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

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

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 A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Jay Islaam. Shareef has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

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 C ...

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

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and culture shows on ''Radio Peterborough'' and '' Switch Radio'', and has also appeared on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

, BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio WM and

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

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, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, and lives in the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

city of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. 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 The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in August 2013. He is teetotal and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

Career

Shareef is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of Punjabi heritage. He refuses to label himself as an "

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

comedian", and has written about his objection to

positive discrimination Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

. 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 stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili (; born 30 September 1965) is a British comedian, actor, and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvane ...

and

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

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 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 ...

. 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 "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

and the rise of the

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

. 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, which appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag doll. I ...

on the poster. Due to the controversy the show generated, it was banned from being performed by its host venue at the

. 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 exploring the subject of

Autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, titled ''Travels with Autism''. This was his first full-length solo show, which was then performed at the

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 syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

, 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 and Omar Regan, 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

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'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' {{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