Following her Edinburgh debut last year, at which she won Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023, Soho Theatre will bring Urooj Ashfaq back to the Fringe. Urooj’s return follows multiple runs at Soho Theatre, a sold-out UK tour, and performances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where her run was extended due to public demand.
Urooj is one of seven Indian comics Soho brings to the festival this year. She joins International Emmy Award-winner Vir Das, India’s most subscribed mentalist Suhani Shah, this year’s Most Outstanding Show nominee at the Melbourne Comedy Awards Kanan Gill, and Anirban Dasgupta, Sumukhi Suresh, and Rahul Subramanian making their Edinburgh debuts.
Urooj Ashfaq: It’s Funny To Me (Work In Progress)
A mix of stories and observations that Urooj thinks are funny. The show’s title is defensive because she still hasn’t figured out if it is funny to everybody and she’s sensitive.
Urooj Ashfaq: Oh No!
Urooj not only has a degree in psychology but later went on to be in therapy herself. What’s her show about, you ask? I think you should ask yourself why you insist on knowing everything. Okay, I’ll tell you: the show is about her, her family, things that annoy her, and things she loves… Please come to my show. I love you.
Urooj, a 29-year-old stand-up comedian from Mumbai is one of India’s most sought-after comics, writers and actors and a promising talent amongst the current crop of young artists emerging from the South Asian comic landscape. With material strong in Gen Z energy, the fast-talking, quick-thinking creative powerhouse is an endearing presence onstage with her candid and engaging content.
Born in Dubai, Urooj moved to Mumbai at the age of 12. She started performing at open-mic nights at 21, becoming a regular in Mumbai’s young, rapidly-growing comedy scene, while citing stars like Sarah Silverman, Bridget Christie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Josie Long and James Acaster as her creative heroes. Owing to her boundary-pushing humour and disarming charm she notched up some serious views and a loyal and growing fan base on home turf, as well as second finalist spot on TLC’s Queens of Comedy (2017).
Aside from her stand-up performances Urooj enjoys credits as a writer on numerous fiction and non-fiction projects such as Die Trying (2018), Son Of Abish (2017) and Better Life Foundation (2016). Having an in-built knack for acting she has also featured in web series such as AIB: Honest Engineering Campus Placements (2017), Die Trying (2018), Pushpavalli (2020) and Comedy Premier League (2021) and hosted Comicstaan Series 2 (2019). Her Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer award was the first time in the awards’ 40-year history an India-based comedian has won, and the first South Asian comedian to win since 1997.
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