Iffy Afzal

Education

About me

I am an actor and a budding comedian and compeer. I’ve always loved to perform and make people laugh. Being British-Pakistani, Muslim and working-class; I have a unique perspective which I utilise as a storyteller. I often use humour to make light of the challenges I've faced in my personal life.

COMEDY:
In July 2019, I enrolled on a stand-up comedy course at the Comedy School in Camden because live comedy was something I loved to watch and admired. At the end of the course, I headlined at Backyard Comedy Club (Bethnal Green). I have since performed at more than 150 comedy shows opening for some amazing acts on the professional circuit including Shazia Mirza, Simon Munnery, Boothby Graffoe, Chris McCausland and Scott Capurro.

I was selected as 'Wild Card' at 2Northdown's New Act Competition in December 2021. Earlier this year, I earned the chance to audition for the NATYS 2022 Showcase. I have compeered at ‘Downstairs at The Kings Head’ (Crouch End) and prior to the pandemic, I regularly hosted monthly comedy nights for ‘Big Comedy’ (Southwark), 'Groovie Grove' (Hammersmith) and 'Full Frontal Comedy' (Eton), and Saturday nights at ‘Covent Garden Comedy Cellar’. My highlights have included beating “The Blackout” at 'Up the Creek' (Greenwich), beating the gong at “Spiky Mike's Fun House Comedy” (Leicester), and headlining at “TNT Comedy” (Kentish Town) and “Sam Rhode’s Comedy Explosion” (Dalston).

During the lockdown of 2020, I hosted a weekly online show called ‘Hecklers’ for ‘Instant Laughs’ (Hammersmith) and appeared on various online comedy shows throughout the pandemic, including ‘Happy Mondays Comedy’ with Russell Kane. In May and June 2020, I hosted and produced two sold-out live-streamed cabaret shows where I presented as ten different characters, performing original songs and comedy sketches. I also presented a stand-up comedy workshop for my local youth theatre group, alongside industry professionals including Alex Horne (Comedian) and Robert Wilfort (Actor).

ACTING:
In 2019, I undertook a foundation course in Drama at Morley College to help reinforce my performance skills as a comedian. I loved studying acting so went on to do two more courses in Acting, covering both Stage and Screen Acting, Movement and Voice.

In March 2020, I auditioned for a part in Morley Colleges’ theatre company and was offered the role. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled due to the pandemic. I have since studied Clowning with Mick Barnfather (Complicité and École Philippe Gaulier), Sit-com Writing with Brian Luff (Channel 4’s ‘Pets’), and Compeering with Camden Comedy Club; and I’m always actively working on improving as a performer and writer, regularly participating in writing workshops.

Acting experience:
> Commercials
> Live sketch comedy
> Live improvisation and hosting
> Digital entertainment video content
> Live-streamed comedy and character acting
> Background acting

ADITIONAL SKILLS:
Comedian, Compeer, Improvisation, MC, Event Management, Producer, Writer, Clowning, Character Actor, Dance, Project Management.

BACKGROUND:
As a lover of fashion, music, pop culture and dance; in the early 2000's I was a Club Kid, expressing myself as a performance artist with impromptu appearances in East London and around the West End. I hosted club nights and private events, from corporate gigs to birthdays and Christmas parties. I hosted and co-produced a monthly cabaret show at 'The Old Blue Last' (run by Vice.com) called “The Shoreditch Showgirls”, performing character comedy sketches. The show featured an ensemble of East-London dancers performing comedy and burlesque, mixed with avant-garde acts from London’s cabaret, drag and music scenes, including Paloma Faith and Jonny Woo.

In my professional life, I work as a Project Manager at a b2b media house in London. I have worked in live events for more than 15 years, producing sporting events and working in corporate hospitality. In February 2015, I produced a nightly webcast for an environmental campaign group called 'Talk Fracking'. The show was called “Bez's Bed-In” and starring Mark “Bez” Berry from the band 'Happy Mondays', with guests including Sean Lennon, Vivienne Westwood and “Chunkymark” Mark McGowan. The show featured on the BBC's “Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe” and Brooker raved that the show, “shits all over Question Time.”

QUOTES:
“Outrageous, daring and smutty, he got big laughs from the late-night crowd”
- Richard Gill

“A level of energy and aplomb that leaves audiences dazzled with laughter”
- Big Comedy

License & Passport

Skills

Languages Spoken	English, Punjabi, Urdu
Accents/Dialects	Arabic, Bangladesh, India (Bengali), English - Cockney, English - England North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire), English - Essex, English - General, English - London, English - Northern England, English - Southwest England, Farsi, Indian, Iraqi, Irish, Irish Eastern (Leinster, Dublin), Italian (Standard International), Middle Eastern, Northern Irish, Pakistani, Turkish, US West Coast (California, Portland)
Dance Styles	Bollywood, Disco, Hip Hop, Street Dance
Singing Styles	Rapper/MC
Additional Skills	Acting, Drag Performance, Standup
Athletics	Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Hula Hoop, Jump Rope, Kickboxing, Parkour, Ping Pong, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Yoga
Musical Skills	Gongs, Triangle