Ali Shahalom ( bn, আলী শাহআলম; born 15 October 1992), also known by his stage name Ali Official, 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 and television presenter of Bangladeshi descent.

Early life

Shahalom was born in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He studied drama and theatre at GCSE and A-level. He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to study at university. He then went on to work as a Digital Marketing Assistant for

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Career

Since April 2011, Shahalom and his younger brother, Shaheen (born 2001), host their own channel on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

called Aliofficial1 with comedy sketches. Their comedy videos often relate back to their Bengali heritage and culture, and have subsequently attracted a large South-Asian following. In July 2013, Shahalom appeared on

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

's month-long documentary series, ''Ramadan Diaries''. In 2014, he featured in two episodes of comedy web series ''

Corner Shop Show ''Corner Shop Show'' is a British comedy drama web series that premiered on YouTube in March 2014. The series is created by Islah Abdur-Rahman and consists of continuous episodes uploaded on his YouTube channel CornerShopShow, following the adv ...

''. Since May of the same year, he has hosted ''The Variety Show'' on

Channel S Channel S is a UK-based, free-to-air television channel targeting the British Bangladeshi community. The channel was established on 16 December 2004 by Mahee Ferdous Jalil, a Bangladeshi businessman in London. On Sky it at first had a timesha ...

, broadcast live every fortnight on Saturday at 8.30 pm. In July 2015, he collaborated with

Humza Arshad Humza Mohammed Arshad ( ur, حمزه محمد ارشد; born 3 June 1985) is an English actor, comedian and writer of Pakistani descent. He produces the web series ''Diary of a Bad Man'' (2010–2013) and '' Badman'' (2015–present). His hom ...

on episode 19 of ''Badman's World''. In October 2015, he performed on the "Sounds of Light" tour with musicians Safe Adam and

Harris J Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

. In December 2015, he went on a 20 city national tour with comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny and

Guz Khan Ghulam Dustgir "Guz" Khan (born 1986) is a British comedian, impressionist, and actor best known for his work in the TV show ''Man Like Mobeen'' and stand up appearances in '' Live at the Apollo''. Early life Guz has two sisters who are ten a ...

. Throughout 2017, Ali worked with BBC to script and star in Snapchat content, which went on to win a Social Buzz Award and a Digiday Award. In February 2017, Ali made a special guest appearance on BBC One's musical show '' Let It Shine''. In March 2017, Ali helped the social media planning for

's documentary ''Extremely British Muslims''. In April 2017, he did four shows across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In May 2017, Ali performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse for

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 ...

's ''Comedy Night''.

Recognition

In October 2016, Shahalom was named one of the "Young British Muslim Millennials Changing The World" by ''

The Asian Today ''The Asian Today'' is a free fortnightly community newspaper published and distributed in the Midlands, England. It is a community newspaper providing the region's south-Asian community access to important news stories, current events and encou ...

''.

References

1992 births 21st-century Bengalis 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the University of Westminster British Internet celebrities Comedians from Devon English film directors English male comedians English male web series actors English people of Bangladeshi descent English Sunni Muslims English television presenters English video bloggers English YouTubers Living people Male actors from Devon Muslim male comedians English male YouTubers {{UK-tv-bio-stub

Early life

Career

Recognition

See also

References