Shappi Khorsandi

Shaparak Khorsandi (, ; born 8 June 1973), who previously performed as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi.

Her family left Iran for the United Kingdom following the 1979 revolution, and she frequently references her Iranian heritage and reactions to it in her stand-up comedy performances. Khorsandi rose to national prominence after her 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Asylum Speaker and her appearance at the Secret Policeman's Ball two years later. She has featured on numerous British television and radio programmes, including the BBC Radio 4 programme Shappi Talk (2009 and 2010), and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2017.

Khorsandi has authored several books. Her memoir A Beginner's Guide to Acting English was published in 2009. Her first novel, Nina is Not OK, was published in 2016, and her young adult fiction novel Kissing Emma, was published in 2021. The autobiographical Scatter Brain followed in 2023.

Early life and education Shaparak Khorsandi was born on 8 June 1973 in Tehran. Her parents were Fatemah, and the satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. The family fled Iran to London after the Islamic Revolution after her father made a joke that was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime.

She originally performed professionally as Shappi Khorsandi.

Career in comedy Khorsandi performs stand-up comedy, and appeared at Joe Wilson's Comedy Madhouse in 1997. She frequently references her Iranian heritage and reactions to in her comedy performances. That summer, she debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the three-person show Pablo Diablo's Cryptic Triptych, performing between ventriloquist Mark Felgate and Russell Brand. The same year, she was nominated for the BBC New Comedy Award. Her 2006 show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Asylum Speaker, drew on her experience of leaving Iran and her fear upon learning of death threats to her father. Jasper Gerard of The Sunday Times called Khorsandi the "surprise hit" of the Fringe. Theatre academics Elaine Aston and Geraldine Harris later wrote that this show was the "act that brought her wide media attention". Reflecting on her career up to 2010, they noted that a key aspect of Khorsandi's comedy was that "her humour resonates with common experiences of racially marked prejudice and 'othering', but is rooted in the specificities of her own, lived, migratory experiences". Later, she was nominated for the best breakthrough act at the 2007 Chortle Awards. Khorsandi was one of the acts at The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008 show for Amnesty International; writing in 2021, she reflected that this appearance "led to regular TV bookings, including Live at the Apollo, which meant I could tour. Being a touring comic meant that I made much more money than when I was on the circuit." In December 2008, she appeared on the BBC stand-up television show Live at the Apollo alongside Russell Kane and Al Murray. She performed her show, The Distracted Activist, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6 to 31 August 2009. The show addressed her involvement in campaigns while being "distracted" by being a single mother.

Khorsandi was a panellist on Question Time in 2006 and returned in 2010, 2015, and 2018. In a column for The Independent in 2019, she recounted that Boris Johnson inappropriately touched her during one of the shows. She has included references to this in some of her stand-up routines.

Her BBC Radio 4 programme Shappi Talk (2009) had four themed episodes, each with comedy routines relating to her early life in the UK; the themes were racism, unconventional parents, religion, and growing up. The programme included guests like Meera Syal. Trevor Lewis of The Sunday Times called it "A comedy treat." She performed "Mickey" on the second episode of Let's Dance for Sport Relief 2010, and later was a guest alongside Noddy Holder on Genius, hosted by Dave Gorman.

Topics in her 2011 show Me and My Brother in Our Pants, Holding Hands included her relationship with her brother, divorce, flashers, and her mother's low self-esteem. Tim Richards of The Age offered a positive review, writing that it was "not wet-your-pants material, but it's an absorbing hour". For the Leicester Mercury reviewer, it was Khorsandi's best show to date, and "a skillfully polished skit, that nevertheless felt like it was being performed for the first time".

Khorsandi wrote a 2011 episode of Little Crackers, a series of short autobiographical programmes shown on Sky1, about meeting Todd Carty from Grange Hill. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian acclaimed it as "a sweet, sharp vision of her grandparents in terrifying few words and minutes. Genius." Her 2012 stand-up show Dirty Looks and Hopscotch was based around an account of a short-term relationship with a famous, un-named, musician. According to James Kettle in The Guardian, Khorsandi presented "perhaps too much information about her sex life, her hang-ups and her general mental health", although he added that the performance had the "merciful addition of an arsenal of great jokes".

In 2016, Khorsandi appeared with her son on Big Star's Little Star. Also that year, along with other celebrities, she toured the UK to support Jeremy Corbyn's bid to become Prime Minister. Her new stand-up show that year, Oh My Country! From Morris Dancing to Morrissey, was summarised by Jay Richardson of The Scotsman as "a passionate love letter to the England she calls home". The Times critic Dominic Maxwell commented that Khorsandi's "playfully oversharing manner couches a passion for her topic and a knack for getting plenty said in an apparently conversational aside".

Khorsandi was a contestant on the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in November 2017 and, following a public vote, was the first contestant to be eliminated. She remarked that she felt isolated during the show and did not enjoy it. Her experience there had helped her realise that she was content with her usual life. Skittish Warrior... Confessions of a Club Comic saw Khorsandi reflecting on 20 years as a stand-up comedian, including her own undermining of herself in the early years.

It Was the 90s! (2021–2022) examined changes in attitudes since the 1990s, and Khorsandi's own experience of being a ladette. Lloyd Evans, in the Australian edition of The Spectator criticised Khorsandi in 2021, writing that, "Her material is not especially strong and her greatest asset is a combative stage presence which, as she admits, springs from a deep need to show off in front of strangers."

Her other television appearances have included Have I Got News for You, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. 8 Out of 10 Cats, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, and Blankety Blank.

Personal life In 2005, she married fellow comedian Christian Reilly, and they had a son together before divorcing in 2011. Her daughter was born in June 2013; the following year she told an interviewer that they were not in contact with the girl's father, "But that's fine, I'm not angry or bitter about it." and identifies as an atheist. She later became a patron of Humanists UK, which appointed her as its president for a three-year term beginning in January 2016, succeeding Jim Al-Khalili. She became a vice-president of the organisation in 2019, a role she retained . In 2017, she came out as bisexual, and wrote that she had gone on marches in support of gay rights since she was 17, "Despite all those years of marching and getting drunk at Pride, officially coming 'out' as bisexual seemed like too much of a fuss." Khorsandi was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder aged 47, which she discussed in a 2023 autobiography.

Books Khorsandi's memoir, A Beginner's Guide to Acting English, was published by Ebury Press in 2009. The book describes how she experienced England as a young girl. The narrative begins with her attending The Kings' International Nursery School with her brother Peyvand. Throughout the book, she explains how the Persian language differs from English: "They called me 'poppet'. Iranians said 'jaan' or 'azizam. Other themes include her experiences with English food and customs.

Her second book and first novel, Nina is Not OK, was published in 2016. The titular character is a teenager living with alcohol abuse. It was nominated for the Jhalak Prize, a literary award for Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers. However, Khorsandi asked for it to be removed from consideration, telling an interviewer, "For once in my career I'd done something not about identity ... and I get a sticker for being brown." Her autobiographical work Scatter Brain (2023) is subtitled How I finally got off the ADHD rollercoaster and became the owner of a very tidy sock drawer.

Tours and live shows

Television and radio appearances

Publications

Awards, honours and nominations Year Award Result 2000 BBC New Comedy Award 2010 British Comedy Awards, Best Female TV Comic Honorary doctorate, University of Winchester Awarded 2013 James Joyce Award 2014 BBC's 100 women