Pax Assadi

Last updated

Pax Assadi
Born1990or1991(age 33–34)
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupations
Known for
Comedy career
Medium
  • Television
  • stand-up
Years active2012–present
Website www.paxassadi.com

Pax Assadi (born 1990or1991) is a New Zealand comedian and writer.

Contents

Early life

Assadi was born in 1990or1991 [1] in New Zealand to an Iranian father and Pakistani mother. He grew up on the North Shore of Auckland before moving to Hamilton as a teenager, where he worked at his father's vacuum cleaner store. [2] [3] [4] Later the family moved again to Christchurch. [5]

He was inspired by comedians Omid Djalili, Jo Koy, Dylan Moran, and Dave Chappelle. [3] [2]

Career

Assadi has been performing comedy since 2012. [6] He won the NZ Comedy Guild's Gag of the Year award in 2016. [7] He is part of the comedy trio Frickin Dangerous Bro with James Roque and Jamaine Ross. [7]

In 2016, Assadi was nominated for the Fred Award for his show In Mid-Season Form. [8] Frickin Dangerous Bro were nominated for Humble in 2018. [9]

He was a co-presenter with Nicola Toki on the TVNZ series Endangered Species Aotearoa, [10] and co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off . [4] In 2022 he created and starred in the series Raised by Refugees, which is based on his own childhood. [11] [4] [3] He has also appeared on Word Up, 7 Days , The Project , Crack Up, 60 Seconds, Have You Been Paying Attention? , and Brown Eye. [6] [12] Scripted programmes Assadi has acted on include Jono And Ben, Funny Girls , and Tongue Tied. [5]

In 2025, Assadi appeared on the sixth season of Taskmaster New Zealand . [3] The same year, he declared he was "bored" doing stand-up and wanted to focus on film and television. [3]

Assadi also did commercial voice work for a 2degrees ad campaign. [12]

He is set to star in an upcoming television show alongside Hannah Marshall. [3]

Personal life

Assadi has lived in New Lynn, West Auckland since 2020. He practises Baháʼí, and he and his wife Sholeh, whom he met in Dunedin, have two daughters, Vaha and Lua. [13] [7] [3] [2] [12] He is a fan of NBA basketball team the Utah Jazz. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Mitchell, Thomas (10 August 2022). "'I went from Aladdin to Osama overnight': The TV show finding humour among tragedy". The Sydney Morning Herald . In reality, the comedian was 10 years old when 9/11 changed the world forever ...
  2. 1 2 3 4 Assadi, Pax (24 July 2017). "Pax Assadi Only Feels Like a New Zealander 90 Percent of the Time". Vice. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sowman-Lund, Stewart (16 August 2025). "Mic drop: Why Pax Assadi is taking a break from stand-up". The Post. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Bennett, Paula (29 March 2025). "Pax Assadi talks comedy, endangered species and being raised by immigrants – Ask Me Anything with Paula Bennett". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. 1 2 Nealon, Sarah (8 August 2018). "Tongue Tied's Pax Assadi career choices didn't amuse his family". Stuff NZ. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Bio". Pax Assadi. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Wilkes, Mikaela (6 February 2021). "At home with comedian Pax Assadi". Stuff NZ. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  8. ↑ NZ Comedy Trust (2016). "Pax Assadi". 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival Programme: 45.
  9. ↑ "Rose Matafeo named as finalist for Fred Award for second year running". Stuff. 19 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Casey, Alex (4 March 2025). "Is Endangered Species Aotearoa home to the best comedy duo on TV right now?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "Fast Favourites with Raised by Refugees creator Pax Assadi". 15 October 2023. RNZ.
  12. 1 2 3 "Pax Assadi's TV style icon is 'a weird one'". The Spinoff. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  13. ↑ Bunny, Sarah (18 March 2022). "Pax Assadi on racism, refugees and what it's like turning your life into a sitcom". Stuff NZ.
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