Saad Haroon

Saad Haroon is a Pakistani comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for being the creator of the first ever Pakistani improvisational comedy troupe "BlackFish" in 2002, and was the first Pakistani stand-up comedian to perform in English in cities across Pakistan in his tour "Saad Haroon: Very Live", in 2008. Haroon created and hosted the first ever English-language comedy television show in Pakistan, called The Real News, in 2007.

Early life and education Saad Haroon was born in Pakistan.

Improv and live shows In 2002, Haroon created BlackFish, Pakistan's first improv comedy troupe, which was chosen to represent Pakistan in an international youth theatre project called "Contacting the World", held at Contact Theatre in Manchester, England, in 2004. As of August 2004, the eight members of the troupe were: Haroon; Umar Rana; Sanam Saeed; Sami Shah; Cyrus Viccaji; Ishma Alvi; Faris Khalid; and Yasser Salehjee. He performed at the Dubai Community Theatre in Dubai in 2007.

Haroon then created another comedy troupe, called SHARK. In 2008, SHARK became the first improv troupe to tour Pakistan and perform longform improv. SHARK's tour included performances in Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore, where audiences witnessed musical forms of improv comedy and a longform improv structure known as "the Harold" for the first time. SHARK's lineup included Haroon, Danish Ali, Umair Pervez, Jaffar Ali, Daniyal Ahmed, Sohaib Khan, and Sana Nasir.

Haroon was the first Pakistani stand-up comedian to perform in English in cities across Pakistan in his tour "Saad Haroon: Very Live", in 2008.

Haroon was the creator, co-writer, and director of We've made contact; a half-improvised, half-scripted original format play created for the British Council's "Connecting Futures" project, performed in Manchester, England.

TV The Real News was Pakistan's first ever English-language TV comedy show in Pakistan, created and hosted by Haroon and launched in 2007.

Haroon's video sketch was selected by Conan O'Brien as part of the opening monologue for his talk show Conan. His sketch was about how people in Pakistan enjoyed O'Brien's talk show.

Other activities As of 2007, Haroon was arranging open mic nights, featuring aspiring comedians, writers, poets, and other talented enthusiasts.

In 2011, Haroon became a star on the Internet with is parody of the Roy Orbison song "Oh, Pretty Woman", titled "Burka Woman".

Recognition In October 2014, Haroon was voted the second funniest person in the world, securing 59,213 votes in the Laugh Factory competition.