Sadia Azmat
{{Short description|English comedian}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name = Sadia Azmat
| image =
| image_size = 220
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1990}}
| birth_place = Leyton, London, UK
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| medium = Stand-up
| nationality = British
| active = 2010–present
| genre = Observational comedy, self-deprecation
| subject = British Asian culture, stereotypes, racism, Islamic humour
| influences =
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| website = {{URL|http://www.sadiaazmat.com/}}
| footnotes =
}}
Sadia Azmat ({{langx|ur|عظمت سعدیہ}}; born 1990) is an English stand-up comedian, author and broadcaster.
Early life
Azmat was born to Indian parents in Leyton, England.{{cite web |last=Hawkins|first=Si|url=http://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2011/reviews/sadia_azmat/|title=Sadia Azmat|website=British Comedy Guide|date=12 August 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} At the age of 19, she started wearing hijab.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02tkf66/british-muslim-comedy-sadia-azmat-things-i-have-been-asked-as-a-british-muslim|title=British Muslim Comedy - Sadia Azmat: Things I have been asked as a British Muslim|publisher=BBC iPlayer|date=18 June 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}}
Career
Azmat had been working in call-centres of varying descriptions,{{cite news |last=Hawkins|first=Si|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/on-stage/muslim-comedians-perform-at-edinburghs-fringe|title=Finalist Profile: Sadia Azmat|location=Abu Dhabi|newspaper=The National|date=17 August 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} but in 2010, Azmat started performing stand-up comedy.{{cite news |last=Azmat|first=Sadia|url=http://www.funnywomen.com/magazine/article/211/finalist-profile-sadia-azmat|title=Finalist Profile: Sadia Azmat|publisher=Funny Women|date=2011|access-date=1 January 2013}}
In August 2011, she performed her debut show Please Hold – You're Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Laughing Horse @ Finnegan's Wake,{{cite news |last=Summerlin|first=William|url=http://www.broadwaybaby.com/listing.php?id=10278|title=Please Hold, You're Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative|publisher=Broadway Baby |date=11 August 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} which was directed by Deborah Frances-White. In August 2011, Azmat also featured on BBC Radio 4's Front Row{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013835v/Front_Row_In_Edinburgh_with_AL_Kennedy_Bobby_Crush_Andy_Zaltzman/|title=Front Row: In Edinburgh with AL Kennedy; Bobby Crush; Andy Zaltzman|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=17 August 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} and a producer invited her to perform at the Cape Town Festival 2012.
In December 2011, she performed at the Desi Central Comedy Tour in Glasgow.{{cite web |url=http://www.awazmedia.co.uk/desi-central-comedy-tour-2011.html|title=Desi Central Comedy Tour 2011|publisher=Awaz Media|date=11 March 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}}
In August 2014, she performed her debut full-length show I'm not Malala at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Laughing Horse.{{cite web |last=Glasheen|first=Emma|url=http://www.freshair.org.uk/team/fringe/posts/1252-interview-sadia-azmat|title=Interview: Sadia Azmat|publisher=FreshAir|date=12 August 2014|access-date=1 July 2015}} In September 2014, she was interviewed by Nadia Hussein and Sakinah Lenoir on British Muslim TV's Sisters' Hour.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuslim.tv/sisters--hour---s01e47.html|title=Sisters' Hour - S01E47|publisher=British Muslim|access-date=1 July 2015}}
In June 2015, she made a short film Things I Have Been Asked As a British Muslim as part of the British Muslim Comedy series, five short films by Muslim comedians commissioned by the BBC for release on BBC iPlayer.{{cite news |last=Jones|first=Alice|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ramadan-films-and-halol-the-rise-of-british-muslim-comedy-10345566.html|title=Ramadan films and HaLOL: the rise of British Muslim Comedy|newspaper=The Independent|date=25 June 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}}{{cite news |last=Badat|first=Hafeeza|url=http://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/13343398.British_Muslim_Comedy_Takes_Over_BBC_iPlayer/|title=British Muslim Comedy Takes Over BBC iPlayer|publisher=Asian Image|date=19 June 2015|access-date=1 March 2016}} Azmat debunked Muslim stereotypes, including the "Muslim verdict", racism, Ramadan, integration and hijab, thus providing a look at life as a Muslim woman.{{cite news |last1=Harrison|first1=Phil|last2=Mumford|first2=Gwilym|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/15/catch-up-tv-guide|title=Catch-up TV guide: from All Shook Up to British Muslim Comedy|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 June 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}} In August 2015, she performed at the inaugural Muslim Lifestyle Expo at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.{{cite news |last=Gardiner|first=Melanie|url=http://www.exhibitionworld.co.uk/2015/08/06/uk-muslim-lifestyle-exhibition-hailed-a-success/|title=UK Muslim lifestyle expo hailed a success|publisher=ExhibitionWorld|date=6 August 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}}{{cite news |last=Beckerleg|first=Mel|url=http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/couple-organise-muslim-lifestyle-expo-1-6878577|title=Couple organise Muslim lifestyle expo|location=Aylesbury|publisher=Bucks Herald|date=30 July 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}} In September 2015, she appeared on Sky News's Morning Stories series on YouTube, questioning what people would be willing to do for someone we love.{{cite news |last=Harrison|first=Phil|url=http://news.sky.com/story/1547859/morning-stories-love-can-be-unfair|title=Morning Stories: Love Can Be Unfair|publisher=Sky News|date=6 September 2015|access-date=1 February 2016}}
In January 2016, Azmat appeared on This Week where she criticised David Cameron's push for English language lessons for Muslim women to help them resist the lure of Islamic extremism.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35379047|title=Sadia Azmat on PM's language comments|work=BBC News|date=22 January 2016|access-date=1 February 2016}}
In March 2017, as part of our All Women Everywhere month, Azmat appeared on a video about Asian Women talking about stereotypes they deal with while dating.{{cite news |last1=Bell|first1=Poorna|last2=Rajan|first2=Nitya|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/asian-women-talk-about-the-dumbass-stereotypes-they-deal-with-while-dating-and-its-hilarious-af_uk_58b59355e4b0a8a9b7864497|title=Asian Women Talk About The Dumbass Stereotypes They Deal With While Dating, And It's Hilarious AF|work=The Huffington Post|date=1 March 2016|access-date=1 May 2017}}
From 2018 to 2020 Azmat hosted three series of the podcast No Country for Young Women with fellow comedian Monty Onanuga for BBC Sounds. The series saw the hosts "work out how we balance our identities as British women of colour"{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Hollie |title=No Country For Young Women: “Yes, people want to hear more conversations about smelly vaginas” |url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/no-country-for-young-women-yes-people-want-to-hear-more-conversations-about-smelly-vaginas/308981 |website=Stylist |access-date=12 January 2025}} and explore "life, love and work in a white man's world".{{cite web |title=No Country For Young Women |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p063zy3c/episodes/downloads?page=1 |website=BBC Sounds |access-date=12 January 2025}} The podcast was named among the best audio of 2018 by Miranda Sawyer for The Observer.{{cite web |last1=Sawyer |first1=Miranda |title=Miranda Sawyer’s best audio of 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/30/miranda-sawyer-best-audio-podcasts-radio-2018 |website=The Observer |access-date=12 January 2025}} It was also one of Apple Podcasts's top picks for 2018.{{cite web |last1=Paige |first1=Caroline |title=Sex Bomb author Sadia Azmat tells us how to work an audience like a stand-up |url=https://www.contentconscious.co.uk/interview-sadia-azmat-sex-bomb/ |website=Content Conscious |access-date=12 January 2025}}
On 26 May 2022 Azmat's first book, a memoir entitled Sex Bomb: The Life and Loves of an Asian Babe, was published by Headline Publishing Group.{{cite web |title=Sex Bomb by Sadia Azmat |url=https://www.headline.co.uk/titles/sadia-azmat/sex-bomb/9781472285782/ |website=Headline Publishing House |access-date=12 January 2025}} The theme of the book was partially inspired by an article Azmat wrote for Metro in 2019 titled "Horny Muslim women like me aren’t supposed to exist during Ramadan".{{cite web |last1=Azmat |first1=Sadia |title=Horny Muslim women like me aren’t supposed to exist during Ramadan |url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/05/horny-muslim-women-like-me-arent-supposed-to-exist-during-ramadan-9384470/ |website=Metro |access-date=12 January 2025}} She sent the article to an editor who felt that pop culture and social commentary was lacking the perspective of sexually liberated Muslim women. Azmat said that she was inspired by the question "why do we just perceive Muslim women to be repressed? There’s a whole conversation that needs to be had." A paperback edition was published on 1 June 2023.
Azmat also a regular in the YouTube channel Bend It TV aimed at providing the news from an Asian perspective.
Comedy style
Azmat's act is observational humour about her experiences working as a call centre operative for a well-known car insurance firm, being a British Asian Muslim{{cite book |last1=Frances-White|first1=Deborah|last2=Marsha|first2=Shandur|title=Off the Mic: The World's Best Stand-Up Comedians Get Serious About Comedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIHRCQAAQBAJ&dq=Sadia+Azmat&pg=PA36|year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Methuen Drama|page=36|isbn=978-1472526380}} growing up in London, and moves on to more general cross-cultural issues,{{cite web |url=http://www.glee.co.uk/performers/sadia-azmat.htm|title=Sadia Azmat|publisher=The Glee Club|date=2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} about race{{cite news |last=Ajderian|first=Jennifer|url=http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/article/ed2011-comedy-review-please-hold-you%E2%80%99re-being-transferred-to-a-uk-based-asian-representative-sadia-azmat-laughing-horse-free-festival/|title=ED2011 Comedy Review: Please Hold, You're Being Transferred To A UK Based Asian Representative (Sadia Azmat / Laughing Horse Free Festival)|location=Edinburgh|publisher=ThreeWeeks|date=10 August 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} and religion, her difficulties in the UK job market and an Asian mum gag.
Azmat is described by The Sunday Times as "hilarious and insightful" for her current set of I Am Not Malala.
Awards and recognition
In September{{cite web |url=http://www.londonisfunny.com/listings/24638/Funny_Women_Awards_Final|title=Funny Women Awards Final|publisher=London Is Funny|date=26 September 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} 2011,{{cite web|url=http://www.funnywomen.com/past-finalists|title=Past Finalists|publisher=Funny Women|access-date=1 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219140311/http://www.funnywomen.com/past-finalists|archive-date=19 December 2012|df=dmy-all}} Azmat was shortlisted{{cite news |url=http://www.funnywomen.com/magazine/article/201/its-no-red-or-black-for-awards-quarter-and-semi-finals|title=It's no 'red or black' for Awards quarter and semi-final|publisher=Funny Women|date=2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} for the Funny Women Awards final{{cite news |last=Aird|first=Jon|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2011/10/funny-women.shtml|title=Funny Women|publisher=BBC|date=12 October 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}} in Leicester Square Theatre, London.{{cite news |url=http://tiemotalkofthetown.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/the-king-is-queen-of-comedy/|title=The King is Queen of Comedy|publisher=tiemotalkofthetown|date=2 October 2011|access-date=1 January 2013}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.sadiaazmat.com/}}
- Rampen, Julia. [http://thenewkid.co.uk/%E2%80%98please-hold-you%E2%80%99re-being-transferred-to-a-uk-based-asian-representative%E2%80%99-sadia-azmat/ ‘Please Hold, You're Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative’, Sadia Azmat]. New Kid. 4 August 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azmat, Sadia}}
Category:Date of birth missing (living people)
Category:English people of Pakistani descent
Category:English women comedians
Category:English stand-up comedians
Category:English comedy writers
Category:Muslim women comedians
Category:British comedians of Pakistani descent
Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Category:21st-century English women writers
Category:21st-century English memoirists