Fresh from being crowned Best Newcomer at the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the ‘electrifying’ (The Times ★★★★) Urooj Ashfaq announces her debut UK tour.
Returning to Soho Theatre for two weeks in January 2024, she will follow up with a nine-date tour to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Coventry, Manchester, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, and Leeds.
In her taboo-breaking, intensely likeable show, she reflects on cultural differences, her experiences in therapy and her parents’ divorce. Tickets are onsale now.
Oh No! is produced by Soho Theatre India in association with OML.
Urooj, a 28-year-old stand-up comedian from Mumbai, won Best Newcomer for her UK debut at the Edinburgh Fringe. This is the first time in the award’s 40-year history that an India-based comedian has won the award, and the first South Asian comedian to win since 1997.
Counting Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Daniel Sloss amongst her newfound UK fanbase, and even featuring as an answer to a question on the Hindi Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, it has been a busy few months for her.
Urooj is one of India’s most sought-after comics, writers and actors and a promising talent amongst the current crop of young artists emerging from the South Asian comic landscape. With material strong in Gen Z energy, the fast-talking, quick-thinking creative powerhouse is an endearing presence onstage, with her candid and engaging content.
Born in Dubai, Urooj moved to Mumbai at the age of 12. She started performing at open-mic nights at 21, becoming a regular in Mumbai’s young, rapidly-growing comedy scene, while citing stars like Sarah Silverman, Bridget Christie, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Josie Long and James Acaster as her creative heroes. Owing to her boundary-pushing humour and disarming charm she notched up some serious views and a loyal and growing fan base on home turf, as well as second finalist spot on TLC’s Queens of Comedy (2017).
Aside from her stand-up performances, Urooj enjoys credits as a writer on numerous fiction and non-fiction projects such as Die Trying (2018), Son Of Abish (2017) and Better Life Foundation (2016). Having an in-built knack for acting she has also featured in web series such as AIB: Honest Engineering Campus Placements (2017), Die Trying (2018), Pushpavalli (2020) and Comedy Premier League (2021) and hosted Comicstaan Series 2 (2019).