Guz Khan

Ghulam Khan (born January 1986), better known as Guz Khan and occasionally Guzzy Bear, is a British comedian and actor best known for his work in such TV shows as Man Like Mobeen and stand up appearances in Live at the Apollo.

For the American lyricist, see Gus Kahn.

Guz Khan
Born
Ghulam Khan

January 1986 (age 34)
Coventry, West Midlands, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationComedian • writer • television director • television producer
Years active2014–present
Known forMan Like Mobeen
Notable work
Man Like Mobeen
Websiteguzkhan.com

Early life

Khan is the youngest of three children, with two sisters who are ten and eleven years older than him.[1] His father died when Khan was three.[2] He is of Pakistani descent. Khan grew up on a housing estate in Hillfields, Coventry[3] and attended Stoke Park School and Community College. After graduating Coventry University,[4] he taught Humanities at Grace Academy.[5] In Sindhu Vee's 2020 BBC comedy podcast Things My Mother Never Told Me (... About Lockdown), Khan talks about being raised in a South-Asian community and his relationship to his mother.[1]

Comedy career

Khan uploaded his first video to Facebook in 2014; in June of that year, he first performed on stage, opening for Aamer Rahman at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. His second time on stage was at a comedy evening at the Library of Birmingham BBC Asian Network organised for Comic Relief, with Citizen Khan.[6]

In June 2015, whilst performing as his character Mobeen, a Muslim living in Small Heath,[6] Khan made a video expressing mock outrage at the apparent use of "Paki", a racial slur for people of Pakistani descent,[7] in the film Jurassic World, and called for boycott of the film because a lead character[8][9] shouted "the Pachys are out of containment", (an abbreviation of the North American pachycephalosaurus).[8][10] In the video, Khan recounts a recent trip he and his friend took to the cinema to watch the film,[7] described some awkward incidents in the cinema whilst watching the film[10] and raises the point that the phrase could sound exceptionally racist to the untrained ear.[10] In six days, the video was watched over 340,000 times on YouTube and has received over 700,000 views on Facebook.[7] Khan's hashtag on Twitter, #BoycottJurassicWorld has gained attention[11] and viewers also took to Twitter to voice their shock at the use of the derogatory term.[12][13] After the Birmingham Mail publicised the story, Khan was interviewed by radio stations in the United States and Indonesia.[6]

In June 2015, Khan made a short film Roadman Ramadan as part of the British Muslim Comedy series, five short films by Muslim comedians commissioned by the BBC to be released on BBC iPlayer.[14][15][16] Khan's sketch was a guide to Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting during daylight hours, which sees Khan's character Mobeen guide his newly converted friend Trev through his first Ramadan. In July, Khan gave up his job as a school teacher to pursue a career in comedy after his YouTube clips went viral.[6] In November, he featured in an episode of comedy web series Corner Shop Show.

In December 2015, Khan performed at BBC Asian Network's Big Comedy Night in Birmingham, a special comedy night celebrating 50 years of Asian programmes on the BBC.[17][18]

In February 2017, Khan appeared as Rocky in romantic comedy film Finding Fatimah.[19] He went on to play the rambunctious baggage handler Mo Khan in Borderline.[20] He has also performed at the stand-up show Live at the Apollo in Episode 4 of Series 13 which was aired 31 December 2017 on BBC2 and hosted by the comedian Henning Wehn.[21]

In December 2017, Khan's four-part BBC comedy series Man Like Mobeen was released on BBC iPlayer.[5][22][23][24] Two more series of the show were produced which were released on BBC iPlayer in 2019 and 2020.[25][26]

In 2019, Khan appeared alongside Idris Elba in the Netflix comedy show Turn Up Charlie,[27] which premiered on 15 March 2019.[28] In 2020, he appeared in Four Weddings And a Funeral,[27][29], a miniseries created by Mindy Kaling that is a remake of the original film.[30][31]

In June 2019, Khan appeared in an advert for Walkers alongside the Spice Girls playing Dev, the group's biggest fan.

Personal life

Khan is a Muslim.[6] He lives with his wife and four children in the West Midlands,[6] next door to his mother.[1]

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References
  1. "BBC Radio 4 – Comedy of the Week, Things My Mother Never Told Me (... About Lockdown)". BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. "Guz Khan: The real deal role model". Royal Television Society. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. Lobb, Adrian (2 January 2020). "Guz Khan: 'We wanted to dispel myths around foodbanks'". The Big Issue. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. Lacey, Hester. "Q&A with comedian and writer Guz Khan". www.ft.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. Rodger, James (7 December 2015). "Coventry teacher turned comedian Guz Khan gets TV pilot and soap cameo". Coventry Telegraph. Coventry. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  6. Laws, Roz (13 July 2015). "Comedian Guzzy Bear gives up teaching job after Jurassic World stunt went viral". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  7. James, Richard (19 June 2015). "This Comedian Is Calling For People To Boycott 'Jurassic World' Over Its Dinosaur "Racism". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  8. Cannon, Matt (18 June 2015). "Jurassic World blasted by Small Heath comedy character after dinosaur abbreviation slip". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  9. Lebeau, Jordan (18 June 2015). "British comic accuses 'Jurassic World' of racism, wins at word bingo". Boston Globe. Boston. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  10. Lindsay, Duncan (20 June 2015). "Comedian leads Jurassic World boycott over 'racist' dinosaur name". Metro. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  11. Farooq, Aisha (22 June 2015). "#Pakisaurus trends for Jurassic World boycott". Desi Blitz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  12. Ragan, Nitya (17 June 2015). "Jurassic World Boycott Plans in Motion As Comedian Discovers Accidental Racism". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  13. Haysom, Sam (18 June 2015). "British comedian accuses 'Jurassic World' of prehistoric racism in hilarious rant". Mashable. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  14. Jones, Alice (25 June 2015). "Ramadan films and HaLOL: the rise of British Muslim Comedy". The Independent. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  15. Badat, Hafeeza (19 June 2015). "British Muslim Comedy Takes Over BBC iPlayer". Asian Image. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  16. "Guz Khan: Roadman Ramadan". BBC iPlayer. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  17. "Special comedy night to feature Tez Ilyas, Guz Khan, Shaista Aziz and Aditi Mittal". Asian Image. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  18. "Guz Khan". BBC Asian Network. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  19. "Finding Fatimah official website". Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  20. "Borderline – C5 Sitcom".
  21. "BBC Two – Live at the Apollo, Series 13, Episode 4".
  22. "Man Like Mobeen". BBC. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  23. "BBC – Man Like Mobeen coming to BBC Three for brand new series – Media Centre".
  24. "BBC iPlayer – Man Like Mobeen".
  25. "British Comedy Guide:Man Like Mobeen series and episodes list". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  26. "BBC Three's Man Like Mobeen returns for a third series – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  27. "Guz Khan: 'Man Like Mobeen' creator, rising comedy star, working class hero". The Big Issue. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  28. Mitchell, Robert (3 January 2019). "First Look: Idris Elba in Netflix Comedy 'Turn Up Charlie'". Variety. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  29. Andreeva, Nellie (2 November 2018). "'Four Weddings And A Funeral': Andie MacDowell To Appear On Hulu Series, Nathalie Emmanuel To Star In Recasting". Deadline. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  30. "Guz Khan joins Four Weddings : News 2018 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  31. "Guz Khan talks Man Like Mobeen and educating through comedy". Evening Standard. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
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