| Nabil Abdul Rashid | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 September 1987 North London, England |
| Medium | Stand-up, Television |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Genres | Observational comedy, Satire, Sketch comedy, Improvisational comedy |
| Subject(s) | Racism, Islamophobia, Fascism, Islamic humour, Culture, Society, Gang culture, Stereotypes, Human interaction |
Mohamed Nasir Nabil Abdul Rashid ibn Suleman Obineche (born 3 September 1987) is an English comedian of Nigerian descent.
Abdul Rashid was born in North London, England[1][2] to a medical doctor father and a politician/business woman mother.[3]
In 1990,[4] Abdul Rashid and his family moved to Kaduna,[5] Northern Nigeria he to traveled around the world at young age and had a private school education. He attended Essence International School.
In 2006,[1][6] he moved to back to England[3] to live in South Croydon, Surrey.[1][7]
In 2010, aged 22, Abdul Rashid has become the youngest black comedian to perform stand up at the Hammersmith Apollo.[1] He entered the ‘Which Religion Is Funniest?’ competition. After reaching the Top 10 spot, he was crowned joint winner of the national competition, judged by David Baddiel and Omid Djalili,[8] and he was chosen to perform at the premiere of the film The Infidel.[3] He has performed at Comedy Cafe, Comedy Store, Jongleurs and Choice FM Comedy Club.[3]
From 2009 to 2010,[4] Abdul Rashid wrote, acted and directed on The Show Sho Show,[3] which aired on Channel AKA.[2][6] He has written for comedians on panel shows[4] and worked on a sketch show with the producers of Little Miss Jocelyn and 3 Non-Blondes.[3]
Abdul Rashid has toured with his religious comedy show entitled “Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic!”[8] In July 2011, he toured four UK cities[9] in the Peace Youth and Community Trust’s (PYCT) first Muslim Comedy Tour, alongside Jeff Mirza, Humza Arshad and Prince Abdi.[10][11][12] In November 2011, he took his “Asia vs. Africa Comedy Clash” show to ten cities around the United Kingdom. In May 2012, he spent two weeks using theatre to educate children in Malawi on HIV.[13]
Abdul Rashid delivers a comedy workshop[8] encouraging inner-city children to use comedy as an alternative form of expression children at schools across London.[13] He is currently studying BA Drama and Applied Theatre at St. Mary's University College in Twickenham.[13][14]
In January 2013, Abdul Rashid co-founded Norbury Comedy Club with Ola Gbaja. A show is due to take place every Sunday in partnership with Baba Foundation restaurant.[15][16][17]
Abdul Rashid switches from surreal to satirical in his dichotomy of being a middle-class educated man yet simultaneously a street smart urban youth whilst avoiding clichés when dealing with topics like being a black Muslim in South London.
He switches accent and languages, speaking French, Patois, Urdu and Somali and Chaucer and blends them into his material.[3]
Abdul Rashid suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[13][14] He also campaigns for fighting against knife and gun crime.[4][7]
In 2006, Abdul Rashid was convicted of fraud after a drug importation trial against him collapsed.[10]
In August 2011, Abdul Rashid responded on YouTube[5] to David Starkey’s comments on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, made during a discussion about the England riots, claiming that “the whites have become black,” and that “a particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion.”[18] Abdul Rahid responded with an intelligent, clever, insightful and historically realistic response.[19]
In September 2011, Abdul Rahid got married. His wife is British Pakistani-Punjabi.[20]