comedy award". Birmingham: Switch Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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