Jay Shareef (born 1982) is a British stand-up comedian, broadcaster,

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

er and

social commentator Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

, also known by the stage name Jay Islaam. Shareef has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' Huffington Post'', ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...

'', ''

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the ...

'', ''Beyond The Joke'' and ''Gigglebeats''. He presents weekly

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

and culture shows on ''Radio Peterborough'' and ''

Switch Radio Switch Radio (also known as Switch Radio 107.5) is a British community radio station, broadcasting from the North East Birmingham region, which transmits 24 hours a day on 107.5 FM, local DAB and via Internet radio. History The station bega ...

'', and has also appeared on BBC Radio London,

BBC Radio Nottingham BBC Radio Nottingham is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Nottinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on London Road in Nottingham city centre. According to RAJAR, the station has ...

, BBC Radio WM and

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 ...

Personal life

Shareef is from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England, and lives in the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

city of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. He is of Pakistani descent. He previously worked as a marketing consultant, and started performing stand-up comedy when he visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2013. He is

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

Career

Shareef is a Muslim of Punjabi heritage. He refuses to label himself as an "

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

comedian", and has written about his objection to positive discrimination. He has described his comedy as "neither left-wing nor right-wing" and cites

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercu ...

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

and

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

as influences. Shareef has been called "one of the bad boys of British comedy". He performs "political satire" that has been described as "cleverly controversial", "risqué" and "comedy genius". He has performed at

The Glee Club The Glee Club is a chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues in the UK. The first Glee Club was opened by Mark Tughan in Birmingham's Chinese Quarter in 1994,

and

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 S ...

. In 2014, Shareef created the Midlands Comedy Awards "to recognise the huge number of hard working and talented people in heregional comedy community". In August 2014, he was due to premiere his debut solo show, titled ''Racist Joke Show'', about the evolution of political correctness and the rise of the far right. The show's publicity featured a

golliwog The golliwog, also spelled golliwogg or shortened to golly, is a doll-like character – created by cartoonist and author Florence Kate Upton – that appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag ...

on the poster. Due to the controversy the show generated, it was banned from being performed by its host venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He described the cancellation of his show as "a difficult and unhappy outcome" that was outside of his control and stated he was "very disappointed about the situation". In February 2016, he performed a show at the

Leicester Comedy Festival The Leicester Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival held in a number of venues across Leicester, England early in the year. History The festival started in 1994 with 40 events in 23 venues over 7 days throughout Leicestershire, attracting ...

exploring the subject of Autism, titled ''Travels with Autism''. This was his first full-length solo show, which was then performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2016 for a short run. The show, about his life and his struggle with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of beha ...

, was described by one reviewer as a "raw and personal show" with "dry wit and intelligence". In October 2016, Shareef was part of the ''Super Muslim Comedy Tour'' of standup comedy, along with

Azhar Usman Azhar Muhammad Usman (born December 23, 1975) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and 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 Laug ...

and

Omar Regan Omar Laquon Regan (born June 12, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and former musician. Early life Regan was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States and was raised in Highland Park, Michigan to African American parents. Regan did ...

, that visited twelve cities in England.

Awards

As a new act Shareef won 20 comedy competitions. In July 2014, he won his first national award, within a year of starting his comedy career, when he beat more than 100 new comedians to be recognised as ''Breakthrough Act 2014''. In 2015 he was a semi-finalist in the ''English Comedian of the Year'' competition, and runner-up for the ''Joker of the Year'' award. In February 2016. it was reported that he had become a finalist in three different British comedy awards, and later that month he was given the ''New Act of the Year Award 2016'' at Moseley Comedy Festival. In August 2016 he was one of three finalists for the ''Asian Arts Award for Comedy'' at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show ''Travels with Autism''. In October 2016, he was runner-up for the ''New Comedian of the Year Award'' at Colchester Comedy Festival. In January 2017, he was chosen as one of five finalists for the "Best Midlands Comedian Award 2017" by What's on magazine, and was also a finalist for the ''Arts and Culture Award'' for the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

2017.

References

External links

* *
Jay Islaam
on ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shareef, Jay 1982 births Living people English Muslims English people of Pakistani descent English stand-up comedians English male comedians English comedy writers Muslim male comedians British Asian writers English radio personalities Comedians from Birmingham, West Midlands