Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer Urooj Ashfaq Embarks On First UK Tour

Fresh from her Fringe success , and as she performs her winning show Oh No! to sold out audiences at Soho Theatre this week, Urooj Ashfaq announces her debut UK tour.
Returning to Soho Theatre for two weeks in January 2024, she will follow up with a nine-date tour to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Coventry, Manchester, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, and Leeds.

In her taboo-breaking, intensely likeable show, she reflects on cultural differences, her experiences in therapy and her parents' divorce. Tickets go on general sale at 11am on Friday 3rd November.

Oh No! is produced by Soho Theatre in association with OML.

Urooj, a 28-year-old stand-up comedian from Mumbai, won Best Newcomer for her UK debut at the Edinburgh Fringe. This is the first time in the award's 40-year history that an India-based comedian has won the award, and the first South Asian comedian to win since 1997.

Counting Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Daniel Sloss amongst her newfound UK fanbase, and even featuring as an answer to a question on the Hindi Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, it has been a busy few months for her.

Urooj 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).

Listings

Venue: Soho Theatre, London Date: Mon 8 – Sat 20 Jan 2024, 7.30pm Tickets: from £13 (plus booking fee)
Venue: Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh Date: Tue 23 Jan 2024, 8pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow Date: Wed 24 Jan 2024, 8.30pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: The Big Difference, Leicester Date: Fri 26 Jan 2024, 8pm Tickets: £15 (plus booking fee)
Venue: Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Date: Sat 27 Jan 2024, 7.45pm Tickets: £17 (plus booking fee)
Venue: Frog and Bucket, Manchester Date: Wed 31 Jan 2024, 8pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: Hen and Chicken, Bristol Date: Thu 1 Feb 2024, 8pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: The Stables, Milton Keynes Date: Fri 2 Feb 2024, 8.45pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: Birmingham Rep, Birmingham Date: Tue 6 Feb 2024, 8pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)
Venue: The Wardrobe, Leeds Date: Wed 7 Feb 2024, 7.30pm Tickets: £16 (plus booking fee)

Soho Theatre is London's leading producer of Indian comedy and works with artists of South Asian heritage from around the world. A home for South Asian theatre since the venue opened in Dean Street in 2000, Soho Theatre has been touring work to India for over a decade and has delivered the flagship Primary Playwrights programme and Soho Theatre Labs workshops there. When stand-up comedy emerged in India at around this time, Soho Theatre was quick off the mark, introducing new comedic voices to UK audiences, in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe and around the country. Soho Theatre has filmed several artists for Soho Theatre's on-demand streaming platform Soho Player (also available on Prime Video UK and international airlines), with Soho Theatre being first choice venue for many filmed comedy specials.

In 2017 Soho Theatre presented the inaugural comedy tent at the annual Diwali on the Square festival. And since 2019, Soho Theatre has presented UK and international comedians in Mumbai in partnership with G5A and OML among others. In 2022 Soho Theatre appointed its first ever India-based Comedy Producer to bring even more Indian comedians to the UK.

Indian and South Asian work is a major feature of Soho Theatre's year-round, festival-style programme. The venue also works in partnership with larger spaces such as Eventim Apollo and the Royal Albert Hall, to bring popular Indian comedians to even bigger audiences. In 2023, Soho Theatre brought five Indian and South Asian acts to the Edinburgh Fringe, including Urooj Ashfaq. In another first this October, Soho Theatre brought one of India's most-loved comedians Zakir Khan to headline the Royal Albert Hall. He was the first comedian to perform in Hindi in the venue's 150-year history.

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