Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Shazia Mirza (Part One)

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

This week Emily and Ray take a stroll with the fabulous comedian Shazia Mirza.Emily and Shazia actually go back a long way, as when Shazia first decided to pursue comedy, she took performance lessons with Emily’s late mum, an acting teacher who became a great friend and source of encouragement. This is Shazia’s first meeting with Ray, though, and despite admitting she’s usually a little nervous around dogs, it isn’t long before he’s won her over and been officially declared Britain’s first halal dog.Shazia talks about growing up in Birmingham in a strict household with strong academic expectations, studying biochemistry at university and becoming a science teacher, before eventually realising that what she really wanted to do was stand-up. She began performing comedy in secret, and within just a few years found herself appearing on the hugely influential American programme 60 Minutes as the world’s only female Muslim stand-up comedian.Since then, Shazia has become a fixture of British comedy, appearing on shows including Have I Got News for You, QI and Would I Lie to You?, as well as memorably reducing Hugh Jackman to hysterics on The Jonathan Ross Show.It’s a funny, fascinating and at times very moving walk, particularly as Shazia remembers the support Emily’s mum gave her at the very beginning of her career. Shazia will be touring again next year, so follow her on Instagram at @TheShaziaMirza for details of upcoming shows.Follow Emily:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrebeccadeanX: https://twitter.com/divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know, when I said he's a halal dog, I do think his name is Mohamed Raymond. I do. It is now. He's got all the hair. He's got the beard. He's got everything. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I went for a stroll with the fabulous comedian Shazia Mirza. So Shazia and I actually go back a long way because my late mum was an acting teacher.

And when Shazia first decided to become a comedian, she went to my mum for performance lessons. became great pals. This was, though, her first time meeting Ray, and she admitted to me that she's generally a bit scared of dogs, but I am delighted to say that Ray absolutely won her over. In fact, she officially declared him Britain's first halal dog, and we had the most fascinating chat about Sharsia's life from her childhood growing up in Birmingham, which she describes as fairly strict with strong academic expectations, which led to her reading by chemistry at university and becoming a science teacher. Until she realized that wasn't what she actually wanted to do. She wanted to become a comedian. So she set about doing comedy in secret and suddenly her career

began to take off. In fact, just a few years after starting out, she was featured on the massively high-profile American show 60 Minutes as the world's only female Muslim stand-up comedian. She's since gone on to become a firm fixture in the comedy landscape, appearing on everything from have I got news for you to QI and would I lie to you? And let's not forget her very memorable appearance on the Jonathan Ross show where she had Hugh Jackman in hysterics. And if you want to experience some of that hilarity yourself, she'll be touring next year.

So do keep an eye on her Insta, the Shazia Merza for details of upcoming shows. Ray and I had the loveliest time with Shazia. She's obviously hilarious, so there was no shortage of laughter. But she's also got this very calm, energy about her. And I won't lie, hearing her talk about how much my late mum had supported and encouraged her to follow her dreams and go into comedy might have brought a little tear to my eye.

Or maybe that was just Ray's breath. Either way, you will love this woman just as much as we did. I really hope you enjoy our chat. Here's Shazia and Ray Ray Ray. So, Raymond, I'm going to carry him for the... I love Raymond. I love him so much. And you know me, Emily. I don't like dogs. I'm scared of them all. What a start for the podcast. Oh, you, Raymond.

I love you. So we should raise this. You're not the world's biggest dog lover. No. But I absolutely love, Rayne. I just saw him. It was love at first sight. I saw him online.

It was like online dating. I saw him online. I thought, he's the one for me. He's the one for me. I just love him. But I'm scared of dogs. Are you? And I grew up scared of dogs.

And cats, but more more dogs. And what was your family attitude to dogs? Well, as you know, I'm Muslim. The family were Muslim. And I know there's a stereotype that Muslims don't like dogs because they're not halal. But Raymond is halal. Raymond is the halal dog. I think that's why I'm attracted to him because we're both halal.

It's all above board. So that means he's clean and he's well prepared. He's lovely. He's clean. He prays five times a day. Always facing in the right direction. He's a wonderful halal dog. I think you're the world's first halal dog. I think he is.

Do you see this? He just stops. So that's a normal dog, Shows. I don't like him. I don't like him. I don't like him. Keep your voice down. I don't like that.

I don't like that dog. Does you? You could potentially eat me. Because look, it's got that face. It's got the Alsatian face. That's a husky. I'm scared of big dogs. So huskies are not...

You're not a husky fan. No, I mean, I have to say over the years, I have begun to like certain dogs. Well, Raymond's one. Raymond, I love Raymond. Raymond's never barked. I love you, Raymond. And there are no sudden movement.

Yeah, and he's calm. He's very calm. You know, when I said he's a halal dog, I do think his name is Mohamed Raymond. I do. It is now. He's got all the hair, he's got the beard, he's got everything.

Oh, this is the funniest podcast I've ever done, and I've only been in a 90 seconds. I've had shawls. Shouting in someone's face. I don't like that dog. So it's such a dog. joy to see you Charles and I call you Charles not because I'm over familiar but we'll get on what your mum used to call me that's what my mum could be and you my mum who's sadly no longer with us

but you were taught by my mum weren't you um it was kind of performance lessons because my mum was an actress yes and it was she well we'll get onto that I think we should get on to my mum and when she came into your life because I know she was kind of quite influential on you in some ways Really massively, massively. Well, let's start back at the beginning with the dogs, and you obviously didn't have any. No. Growing up in Birmingham.

Yeah. Which part of Birmingham? Well, I was born in the Kiwi Hospital, and I was brought up in Harbourn, which now is a very posh area. It's really posh now, but when I was there, it wasn't as posh. Okay.

We were the only Asians on our streets. the whole street was white. There was that we had a neighbour two doors down, Maureen, and she had a dog, and we loved the dog. It was a poodle. And me and my brother and my sister, we used to love taking the dog for walks in the park. It was a cute niddle dog,

but generally I was scared of dogs. We were brought up, like, to be scared of dogs. They're not kind of halal animals. Like a cat is a halal animal. And why is that? Why is the cat halal animal? Because the prophet, Hamid, peace be upon him, had a cat. So cats are considered sacred halal animals.

So a lot of Muslim families, they do have a cat, but they don't have dogs. You are allowed to have dogs if they are to protect you. Got it. But not for enjoyment. Take that as you will, I mean, but I mean, look, I have begun to love dogs over the years because I had a manager in LA called Jonathan and he had a Maltese poodle. And did he like the Maltese poodle? And did he like the Moll? Oh my God, it was called Murray, no longer alive. But I was a white Maltese poodle and I loved that little dog. It was a bit like Raymond. It was small.

It didn't make any noise. It was just gorgeous. And I began to love little dogs then. Come on Raymond. I actually like sausage dogs. I mean, that's definitely not halal. But the thing is, I love sausage jog because they kind of bounce along. And I love that cute nipple bouncing along.

I think they're so cute that the shape of their body and the way they move along. Look at this, he'll just do this, Sharsia. Just stop. What do you want now, Ray? Do you want to follow Sharsia? Oh my gosh.

He's so cute. I think he likes you. He's basically like an overgrown mouse. Yeah, he is. You know? And everybody likes mice. I think people like him as well because he's...

He's so many things. He's like a rabbit. He's like a mouse. He's an E-Walk. I've had that before as well. He looks like something. Star Wars. He looks like my local imam, you know, like with his hair and his beard. It's just like so nice. Right, Ray, this is lovely, but you have to walk. I'm going to carry him, Charles,

because he'll drag us down. What a kitty. I've been swimming in there, you know. Oh, we're in the Hampstead Park. I swim there a lot. There's someone swimming there. Yeah. You know, the first time I came to Hampstead Heat, this is crazy. When I was at, when I was at Goldsmith, I was doing my piece, I was. I was, I was I was a student and I was living with a friend of mine called Chris, a gay guy who works in West End theatres. And he used to go cottaging on Hampstead Heads and he bought me here for the first time. I didn't know what cottaging was. I didn't know what the Heath was.

I didn't know what men did here. And this was the first time I came here was he was cottaging. He was done, I've got to go cottaging. You wait there and he went behind the bushes. And apparently this is where men picked each other up. know that. Well it was one of George Michael's favourite spot. Yeah, well years later I read about that. Yeah, I love swimming in there. There's a women's pond, there's a men's pond and there's a mixed pond. It says no swimming. Over there, but I think here, yeah, I think that's the mixed pond. There's men.

That's men and women. But there's a lady's only one. So, yeah. When you were growing up with your parents. It's you and you have, is it two siblings? I've got three brothers. Three brothers. And one sister. Wow. It was very male dominated house. Yeah. My father was a typical Pakistani father. And what's that? He was like, he was like really strict. Really strict. Men should do this. Women should do this. You have to dress a certain way. You have to behave a certain way. It was strange because they killed. from Pakistan to Birmingham in the 60s. And my dad, it's crazy because my dad was obsessed with strong women, like he loved Dolly Parton, Shirley Bassie, Barbara Streisand. And for a, you know, Pakistani man in the 70s coming over, liking Barbara Streisand and Shirley Basque, people thought,

people used to think, you know, is he in the closet? Is your dad in the closet? But actually, he just liked these strong kind of women. But he was... But not in the house. But not in the house. Not in the house. No. In the house, it should be women are in the kitchen, men should go out to work. It was a typical strict Pakistani father. Was he kind of a businessman? Yeah. I mean, he used to sell all kinds of things. He has to have warehouses, secondhand cars. He was like a Pakistani Arthur Daly. He used to sell secondhand cars, anything. Yeah. They were all in business when they came over in the 70s. All the Asian people in Birmingham were in business. setting up businesses, shops, property.

Obviously, you can't be Asian unless you own three properties. You have to have property. Buying, selling, you know, warehouses, which still exist a lot of them. And what did your mom do? Did she work at all? She brought up five children. Well, yeah. And then when we grew up, she was a teacher back in Pakistan.

So after we grew up, she became a teacher again. She was a primary school teacher for 20 years. So they were Asian. You know what I mean? Like Asian people, no matter where they come from or what they do, they have to be the best. They have to do education.

Oh my God, the kids have got to be educated. You've got to get all the degrees. You've got to be successful. You've got to be a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer. Or whatever you do. Like, when I became a comedian, my dad, I don't, you've got to be the best at this. If you're going to be a comedian,

you've got to be the best. It's so competitive and aspirational as a group of people, Asian people. We are, they were so into education and just, it was like, it doesn't matter where we're from and what we do. You have got to be successful. And they drum that into us all the time. Oh gosh, yeah. All about grades and coming top of the class and, oh, they were so strict.

Were they very strict? Really outrageously strict. So strict, but now when I look back on it, I think they actually saved me. Did they? Yes, because I could have ended up being like the Muslim Bonnie Blue

or something. Or the not Bonnie Brown in my case. You know, I could have gone right off the rails, but my mum and dad were so strict. Like, if I was five minutes home late from school, my mum would go, where have you been? You're are a prostitute. You have been sleeping with everybody in Birmingham. Where I, why are you late?

And I was like, what? Like, I never, I was, I went to an all-girls school. I never saw a boy till I was like 18, but they would accuse me of all kinds of things. And it's because they were so strict. They were like, well, she must be doing something terrible. She's five minutes home from school. Does it, growing up in that kind of environment? And as you know, because you know, my own just, no way, no way. Really? No can do. That's a husky again, I think. Yeah.

So we're establishing you're not a husky fan. No. I mean, if I saw that, I'd cross over the road. Really? I'd be too scared. And also, like, you can see its bum. Who wants to see its bum? Like, I don't want that in my face.

You can't see Ray's bomb. That's what I like. He's very discreet. That's why I say he's halal. He's a loud dog. You can't see these kind of untoward things. You don't want to see his undercarriage. No.

No. We can loop round. We can look around. As long as we can loop round. Good. So we were talking about your folks before the Husky came into view. And I'm interested in what sort of a impact that has on you. You know, as I was saying, you know my family well enough to know, it probably couldn't be more polar opposite our backgrounds. Yeah.

In terms of liberal theatre people or whatever. But, you know, you understand that comes with a different, set of complications. Yeah, yeah. In your childhood, what sort of growing up in a strict environment, as you described it like that, what impact did that have on you, do you think?

Well, I think when I think about it, it's probably the reason I became a comedian because for a Muslim Pakistani girl, growing up in Birmingham in the 80s and 90s, a stand-up comedian was just, it's just, what is that? It's not even a possibility. It wasn't even an option.

How did I even think, that wasn't even a thought in my mind. But it was strange, because growing up, we watched a lot of comedy on TV. My mum always had comedy on. Are you being served? The two Ronnie's, Les Dawson, Larry Grayson, all the gay ones.

She loved all the gay ones. And your dad liked all the sort of gay icons. I think they were both in the closet. I think it was an arranged marriage made in heaven. Because, yeah, they always had comedy on. My mum loved the comedy. And I didn't realize it, but I think that was probably getting into my subconscious as I was growing up. Because we always watched it.

We loved it. And you must have been, Charlsea, because a lot of, sometimes you'll interview comics and they're funny on stage, but they're not necessarily funny conversationally. That's not true of you. You are instantly, you're kind of on. You're very sort of obviously, self-evidently witty and funny and quick and sharp. Was that evident when you were growing up? Would people say Shazzy is really funny?

Or was it just not a currency in your childhood? No. I mean, it was frowned upon for me to be funny or loud. Like my mum would always say, you know, don't talk too much. Men don't like women who talk too much. And she turned out to be correct. Right, really? Hello.

Look, Shazie. There's another little dog. Is this a schnauzer? Yeah. Oh, ever so sweet. What breed is your dog? He's an imperial shih Tzu. An imperial, so not just regular. No, he's a cutterball. He really is. Raymond, do you like that schnauzer? He's like, I'm not sure he's just a basic shnauzer. Yeah, he's a bit basic for him, but. It's like imperial leather. It's top of the range soap, isn't it? What about, what about when you, when we encountered that shit to and you gave it a review in front of the owner and you went, not bad, not bad. Like, would you do that with a partner if someone said,

well yes, these days. What do you make of that? Five out of ten, six out of ten? Not bad, not bad. I'm dreading the next dog encounter. Oh, awful. Because nothing can top rain. Look how cute ears. He's like a walking rug. Where are you going there? So, so you were saying, so being funny was kind of. Oh no, it wasn't an option and it wasn't encouraged. It wasn't something a woman should be. Really? Yeah, because it was all about marriage, you know, like you want to get the best husband

and a man is not going to like a funny, loud, outspoken woman. Which is correct, isn't it? Who likes that? I remember a guy saying to me once in the industry, and this was years ago, he says you better be careful because men don't marry loud women and I thought now I'm like oh thank God for that I mean that's one thing I've been spent yeah I mean

but it was interesting that it was so matter of fact the way he said it it was it was that this is not an option you've got to be like something respectable I remember when my parents to set me up with this guy and I turned up and he said to me, you know, I like women with a sense of humour. No. But this comedy is too far. It's too far. You've taken it to, I mean, taken it too far. Like, I like women with a sense of humour, but

not when they're getting paid for it and they're on stage and there's 200 people laughing, we can't have that. Do you think often when they say, I like people with a sense of humour, what some men mean is, I like women that laugh at my jokes? Yes, I think so. It's all about feeding the male eagle. you go. It's all about, yeah, I like her. She's... Do you think of this, what, this doll? No way, no chance. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. No way. Look at the aggression.

It's awkward. She came along and smelt Ray's bottom and ran off. Ray's a bit of fronted. Yes. Ray, darling. No manners. Charles, Zier and Mommy are here to look after you. He's coming over to you for reassurance. You are lovely, Ray. Don't know anybody smell your bottom without your permission. Dogs aren't being on consent, just FYI. Aren't they? Come here.

We should just say, I don't know whether we'll end up keeping this in. We'll make a call. But we've just had a strange incident where we were walking along and someone just approached Sharza. Imagine if he'd said I was Connie Huck? He said, I know you. I know you from Strictly. And you had to say, no.

That's the other one. And he goes, what you mean? sister oh you mean the other Asian woman I said yes I mean I could be so many Asian women and then we established it was anita Rani need to right he thought I was anita Rani I could have been Mira Sayal I could I could have been Connie Huck oh it's a Fenton man shouting I could have been Ravinda Bogle I could have been so many other Asian women I'm glad to be anita Rani it could have been worse I mean it was quite the moment.

I was quite, it was such a... I was on a beach once in St Lucia and somebody came up to him and I went, are you my GP? Are you my GP? Oh my God. When you're out of context, people can't put their finger on it. That's what it is. Look, here's a little Labrador.

So I want to get back to your childhood, Charles, because you've established already it was, you know, it was a strict, kind of conservative with a small sea. Very, very strict. strict, very strict. Yeah, household. I was not allowed out. Well, you're not? No, I didn't, like all my friends would go to each other's houses and go to parties and stuff and, no, I wasn't allowed any of that. And I think it was because they wanted to keep me away from boys. Yeah. And they didn't want me to get pregnant by the time I was 16 and something terrible happened.

And it was all that very, it was a strict upbringing. But if you talk to a lot of, you know, Afro-Caribbean, people and Asian people whose parents came over in the 70s. Yeah. They had the same upbringing. You know, they all talk about it and they do comedy routines about it. Was there a sort of, I'm interested in what, your attitude you were given around money as well. Was there a certain attitude towards the money was that men should earn the money. Right. That the man should earn the money.

And if you're going to marry somebody, they've got to have. money or they've got to be educated or decent man with money. And you know, people talk about the British class system. The Asian class system is worse. It really is because, you know, I do think, even though you have the British class system, you are quite open-minded and liberal and I'd say some women are desperate these days.

I mean, they've got to just got to take what they can get. And you would find, you would say like you would get, doctor marrying a bus driver. I've got white English friends who are, you know, very successful. And they are, you know, their partners are a cab driver or, you know. But I think that's a feature, not a bug, in that I think that's because those men are probably less likely to be threatened by having another successful, high earning partner. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I almost think that's quite typical. I have that with a lot of my high earning friends where or super successful friends that it's a sort of balance thing maybe

you know that you haven't got too alphas but also like if the woman has got everything like property money car then really she needs a man maybe just for support companionship put the bins out so yes the basics um but ancient culture is very classist right you would Never, if your daughter or son is a doctor, my God, no way, are they going to marry a bus driver or a cab driver? Yeah. It was all, and when families are coming together, they always look at the family. Is the family good? You know, has the family, are they educated?

Are they from a good background? And they want their child to marry into a good family. Yeah. I want my child to marry to a good family. So it's not just you're marrying the husband or wife. You're looking at their family as well. And so this has been going on since the beginning of time. So it's a hard structure to be in.

Yeah. You know? Yeah. Because not only have you got to do well, you've got to marry well. You've got to have money. You've got to have success. You've got to have looks. You know, like often like the women who are darker skinned,

maybe their chances of getting married are not as good as women with lighter skins. Right. And it's like all of these things. I think it's changing a bit now. because people are finding their own partners and stuff. But this internal class system has been going on for a long time. And money around money, it was all about money, but men earn the money. And you ended up doing biochemistry, didn't you, at Manchester University?

Was that, were you passionate about biochemistry? No, and it wasn't passionate about me either. I mean, the thing is, they wanted me to be a doctor, obviously, and I don't want to be a doctor. I don't want to go to university and study medicine for five years when I had no passion about it. But you must have been good at it, Charles.

I struggled. I worked hard. Did you? And I went to a uni and I did a degree in biochemistry, but my heart and my passion was never in it. I was just doing what was the respectable thing to do, what my parents wanted me to do. In my heart, I think I always wanted to be on stage.

Not as a comedian, because that was never... When I was growing up, I never saw people on TV that looked like me, ever. Right. Not even at that point reading the news. When you did see a Asian woman later on, she was reading the news or doing the cooking. Yeah. But growing up, never saw Asian women on TV. So who were your role models then?

Well, I remember my dad always used to shout. When we were upstairs, my dad would go, hurry up, hurry up, get downstairs. Trevor is on the TV. Because Trevor McDonald was like the closest thing to an... Asian woman at the time. I mean, honestly, I grew up thinking I was a black man. I was like, oh my God, is this all we've got? Have I got to be like Trevor? This was Trevor McDonald. That was all growing my beard. Trevor McDonald was like, oh my God, there's a black man on the TV. Come and look at this. Wow. And then it was kind of like Minnie Henry. It was because there were no Asian women.

And there were no Asian men at that point. Yeah. So it wasn't a career that we were going to be in. But I think I always had it in my heart that I wanted to be a performer. I didn't know what. This way? And so you ended up doing biochemistry. Yeah. And then when you graduated, you went to Goldsmithsmith. Yeah.

And you did a post-grading teaching. Yeah. I did a post-PGCE and I actually loved my time at Goldsmith because it was so creative. Yeah. I love being there. While I was doing my PGC, I also did an acting course on the side. So were you sort of slightly leading, were you doing that in private and secret of it? You wouldn't have told your parents?

No, nobody knew. Does that get hard, that sort of double life element to it, if that makes sense? Yeah, because you can't tell anybody about it so nobody can support you. Nobody can support you or encourage you or if something's hard. You can't discuss it with anybody. But I loved my time at Galsman. Everybody there was so creative. I loved doing the acting course there.

I had great teachers. And I started to, and then I started to do what I was loving, starting to be in the theatre and doing the acting. And I loved it. And when you were, going back to Manchester, when you're at college in Manchester, sorry, there's a big dog coming you won't like. Let's don't like this one.

He looks like it. German Shepherd Husky Cross. There's a lot of those, aren't they? What, the owner or the dog? Because I mean, look at the owner. I mean, they say that thing, don't they, that the owners start to look like their dogs or the... Yeah. I'm wondering all about that facial hair. We are... But like Ray, I keep my undercarriage immaculate. Oh, good, yeah. Come on. Oh, that's good. Is our nice new cafe up here, Will? Oh, that's good. Come on, Ray, see, he's had enough now, Charles.

I'll pick him up. What a kitty. When you were in, back in Manchester, though, interestingly, I was interested to read that you, and it didn't surprise me that you were a bit of a grafter in terms of doing a million different jobs. Yeah. You worked in... C&A. C&A!

I worked in C&A in the Armdale Centre. I also worked at Manchester City Football Club as a waitress. Oh okay, we can't leave that there. What was that like? Did you mean any famous players? I mean, there were loads of famous, but I didn't know them at that time. And I was waitressing there and I was a terrible waitress, you know. I mean, things would go flying all the time.

It was a silver service. I'd be flinging, beef, steaks going across the room and stuff. I was terrible. But I loved the atmosphere of being somewhere different. I was studying biochemistry. I was working at Manchester City Football Club. I was working at C&A on Saturday. I worked at Baskin-Robbins as well for a long time.

And was that just to earn money to pay for my acting classes that I was doing on the side and all the extra training that I was doing. And were your parents happy you doing all these jobs? So they encouraged that? Well, they didn't know a lot of the time. Really? No. Because they'd say, why are you wasting time working?

You should be studying. Right. But I needed the money. But that's what I mean, is that quite a lot of pressure having to do a lot of these things in secret? Yeah. Was it? It was. Because you're quite an honest person, do you know what I mean?

But also the graft, the graft and I think that's what's missing today is that the desire and the graft to be in this business and to be successful in it. People don't realize that you've got to really make sacrifices and work really hard. and I had to do all of that because I didn't have anybody behind me, no family, no parents, no support really until I met your mum obviously and she filled the massive gap

in my life. Oh, so lovely, Shalsia. She got me on, she got me going. Yeah. Like I remember your mum put an advert in the stage newspaper for acting lessons that's how I met her

and I and I answered it or she was teaching the Punjabi's who were a group of Asian comedians and they told me about her. I didn't even know about her. And I started going to her for lessons, for acting lessons. And she taught me everything. Like she taught me all about Samuel Beckett.

She made me read all of Pinter's books. And I began learning stuff that I had never known before. So I started reading, I remember the house, Harold Pinter the House. That was one of the first things I read. No, the room, the room, Harold Pinter. And then she told me all about Pinter. And I started learning about literature and about books. She told me all the books to get.

And then she told me to go to the theatre. I started going to the theatre. While I was teaching, in the evenings, I'd go to the theatre by myself and watch plays that she told me to watch. And I just discovered this whole new world of art and theatre and literature, which your mum taught me, everything. And she supported me, like,

me like in I said I really want to do this I want to be in the theatre I want to act and then I started getting into comedy and she was right behind me like teaching me and helping me coming to see my gigs and then she taught me things like you must go and do the Alexander technique because you've got terrible posture and it changed my life because I had terrible posture as a child because I was ashamed of my of my body I was always hunched over and I started doing Alexander technique twice a week. Because you've got a great posture now. And now it changed my body. It changed everything. Yeah. And all these things I didn't know about. And she taught me everything.

She taught me all of these things. And she made me believe that I could do it. There was a place for me in this business if I worked hard enough. And I could do it. And she was the only person that made me believe I could do it because nobody else knew about my other life. And it put me on the road, really, to becoming who I became as a person and as an artist, as a comedian. That's so lovely, Charles here. Oh, I'm going to give you a hug. I'm so glad my mom was so influential on you. You must really miss her now.

She was. She was. I've got still to her notes. I read them off from time to time. I do as well, but most of mine are saying, why haven't you done the fucking dishes? And I've got all her cards that she used to send me. She used to send me cards saying, you know, one day you're going to be a big star. You're going to be a big star.

She'd be so proud now. I mean, she saw it a lot of... She saw you get more famous. She saw the journey and she saw it happening. And she said, I had never had any doubt. Well, she was the only person that said that to me in my life. I have no doubt that you're going to be successful. You're going to make it.

Because everybody else who, like Asian people, who would, when there were no Asian people in this business, there was Mirosil and that was it. And so for your mum to kind of think beyond that and think, no, there is a place for you in this business, regardless of your background or how you look or if you're a woman, there's a place for you because you're working hard and you've got talent.

She was the only person to say that. Because all the Asian people that I knew were all doctors, dentists, lawyers, teachers. That was our profession. That was our lane. And you remember we always had to stay in our life. lane. It takes a lot of courage and hard work to kind of break out of that lane and do something different and for you to be accepted in that. I'm so glad that she was such an inspiration for you.

She was a great teacher. She was a really good teacher and she was so funny and quirky and out there and you have to be if you're going to encourage somebody to do work well, this, you know, you have to think outside the box and your mum did. After you left Goldsmiths, you started teaching in the East End of London. And you were teaching what sort of biology, chemistry? Physics chemistry and biology to GCSE, 11 to 16 year olds. It was rough. And at the same time, I was at drama school in the evenings, at Rose Proufford.

Doing my acting, learning. And this is before you'd started going to my mum for acting. Lessons. No, your mum helped me get in there. Okay. She helped me to get into Rose Brouford. With your audition and things. Yeah, and I got in and I started doing this part-time evening course there.

And this was before comedy. I didn't know. I still never thought of comedy or thought that I'd become a comedian or anything like that. I think it happened by accident. It wasn't what I planned to do. I never thought of it as a possibility. Well, when you were teaching, weren't you teaching Dizzy Rascal? I was, yeah.

males what was he like as a student was he naughty what do you what do you imagine him to be like I mean it was a rough East End comprehensive yeah they didn't want to be there I didn't want to be there I was trying to teach some science they weren't interested in science and they were I taught in really deprived areas I taught in Talahumannet's Dagenham and Enfield and a lot of the kids They were from counter estates surrounding the school. They were from single parent families, no parent families, a lot of poverty, a lot of social problems. But there was this thing that they had. They were so creative.

They were so creative. And they were never chasing the fame or the money, but they liked to create things, which is what Desi Rascal did. His album, The Boy in de Corner, was him talking about. about being at school, the boy in the corner. And just like he wrote that when he was, got kicked out of a class, he'd go to the music room, go and make some music. So he was always very sort of creative. Yeah, yeah.

And a lot of the kids, I remember they used to go shoplifting and stuff. And I used to think, my God, this is bad, I know you've been shoplifting, but then they'd go and set up a stalling Chris Street Market and sell the goods they'd stolen for three times as much. And I think, well, on one hand, you're a thief, but my God, that's creative. And look at the money you're making. So they were really inventive. Yeah.

I suppose they had nothing. So they were always making stuff and thinking of ideas. And I had one of the girls message me the other day, who I used to teach. And she said she set up a car wash business from the back of her car. I'm like, this is the kind of thing that they did. They were creative. So anyway, I used them as material. When I became a comedian, I used all these stories as material.

And did some of your... Did you see Dizzy Rascal? These kids, they've been to my gigs, and they've all write comments on me online. Dizzy Rascal you ran into. What was it, an award ceremony or something? I think it was that, yeah, it was somewhere. They still call me Mists, and it's really weird. Does he say Miss?

Miss? Miss, miss, like I'm not your teacher anymore. You're 35 and I'm not your teacher anymore. Miss, even when they message me on social media, miss, miss, what are you doing now? I don't teach you anymore. But that's how they know me. Yeah. You know, and some of them are in Belmarsh.

I mean, some of them, they do write to me. I had one right to me from Belmarsh. He says, I've been reading a lot of books. I said, why is that? He said, because I'm in Belmarsh. I'm like, oh, right. He said, yeah, I've been watching your clips online and stuff. I was like, oh, okay.

Some of them, you know, they didn't do so well. But did you, once you decided to leave, because there was this period when you were sort of juggling everything a bit, wasn't there? You're juggling, when you were juggling sort of earning money with that full-time job, essentially, and then you're having to take time off. Yeah.

You're sort of bunking off school, essentially. I was bunking off school. To go for auditions and singing lessons and drama lessons. Oh. Raymond! Oh, my gosh. You met some friends and friends. It's all right.

They're just smelling you. It's all right, darling. They're just saying hello, my love. They're just saying hello. It's all good. Come on. Come on, Raymond. Oh, look at this one.

Say hello to this little accent, Raymond. Did you say Raymond? Yeah, Raymond. Yeah, we'll just get the same about the names. Oh, yeah. My name's gizmo. Yours is gizmo. Gizmo.

And there was a lady the other day. I was walking down and I said, what did you call that dog? She said, Maro. I said Mara. Well, I say Mara. She said, yeah, well, that's a pick was up north, you know. that's what they called a friend Mara

Mara Mara and I thought Oh am that lovely What's your dog called Is one of these yours thoughts Monty That's Monty

That's Montague Montague Who's a Daxon And Raymond Who's a Shih Tzu You're beautiful And you little one Right we're going to go

And get a coffee now I love to meet you Yeah What's your name darling Emily? Emily Oh I got underneath Emily

My bye That's where Charlesia. Charlesia. Charlesia. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh my lovely. Nice to meet you. Bye. Bye. Bye, Joyce. Bye, Monty. Bye, Monty. What type of dog was that?

That's a Daxon. So that's a sausage dog. Not halal, but... What did you think of that? I like, I quite like that dog. Yeah, it's a beautiful dog I think. It's a nice colour. The colour is very unusual.

It's lovely. So, Oh, is it lilac? Really? It's beautiful. It's a lot, see. You like that, Charles here? That's a nice one.

This is the cafe we're going to go to, one of my favourites. That's nice. So, I want to talk about how you kind of really broke through because after the teaching, and obviously you were taught by my mum and you went to drama college. Yeah, yeah. What was your biggest break into stand-up comedy? I don't know.

I think it was just gradual. Was it? And also, a thing about comedy is the thing about keeping going. It's hard to keep going. I know so many great women that started to stand up and men. And they just didn't last. Because they just didn't keep going. When it got tough, they just thought, I can't do this anymore.

And I started out with so many good writers and comedians and they just never lasted the course. So do you think you are quite resilient? are quite resilient in a way. Yeah. And I think that's an Asian thing. Grafting. Yeah.

Grafting. Get yourself up again. Keeping, keeping going. Picking yourself up, keeping going. So that was that work ethic and you applied it to? It's a work ethic. Yeah. I think it's an immigrant work ethic as well.

They get immigrants get their job done. They get the job done. They do it well. They'll do it for less. Like, they won't accept. expect anything. They'll just keep going till they're really good at it. And that's what you did with comedy? I know. I did with comedy. I just applied that to comedy.

And so you were doing gigs in all the time pubs and things like that? Rooms above pubs. There's not so many of them anymore. No. A lot of the pubs have shut down. But I remember I used to do three or four gigs a night. I'd go from one to the next to the next. And all the comedians in those days did it. I remember being, you know, doing gigs and Jimmy Carr was doing three or four gigs. night and there were loads of other comedies all doing like three or four a night because you

could then who at that point charlieu did any other comics stand out to you in that period when you were trying to break through more established comics as being kind and supportive to you because you always remember that yeah yeah there were there were people like joe brown was really supportive to me as she has to a lot of to a lot of women and a lot of new comics she was always supportive and encouraging yeah it was all about then before it was before kind of social media it was all about the graft all about all about you know doing the comedy and getting good at the comedy and you now it's about filming stuff in your bedroom and putting it online so yeah that's

interesting you did build up that sort of and did you face any I don't know any difficult reactions you know oh yeah I had a lot yeah when I first started I was the Muslim woman doing stand-up. So obviously, like black comedians. Hi, Joyce. They've got a history of black comedy, you know, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, you know, Eddie Murphy. They've got a history of this.

Jewish comedians have a history of Jewish comedy. Joan Rivers, you know, Lenny Bruce, or they've got going way back. So someone else has done that thing and stepped on stage the first time? And I stood on stage with the first time. And I stood on stage for the first time as a Muslim woman, no history of Muslim comedy or Muslim audiences.

And it was shocking to a lot of people. Was it? Hey, there's a woman doing this, making jokes about her culture, about her life. It was shocking. A lot of people said you shouldn't be doing it. You're a woman, blah, blah, blah. And it was definitely really hard. I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog.

If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday, so whatever you do, don't miss it. And remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.