Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry ( Punjabi: ਤਜਪੌਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਚੋਦਰੀ, born 21 August 1974), better known as Paul Chowdhry, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Punjabi

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

descent. He began his stand up career in 1998 and hosted the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

comedy series '' Stand Up for the Week'' as of the fifth series, having been a regular act for the third and fourth series. Chowdhry was the first British act to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in 2003. He has been a guest panelist on ''

8 out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...

'', ''

Comedy World Cup ''Comedy World Cup'' is a British television comedy panel game produced by Open Mike Productions for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 15 September 2012 and last broadcast on 27 October 2012. The show is presented by David Tennant and featur ...

'', and ''

Sorry, I Didn't Know ''Sorry, I Didn't Know'' is a British panel show broadcast on ITV, in which panelists answer questions about Black history. A pilot aired on ITV2 in 2016 and the first series of four episodes aired in October 2020, as part of Black History Mon ...

''. He has appeared on '' Live at the Apollo'' twice, in 2012 and 2015. In 2016, he was one of the contestants on series three of the comedy show '' Taskmaster''. In 2017, he was a guest stand-up performer in ''

The Russell Howard Hour ''The Russell Howard Hour'' is a British topical comedy news show, which airs on Sky Max (formerly Sky One) and is hosted by Russell Howard where he gives his thoughts and opinions on current topics as well as featuring special guests and other ...

'' and also sold out the 10,000-seater

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

, becoming the first British Asian stand-up comic to do so. In 2020, Chowdhry appeared in the television drama series ''

Devils A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions. Devil or Devils may also refer to: * Satan * Devil in Christianity * Demon * Folk devil Art, entertainment, and media Film an ...

''. Since 2021, he has been hosting the podcast ''The Paul Chowdhry PudCast'', in which he interviews comedians. He uses the signature phrase "''what's happening white people?''" at the start of his stand-up routines.

Influences

He lists his influences as: "

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

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 countercul ...

and Sam Kinnison. Then

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

Little and Large ''Little and Large'' were a British comedy double act comprising straight man Syd Little (born Cyril John Mead; 19 December 1942) and comic Eddie Large (born Edward Hugh McGinnis; 25 June 1941 – 2 April 2020). Comedy duo They formed their p ...

and

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series ''Sunday Night ...

from the UK definitely inspired me to get into comedy."

Personal life

Chowdhry makes an effort to keep fit during touring, telling Coach Magazine: "I don't eat chapattis, even though I’m Indian" – and replacing them with higher-protein substitutes like bulgur wheat and quinoa. "If I only had ten minutes to work out, I’d do high-intensity abs training. ” alongside speaking about his battles with mental health in the New Statesman, "Mental health problems aren’t really discussed in the Asian community." Talking to the South China Morning Post, "People see you as an Asian comedian, whereas the other two guys coming to Hong Kong

ean Meo and Michael McIntyre Ean may refer to: People * Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Anglican bishop in the early 20th century * Ean Elliot Clevenger, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter * Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd from 2001 until his death ...

aren't Asian comedians – they're just British. But they're not referred to as 'English white comedians'. 'I'm British. I was born in England. The fact that I'm Asian has very little to do with my stand-up, although it would have an influence for an obvious reason because of the way I'm perceived by certain people. So I play on the stereotypes and try to change them.'"

Filmography

Stand-Up DVDs

* ''What's Happening White People?'' (19 November 2012) * ''PC's World'' (30 November 2015)

References

External links