She recently survived a month living wild in Bear Gryll's Celebrity Island (C4) - which, she says, was no laughing matter. 

Comedian Shazia Mirza is a regular face on TV in the UK - appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV), Graham Norton (BBC), Top Gear (BBC), Loose Women (ITV), The Late Late Show (RTE), and she is a regular panelist on The Wright Stuff (Channel 5). 

However, growing up in Birmingham with strict Pakistani parents nearly saw Shazia's career take a different turn. Her family hoped she'd be a doctor or a lawyer - and she reluctantly got a degree in biochemistry and became a science teacher. But her dream of being on stage led her to take comedy-writing classes at night and she began performing at small clubs around London.

A few weeks after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, she got on stage wearing her hijab, and started off her act: “My name is Shazia Mirza… at least that’s what it says on my pilot’s licence...” After that night, Mirza’s comedy career took off. She was profiled on "60 Minutes," was a semifinalist on Last Comic Standing and started performing to packed audiences all over the world.

In the latest Brits In The Wood episode, Shazia chats exclusively to Caroline Feraday and Claire Bullivant...

Find out more about Shazia Mirza on these links:

https://www.shazia-mirza.com

https://www.facebook.com/Shazia-Mirza-11830697284/

https://twitter.com/shaziamirza1

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