Abdullah Afzal ( ur, عبداللہ افضل; born 1989) is a British actor and stand-up comedian.
Early life
Afzal is of
British-Pakistani
British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in ...
descent from
Cheetham Hill
Cheetham is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, which in 2011 had a population of 22,562. It lies on the west bank of the River Irk, north of Manchester city centre,
close to the boundary with Salford, bounded by Brou ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England. He has three older brothers, two older sisters and a younger half-brother.
He attended
Abraham Moss High School in North Manchester.
Afzal trained for three years to be a
hafiz.
Career
In 2007, Afzal had his first acting role as a young student in a short film called ''Raamis'' (originally called ''Extraordinary Rendition'').
Between 2008 and 2011, he starred as Asif in two seasons of
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
sitcom ''
Lunch Monkeys
''Lunch Monkeys'' is a British situation comedy, first shown on BBC Three in 2008.
Overview
''Lunch Monkeys'' by David Isaac is a BBC Three comedy series, produced by Channel X North, set in the administration department of fictional personal inj ...
''.
Since 2012, he has portrayed the character of Amjad Malik in
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's ''
Citizen Khan
''Citizen Khan'' is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. Five series have been shown so far. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capita ...
''.
In February 2014, Afzal presented the Christmas comedy specials on
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...
.
In July 2015, he performed stand-up at the
Eid Special Comedy Night at
The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California.
History
The Comedy ...
in London.
In July 2014, Afzal played two roles in
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''By a Young Officer: Churchill on the North West Frontier''.
In 2017, he appeared as Jahid in the romantic comedy film ''
Finding Fatimah
''Finding Fatimah'' is a British romantic comedy written and directed by Oz Arshad. The film is about a man who struggles to find love in the British Asian community due to the stigma of his divorce several years prior.
The majority of ''Findi ...
''.
In 2021, Afzal wrote, starred, and directed Cinder’aliyah, Britain’s first Muslim pantomime. The pantomime is due to tour again in 2022.
Personal life
He works at
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
to supplement his acting career,
and lives in Manchester with his wife Uzma, who he married in 2015.
Afzal’s family originate from
Rawalpindi district
Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Radio
See also
*
Islamic humour
Humour in Islam refers to the act of doing things that are considered humorous under the guidelines set by the Quran and the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Islamic sources on humour
Laughter, fun, and joking are permissible in Islam provided guide ...
*
British Pakistani
British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...
*
List of British Pakistanis
The following is a list of notable British Pakistanis, namely notable citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie in Pakistan:
Academia and education Humanities
* Sara Ahmed – professor of Race and Cultural Studies ...
References
External links
*
*
1989 births
Living people
English Muslims
English people of Pakistani descent
English male comedians
English stand-up comedians
English comedy writers
Muslim male comedians
English male television actors
English male actors of South Asian descent
21st-century English comedians
21st-century English male actors
Comedians from Manchester
Male actors from Manchester
People from Cheetham Hill
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