‘We’re the Muslim Spice Girls!’ Shazia Mirza on finding box office gold with her halal comedy supergroup

After years as the only Muslim woman on the comedy circuit, the standup is now making history with a female touring troupe. She relives the attacks she faced on the way, from ‘letterbox’ burqa taunts to Isis allegationsFor years, Muslim women have been…

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The Balance review – film about Muslim entertainers treads a fine line

The rise of an Islamic arts industry is celebrated by its screen, music and comedy stars, but the view rarely strays beyond a western perspectiveIn this survey of the expanding Islamic entertainment industry, The Balance presumably refers to the line f…

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‘I feel joy’: how Bisha K Ali went from struggling standup to Marvel maestro

She was living on beans. Now she’s in LA writing Ms Marvel, the eagerly awaited TV series starring MCU’s first Muslim superhero. The writer talks about joyriding premiers and how to silence trollsBefore she became a Marvel screenwriter, Bisha K Ali was…

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Tez Ilyas: ‘When comics talk about religion, it’s not very funny’

His show Made in Britain debunked myths about Muslims in the UK. As he returns to Edinburgh, Tez Ilyas talks about the cut and thrust of panel shows and why the fringe is like a freshers’ week for standups

Hi, Tez. This is your third standup show. What’s it all about?
In the crudest terms, the first one was about religion, the second was about culture and this is about politics. It’s called Teztify. I confront a lot of the assumptions people make about me. The main one is that I’m religious in a secular world and an extremely secular industry. I had a working-class upbringing in Blackburn, my politics are leftwing and I’m a man of colour – these are what I talk about.

Related: Tez Ilyas review – clever comedy about British National Pakistani life

Related: Laugh a minute: Edinburgh festival’s 2017 comedy lineup

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