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 homemade YouTube videos have been viewed more than 100 million times, which makes him one of the most popular online comedians in the UK.

Early life

Arshad was born and brought up in Streatham, London, England. His parents were born in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. His father, Mohammad Arshad, is from

Jhelum Jhelum (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for pr ...

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 ...

, Pakistan, and his mother, Noreen Arshad, is from

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...

, Punjab, Pakistan. He has two siblings; a younger sister, Hanna, and a younger brother, Hasan. Arshad studied

GNVQ A General National Vocational Qualification, or GNVQ, was a certificate of vocational education in the United Kingdom. The last GNVQs were awarded in 2007. The qualifications related to occupational areas in general, rather than any specific ...

in Performing Arts at

Croydon College Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechn ...

and

BTEC National Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within the ...

in Performing Arts at Kingston College. He then graduated from Richmond Drama School with a degree in Drama. He had a part-time job as an Asian wedding hall waiter.

Career

In September 2010, Arshad created comedy web series '' Diary of a Bad Man'', revolving around video diaries of a young man with the "mentality of a seven-year-old". In 2011, the fifth episode of ''Diary of a Bad Man'' was the seventh most viewed video on YouTube in the UK. In December 2010, Arshad was interviewed by Waqas Saeed 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 ha ...

. In March and December 2011, he featured on BBC Asian Network's ''Noreen Khan Drive Time Show''. In July 2011, Arshad performed on ''

Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...

's Comedy Night'' on BBC Asian Network. In July 2011, he was interviewed by Bobby Friction on BBC Asian Network's ''Bobby Friction's late night show''. In July and August 2011, he featured and reported for BBC London News. In November 2011, he featured on '' Nihal's phone-in show'' on BBC Asian Network. In July 2011, Arshad toured four UK cities in the Peace Youth and Community Trust's (PYCT) first Muslim Comedy Tour, alongside Jeff Mirza, Prince Abdi and

Nabil Abdul Rashid Mohamed Nasir Nabil Abdul Rashid bin Suleman Obineche, known as Nabil Abdulrashid (born 3 September 1985) is an English comedian of Nigerian descent. In 2010, at the age of 25, he became the youngest black comedian to perform stand-up at the Ham ...

. From November to December 2011, he toured eight UK cities, performing at nine venues, with his comedy show called ''The Badman Comedy Tour 2011'', he was accompanied by his entourage; Asif Hussain, Jaspal Kerrah, Junaid Malik, Yogesh Kalia, and Fayaaz Kassam. The tour was sponsored by Azme Alishan, a Pakistan-based social movement. In May 2013, Arshad performed stand-up at the

Shaw Theatre The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is a part of the Pullman London St Pancras hotel, located off Euston Road. St Pancras library Before being refurbished in 1998, the Shaw Theatre originally op ...

in London. On 9 and 10 July 2013, he was involved in a live shows of ''Smokey's Barbers'' at the Pavilion Theatre, Festival Square for the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...

. In the same month, he was interviewed by Tommy Sandhu on BBC Asian Network. From 11 to 25 August 2013, he performed 15 stand-up shows at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. In March 2015, Arshad appeared at the Muslim Youth Festival, a festival on how to divert young Britons away from extremism and looking at what it means to be a young British Muslim in the UK today.

Published works

In 2018

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...

bought the children's novel series ''Little Badman'', created by Arshad and comedy writer Henry White. The first in the series is titled ''Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties'' and was published on World Book Day in March 2019. The second book, ''Little Badman and the Time-travelling Teacher of Doom,'' was published on 20 August 2020. The third book, ''Little Badman and the Radioactive Samosa,'' was published for World Book Day in March 2021. The fourth book, ''Little Badman and the Rise of the Punjabi Zombies'' is set to arrive in July 2022. The books are illustrated by Aleksei Bitskoff. ''Little Badman'' follows the story of 11 year old rapper Humza Khan who becomes suspicious when his school teachers begin to disappear and are replaced by evil aunties.

Honours, awards and recognition

On 28 March 2011, Arshad was nominated in the categories for comedy and entertainment at the third annual Shorty Awards for social media at The Times Center, New York City. In 2012, he was nominated for in the category of YouTube star at the fourth annual Shorty Awards. Arshad was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to education.

Personal life

In June and July 2011, arranged by the Metropolitan Police, Arshad visited schools with Jaspal Kerrah and Junaid Malik to give presentations to students, discussing topics and issues encountered by teenagers living in London. In October 2014, Arshad was recruited by East Midlands Police to help prevent the radicalisation of British Muslims by holding workshops at schools in the area. He made a 15-minute film "Think for Yourself" to show teenagers the dangers of exposure to extremist messages. In 2015, Arshad and the Metropolitan Police Service toured around 50 schools, doing shows for students holding anti-extremism discussions and workshops for 11 to 18-year-old students in order to help prevent vulnerable students becoming radicalised at schools and colleges across London. Arshad is working in partnership with Scotland Yard to aid in their campaign to counter violent Islamist extremism within high school students in London.

Videography

References

External links

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