Shaparak Khorsandi
Shaparak Khorsandi (Persian: شاپرک خرسندی, IPA: ['ʃɑːpəræk kɔ'sændi];[1] born 8 June 1973), who previously performed as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian[2] and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family left Iran for the United Kingdom following the 1979 revolution, and her Iranian heritage and reactions to it are frequently referenced in her stand-up comedy performances. Khorsandi rose to national prominence after her 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Asylum Speaker and her appearance at the Secret Policeman's Ball two years later. She has featured on numerous British television and radio programmes, including the BBC Radio 4 programme Shappi Talk (2009 and 2010), and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2017.
Shaparak Khorsandi
شاپرک خرسندی
8 June 1973
Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Stand-up, television
British
Everyday life, Iranian culture, British politics
2
Hadi Khorsandi (father)
Khorsandi has authored several books. Her memoir A Beginner's Guide to Acting English was published in 2009. Her first novel, Nina is Not OK, was published in 2016, and her young adult fiction novel Kissing Emma, was published in 2021. The autobiographical Scatter Brain followed in 2023.
Early life and education[edit]
Shaparak Khorsandi was born on 8 June 1973 in Tehran.[3][4] Her parents were Fatemah, and the satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi.[5] The family fled from Iran to London after the Islamic Revolution following a joke that her father composed which was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime.[6][7] Khorsandi graduated from King Alfred's College, now the University of Winchester, in 1995, with a Drama, Theatre, and Television degree. After graduating, she worked in various roles, including at a community theatre, in a sandwich shop, as a telephone fundraiser, and as a nude life model, whilst starting her career as a stand-up comedian. In 2010, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate.[3][8][7]
She originally performed professionally as Shappi Khorsandi.[9][10] Khorsandi explained in The Independent about her decision to revert to using her full name, Shaparak, professionally. Having had her full name mocked and mispronounced when she was a child, she decided to be known as "Shappi" from the age of 16, but eventually decided that this was an attempt "to bend in a direction which would make my foreignness more comfortable for other people", and to revert to using her original name.[10]
Personal life[edit]
In 2005, she married fellow comedian Christian Reilly, and they had a son together before divorcing in 2011.[61][62] Her daughter was born in June 2013; the following year she told an interviewer that they were not in contact with the girl's father, "But that's fine, I'm not angry or bitter about it."[62] As of 2022, she was in a relationship with fellow comedian Mark Steel.[63]
Khorsandi was raised without any religion,[64] and identifies as an atheist.[65] She later became a patron of Humanists UK, which appointed her as its President for a three-year term from January 2016, succeeding Jim Al-Khalili.[66] She became a vice-president of the group in 2019,[67] a role she retained as of 2023.[68] In 2017, she came out as bisexual,[69] and wrote that she had gone on marches in support of gay rights since she was 17: "Despite all those years of marching and getting drunk at Pride, officially coming 'out' as bisexual seemed like too much of a fuss."[70] Khorsandi was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder aged 47, and discussed this in a 2023 autobiography.[71]
Books[edit]
Khorsandi's memoir, A Beginner's Guide to Acting English, was published by Ebury Press in 2009. The book describes how she experienced England as a young girl.[72][73] The narrative begins with her attending nursery school, The Kings' International Nursery School, with her brother, Peyvand. Throughout the book, she explains how the Persian language differs from English: "They called me 'poppet'. Iranians said 'jaan' or 'azizam'".[74]: 4 Other themes include her experiences with English food and customs.[73] Historian Sharif Gemme felt that "While one can hear her distinctive, resonant voice reaching the punchlines at the end of the paragraphs, the final result is not impressive: neither particularly amusing nor genuinely observant."[75]
Her second book and first novel, Nina is Not OK, was published in 2016.[76][77] The titular character is a teenager living with alcohol abuse. It was nominated for the Jhalak Prize, a literary award for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic writers. However, Khorsandi asked for it to be removed from consideration, telling an interviewer, "For once in my career I'd done something not about identity ... and I get a sticker for being brown."[7] Khorsandi's young adult fiction novel Kissing Emma, published in 2021, was inspired by the life of Emma Hamilton.[78][79] Her autobiographical Scatter Brain (2023) is subtitled How I finally got off the ADHD rollercoaster and became the owner of a very tidy sock drawer.[80][81]
