Nabil Abdul Rashid

Last updated

Nabil Abdul Rashid
Born (1985-09-03) 3 September 1985 (age 36)
North London, England
MediumStand-up, television
NationalityBritish
Years active2008–present
Genres Observational comedy, Satire, Sketch comedy, Improvisational comedy
Subject(s)Racism, Islamophobia, Fascism, Islamic humour, Culture, Society, Gang culture, Stereotypes, Human interaction
Website nabilabdulrashid.com

Mohamed Nasir Nabil Abdul Rashid bin Suleman Obineche (born 3 September 1985) is an English comedian of Nigerian descent. In 2010, at the age of 25, he became the youngest black comedian to perform stand-up at the Hammersmith Apollo.

Contents

Early life

Abdul Rashid was born in North London, England [1] [2] to a medical doctor father and a politician/businesswoman mother. [3]

During the 1940-1950s, Abdul Rashid's father studied medicine in Soviet Union (now Russia), whilst the Soviets were training African doctors. His father married his first wife, an Afghan woman, during the Russo-Afghan War. His father then moved to England and opened up a hospital. He then moved back to Nigeria, where he met Abdul Rashid's mother. [4]

After moving back to England, in 1990, [5] Abdul Rashid and his family moved to Kaduna, [6] Northern Nigeria. He travelled around the world at young age and had a private school education. He attended Essence International School. [7]

In 2006, [1] [8] he moved back to England [3] to live in South Croydon, Surrey. [1] [9] In 2012, Abdul Rashid graduated with a BA in Drama and Applied theatre from St. Mary's University College in Twickenham. [10] [11]

Career

In 2010, at the age of 25, Abdul Rashid became the youngest black comedian to perform stand-up at the Hammersmith Apollo. [1] He entered the "Which Religion Is Funniest?" competition, after reaching the Top 10 spot, he was crowned joint winner of the national competition, judged by David Baddiel and Omid Djalili, [12] and he was chosen to perform at the premiere of the film The Infidel . [3]

Abdul Rashid has performed at Comedy Cafe, Comedy Store, Jongleurs and Choice FM Comedy Club. [3]

From 2009 to 2010, [5] Abdul Rashid wrote, acted and directed on The Show Sho Show, [3] which aired on Channel AKA. [2] [8] He has written for comedians on panel shows [5] and worked on a sketch show with the producers of Little Miss Jocelyn and 3 Non-Blondes . [3]

Abdul Rashid has toured with his religious comedy show Don't Panic, I'm Islamic! [12] In July 2011, he toured four UK cities [13] in the Peace Youth and Community Trust's (PYCT) first Muslim Comedy Tour, alongside comedians Jeff Mirza, Nazim Ali, Humza Arshad and Prince Abdi. [14] [15] [16] In November 2011, he took his Asia vs. Africa Comedy Clash show to ten cities around the United Kingdom. In May 2012, he spent two weeks using theatre to educate children in Malawi on HIV. [10]

Abdul Rashid delivers a comedy workshop [12] encouraging inner-city children to use comedy as an alternative form of expression children at schools across London. [10]

In January 2013, Abdul Rashid co-founded Norbury Comedy Club with Ola Gbaja. A show is due to take place every Sunday in partnership with Baba Foundation restaurant. [17] [18] [19]

In April 2013, Abdul Rashid appeared on Channel 4's 4thought.tv . [20] In October 2014, he performed on BBC Local Radio. [7] [21] [22]

In July 2015, he performed at Eid Special Comedy Night at The Comedy Store in London. [23] [24] [25]

In December 2016, he appeared on two-part BBC Two documentary Muslims Like Us . [26]

In May 2020, he appeared on Britain's Got Talent and got a Golden Buzzer from Alesha Dixon which took him straight to the semi final. In October, after winning the judges vote, he advanced to the final where he finished in 4th place. There were 1,000 people complaints about his performance in the semi-final and another 2,200 about the final. They were all rejected by media watchdog Ofcom who said "The comedian's satirical take on his life experiences as a black Muslim was likely to have been within audience expectations." [27]

In April 2021, he was announced as a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef.

Comedy style

Abdul Rashid switches from surreal to satirical in his dichotomy of being a middle-class educated man yet simultaneously a street-smart urban youth while avoiding clichés when dealing with topics such as being a black Muslim in South London. He switches accent and languages, speaking French, Patois, Urdu and Somali and Chaucer and blends them into his material. [3] [28]

Conviction

In 2006, Nabil was convicted of fraud, after a drug importation trial against him collapsed. He was sentenced to 3 years, but was released after serving a 15 month prison term. [29]

Views

In August 2011, Abdul Rashid responded on YouTube [30] to David Starkey's comments on the BBC's Newsnight programme, made during a discussion about the England riots, claiming that "the whites have become black" and that "a particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion". [31] Abdul Rahid responded with a historically realistic response[ peacock prose ]. [32] [33] [34]

In May 2013, Abdul Rashid responded on YouTube to the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich on 22 May 2013, outlining his perception of alleged media double standards and far-right wing groups using the circumstances as propaganda to justify their own views. [35]

Personal life

Abdul Rashid suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. [10] [11] He also campaigns for fighting against knife and gun crime. [5] [9]

In September 2011, Abdul Rashid married. His wife is British Pakistani-Punjabi. [36] They have two daughters.

See also

Related Research Articles

Norbury District of South London, UK

Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring areas Streatham and Croydon. Norbury is 6.7 miles (10.8 km) south of Charing Cross.

Arshad Warsi Indian film actor, choreographer and producer (born 1966)

Arshad Warsi is an Indian actor, producer, dancer, television personality, choreographer and playback singer who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres.

Milton Jones British comedian

Milton Hywel Jones is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and is a recurring guest panellist on Mock the Week. He won the Perrier comedy award for best newcomer in 1996, and in 2012, Another Case of Milton Jones was awarded silver in the 'Best Comedy' category at the 30th Sony Radio Academy awards. Jones tours the UK periodically and is a regular performer at The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.

Croydon College Further education and higher education school in Croydon, England

Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechnic to create the college shortly after the Second World War. The college provides study programmes, apprenticeships and higher education courses at Croydon University Centre to over 10,000 enrolled students as of 2014, of which 3,400 are full-time. The college is the only Further Education College to have been awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS).

Azhar Usman American comedian and actor

Azhar Muhammad Usman is an American comedian, actor, writer, and film producer of Indian descent. He is a former lecturer, community activist and lawyer and has been referred to as the "Ayatollah of Comedy" and "Bin Laughin". He is best known as one third of comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny. On December 10, 2020, Marvel Studios announced that Usman had joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, agreeing to play an unidentified role on the cast of the studio's Ms. Marvel original streaming series for Disney+.

Signature (dance group) English dance duo

Signature are English dance duo Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh. Their style of dance is British Bhangra and they frequently base their performances around Michael Jackson songs, such as "Billie Jean" and "Thriller". They gained wide recognition during their performances in the second series of Britain's Got Talent, in which they were runners-up to the winner street dancer George Sampson.

<i>The Infidel</i> (2010 film) 2010 British film

The Infidel is a 2010 British comedy film directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel. The film stars Omid Djalili, Richard Schiff, Yigal Naor and Matt Lucas. It revolves around a British Muslim who goes through an identity crisis when he discovers he was adopted as a child, having been born to a Jewish family.

Imran Yusuf is a Kenyan-born British stand-up comedian of Indian Konkani Muslim descent, who has appeared on various British radio and TV comedy shows.

Ainak Wala Jin is Pakistani children's television series produced and broadcast by PTV Lahore from 1993–1996. This drama was rebroadcast two times on television in Pakistan due to public demand. It was widely popular among children for its humour and fictional storyline.

Humza Arshad English actor and comedian (born 1985)

Humza Mohammed Arshad is a British-Pakistani actor, comedian and writer of Pakistani descent. He is best known for his web series Diary of a Bad Man (2010–2013) and Badman (2015–present). His homemade YouTube videos have been viewed more than 100 million times, which makes him one of the most popular online comedians in the UK.

<i>Diary of a Bad Man</i> British comedy drama web series

Diary of a Bad Man is a British comedy drama web series that premiered on 6 September 2010 and ended on 10 October 2013. The series was created by Humza Arshad and consists of continuous episodes uploaded on his YouTube channel HumzaProductions, revolving around the life of a young man and his relationships with his friends and family.

Jeffrey Mirza is an English stand-up comedian and actor of British-Pakistani descent.

Prince Abdi is a British stand-up comedian and actor.

Arjun (singer) Sri Lankan-British singer

Arjun Coomaraswamy, known mononymously as Arjun, is a British Sri Lankan singer-songwriter, record producer and actor who was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and raised in London.

Ali Shahalom, also known by his stage name Ali Official, is an English comedian and television presenter of Bangladeshi descent.

The fourteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, but in two parts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom during that year which affected production on the programme. The first half consisted of audition episodes that had already been filmed, which were aired between 11 April to 30 May 2020. The second half consisted of the remaining episodes when production could resume, and were aired between 30 August to 10 October 2020.

Muslims Like Us is a British reality television series shown on BBC Two in December 2016. In the show, ten British Muslims of varying beliefs and backgrounds were placed in a house together. It was produced by Mobeen Azhar.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Nabil Abdulrashid at the hammersmith apollo (premier of "the infidel)". halfhausaman. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Nabil Abdulrashid wins comedy store gong show (king gong) part1". halfhausaman. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Nabil Abdulrashid". comedy cv. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Nabil Abdulrashid at the brighton Komedia". halfhausaman. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The C.O.W.S. w Nabil Abdul Rashid". The C.O.W.S. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "Nabil Abdul Rashid (Comedian) speaks on London Riots – Voices of the Youth". Upshot TV. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  7. 1 2 "The Comedy Night: Nabil Abdulrashid". BBC. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Nabil Abdul Rashid – Comedy set". Upshot TV. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Nabil Abdulrashid – Freestyler". Film London Microwave. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Nabil Abdulrashid". Rising Star 2011. 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Rare Rising Stars 2011 – Nabil Abdulrashid – 6th place". Rare London. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "Watch This Face – Nabil Abdul-Rashid". Emel . June 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "British Muslim Comedy Tour in Your City, "Innit Bruv"". Muslimness. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Dakin, Melanie (14 July 2011). "Humza Arshad and Jeff Mirza head up charity comedy tour". Croydon Guardian . Croydon. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  15. ↑ Dakin, Melanie (14 July 2011). "Humza Arshad and Jeff Mirza head up charity comedy tour". Watford Observer . Watford. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  16. ↑ Dakin, Melanie (14 July 2011). "Humza Arshad and Jeff Mirza head up charity comedy tour". Harrow Times. Harrow. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  17. ↑ "Pair of Jokers open Norbury Comedy Club". Your Local Guardian. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Pair of Jokers open Norbury Comedy Club". This Is Local London. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Pair of Jokers open Norbury Comedy Club". Epsom Guardian. Epsom. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  20. ↑ "Is your faith holding you back?". 4.Thought TV. Channel 4. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  21. ↑ "BBC Local Radio announces African-Caribbean comedy night hosted by BBC London 94.9 presenters". BBC. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "BBC showcases black comedy". Chortle. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  23. ↑ Chakelian, Anoosh (10 March 2015). "HaLOL: can the UK have a laugh about Islam?". New Statesman . Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  24. ↑ Rahim, Sameer (21 July 2015). "HaLOL Comedy Night, Comedy Store, review: 'challenging'". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  25. ↑ Rahim, Sameer (16 July 2015). "London Comedy Store to host its first ever Muslim Eid comedy show". Asian Voice. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  26. ↑ Waheed, Alia (4 December 2016). "Islamist, gay man, teacher: TV housemates bid to show the diversity of British Muslims". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  27. ↑ "Nabil Abdulrashid: Ofcom rejects 3,000 Britain's Got Talent complaints". BBC. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  28. ↑ "Ones to watch". Flavour Magazine. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  29. ↑ Miller, Harry (22 July 2008). "Reformed criminal takes on talent show". Sutton and Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  30. ↑ ""Whites Have become Black" : Nabil goes in". Upshot TV. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  31. ↑ Starkey, David (19 August 2011). "UK riots: It's not about criminality and cuts, it's about culture... and this is only the beginning". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "Nabil Abdul Rashid Responds to David Starkey Whites Have become Black". NME . Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  33. ↑ Salami, Minna (26 August 2010). "Race relations in the UK after the riots". Afropolitan. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  34. ↑ "What Does It Mean To Be A London Brother?". London: London Brother. 11 September 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  35. ↑ "Nabil Goes In: Woolwich Attack Response (Video)". Jadaliyya. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  36. ↑ "Nabil Abdul Rashid – The University of Northampton ISOC – November 2012". ISOC Northampton. November 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.