Ahir Shah

Last updated

Ahir Shah
Born (1990-12-28) 28 December 1990 (age 33) [1]
London, England, UK
Medium Stand-up
Education Clare College, Cambridge (BA)
Genres Political comedy
Website Official website

Ahir Shah (born 28 December 1990) is a British comedian. He was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award [2] at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 and 2018, and won the award in 2023. [3] Before that he was a finalist in the 2008 So You Think You're Funny? competition for new acts. [4] Shah has been called "one of his generation's most eloquent comic voices". [5]

Contents

Early life

Shah was born and raised in London. [6] His parents, Vikram and Ulka, are originally from India. [7] Shah's mother is a state primary school teacher. [8] His grandmother, who had been living with the family in the UK, was deported to India when Shah was five years old. [9]

He attended Preston Manor comprehensive school in Wembley [10] [11] and went on to the University of Cambridge. He graduated in 2012 with a degree in Politics, Psychology and Sociology (PPS) from Clare College. [12]

Career

When he was 15, Shah started doing comedy at open mic nights. His father had encouraged him to try different extracurricular activities, and stand-up comedy "struck a passion". [8] He performed all through his school and university years, taking his debut show Astrology to Edinburgh in 2011. [13]

In 2019, he toured the UK with his show Dots. [14] His previous shows are Astrology (2011), Anatomy (2013), [15] Texture (2014), [16] Distant (2015), [17] Machines (2016), [18] Control (2017), [19] and Duffer (2018). [9] [20]

Shah is a writer and performer on BBC Two's satirical news show The Mash Report . [21] He has appeared on TV panel shows including Frankie Boyle's New World Order , Have I Got News For You and Mock the Week , on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz , and has performed on Live at The Apollo . His acting credits include roles in Campus , Brotherhood , and Catastrophe . [8] [22]

In December 2019, it was announced that Shah would be joining fellow comedian Suzi Ruffell on her new radio panel show entitled Explicable Me on BBC Radio 2. [23] [24] In 2021, Shah had an HBO special called Dots. [25]

In 2023, Shah won the Best Comedy Show award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show Ends. [26] The show will be streaming as a Netflix special from September 2024.

In 2024, he appeared as a co-host of The Bugle podcast. [27]

Personal life

Shah has suffered from depression, and has discussed coming off medication for it during his stand-up routine. [28] He has spoken about his reluctance to be a "nodding dog" (an unthinking advocate) for white guilt in relation to European colonialism. [29]

During the November 2015 Paris attacks, Shah was performing at Le Paname Art Café in the Rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, only a few doors down from the Café Bonne Biere that was one of the attack sites. [8] The experience formed part of Shah's 2016 show Machines. [18]

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References

  1. ↑ Ahir Shah [@AhirShah] (28 December 2020). "I am now 30 years old, a fact I hope will lead to a decline in the amount of clowning around I must tolerate" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 January 2023– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Record NINE nominees for Edinburgh comedy award". Chortle . 23 August 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Lee, Veronica (26 August 2023). "Edinburgh festival fringe: Ahir Shah's Ends wins best show at comedy awards". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Ahir Shah, comedian". Chortle . Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Saunders, Tristram Fane (17 August 2017). "One of his generation's most eloquent comic voices – Ahir Shah: Control, Edinburgh Fringe, review" . Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Hogan, Michael; Jones, Ralph (22 July 2018). "All the fun of the fringe: the best comedy to see in Edinburgh, part one". The Guardian. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "Ahir Shah : New Order". Beat Magazine. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "RHLSTP 249 - Ahir Shah". www.rhlstp.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Ahir Shah: Duffer review - Political Standup gets personal". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Raffray, Nathalie. "Former students return to Wembley school for WOW talk event". Kilburn Times. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "Standing up to the crunch". getwestlondon. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. ↑ "Spotlight on: Ahir Shah — Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)". www.polis.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "Ahir Shah - Edinburgh Fringe 2011". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Logan, Brian (6 August 2019). "Ahir Shah: Dots review – humour and poetry in existential angst". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Brown, Rivkah. "Theatre: Ahir Shah: Anatomy". Varsity Online. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "Ahir Shah – Texture (Ahir Shah) | ThreeWeeks Edinburgh" . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  17. ↑ "Ahir Shah: Distant: 5 star review by Jake A Ellamen". broadwaybaby.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  18. 1 2 "Ahir Shah: Machines". Edinburgh Festival. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  19. ↑ Laing, Morgan (9 August 2017). "Ahir Shah: Control". Edinburgh Festivals Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  20. ↑ "Ahir Shah". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  21. ↑ Richman, Darren (16 February 2018). "We shadowed a weekly satire show to find out how they work" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  22. ↑ "Ahir Shah". IMDb. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  23. ↑ "Explicable Me - Radio 2 Panel Show". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  24. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Radio 2 show for Suzi Ruffell and Ahir Shah : News 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  25. ↑ "Ahir Shah: Dots (TV Special 2021) - IMDb". IMDb .
  26. ↑ "2024 Winners".
  27. ↑ "The Bugle - Trump on Trial!". acast.com. 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  28. ↑ Saunders, Tristram Fane (22 August 2018). "Ahir Shah: Duffer review, Edinburgh Fringe: a blazing talent firing on all cylinders". The Telegraph . Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  29. ↑ "Ahir Shah: Dots, Soho Theatre, review: a captivating, energising hour". The Telegraph. 18 September 2019.
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