Ahir Shah | |
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![]() Shah in 2015 | |
Born | [1] London, England, UK | 28 December 1990
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]
Shah was born and raised in London. [6] His parents, Vikram and Alka, 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]
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]
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]