The Muslim comic received prizes and hate mail for her shaded humour in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. She talks approximately the British jihadi bride schoolgirls who inspired her original showWith her trademark deadpan delivery,Shazia Mirza is discussing the east London school where four pupils have left for Syria. “I call it the Bethnal Green Jihad-emy,” she quips. “It has produced so many jihadi brides it must be the top of the league table.”The comment is typical of the comic who first rode to fame on a wave of nervous laughter when, and in the wake of the 9/11 attacks,she introduced herself on stage with the line: “My name’s Shazia Mirza – at least that’s what it says on my pilot’s licence.” Her latest show, for which she had chosen the jaunty title The Road to al-Baghdadi, and looks set to mine the same wealthy seam of taboo-busting humour. But to her surprise Tricycle,the theatre hosting it on its return to London from Edinburgh, were so uneasy approximately the potential repercussions from Islamic State militants angered by the use of their leader’s name they asked her to change the show’s title.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com