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Born in Tehran, Shappi Khorsandi was bought up in London after her family fled Iran following the Islamic Revolution as her satirist father, Hadi, criticised the Ayatollah.

She started comedy around 1997, and made her first appearance at Edinburgh in 2000 – as part of a triple-hander show with Russell Brand and Mark Felgate.

She made her solo debut in 2003, returning in 2006 and 2007 – the year she was nomianted for best breakthrough act at the Chortle Awards.

She has appeared on a number of Radio 4 programmes, including Quote... Unquote, Loose Ends, You and Yours, Midweek, Just A Minute, The Now Show and The News Quiz.

A book about her childhood experiences of growing up in London in the Seventies is due to be published in spring 2009.

Shappi Khorsandi: Dirty Looks And Hopscotch
Live Review
Soho Theatre

At the end of this hour detailing her disastrous relationship with a musician, Shappi Khorsandi asks: ‘Will you come back another time, and I’ll do my show for you?’

It’s an acknowledgement that this is just as much a necessary vent to get some of the sordid details of these unpleasant eight months off her chest as it is a jolly comedy routine. Dirty Looks And Hopscotch is powered both by her anger at how she was treated and her disappointment in herself for allowing such an obviously unsuitable partner to string her along.

Good comedy comes from the heart, as this so unashamedly does, although there are also times when the show feels in need of a stronger, more detached, directorial hand to guide the material through the more embittered and awkward moments.

Khorsandi has reason to be embittered, though, as her one-time rock star lover – who she declines to name, perhaps on legal advice rather than to preserve his reputation – was controlling, repeatedly unfaithful and an all-round shitbag.

But it’s not all ex- bashing, as she ponders why she stuck with him, despite being aware of his myriad faults. Perhaps it was because she needed an ego boost following a difficult divorce; perhaps it was because he was a charismatic master manipulator like all the most sociopathic cult leader;, or perhaps it was some long-standing insecurities instilled in her by her ultra-conservative, over-protective Iranian mother who was not the best at making sex seem normal, what with her calling it ‘whore’s business’.

The narrative of this slow-motion car crash of a relationship holds the interest, while the more entertaining parts of the show often relate to Khorsandi’s general attitudes to relationships, and those ingrained in society: from the princess fantasies every primary schoolgirl has, to how first romantic encounters no longer depend on the alcohol-hazed last dance at the club as it did in her youth, to the attitudes of bitchy female columnists who seem callously bent on making a 38-year-old single mum such as her feel unattractive.

However, the gender politics is underplayed in favour of the personal story; and although the tone is of an incorrigible self-obsessed gossip, some pointed lines nestle in the well-deserved character assassination of the ex; from explaining what lonely hears seeking a ‘good sense of humour’ really mean to some sharp comments about how young and plentiful the musician’s conquests were.

A few segments don’t fit well with the story, such as the old school project about life in Iran she shares with us, the dodgy Zimbabwean accent, or her fretting about never wanting to offend anyone – which is not the No 1 attribute you want in a comedian. Nonetheless, Khorsandi has the honesty to put her own issues on display here, making it her most personal show since her breakthrough 2006 offering, Asylum Speaker.

The unexpected climax – if we can use such a word in a show that’s not afraid to be explicit about sex – raises more questions than answers about her love life. But then there’s always the 2013 show for that....

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I saw her in Birmingham performing in front of an Asian/back audience and she just seemed uncomfortable. She was part of an all-female Asian stand up night but seemed to be culturally devoid. She talks about Iran and her Iranian roots like someone who has ever only known Hampstead. It could be funny, if she played up the differences but she just isn't. I think it was a bit of a misbooking, she had no idea about the audience and seemed to grin her way uncomfortably throught her act, alienating her still further. Perhaps her act, so obviously grown on the London club circuit, should stay there.

Nazreen, April 2020

Brilliant I would definitely go see her purely based on the school uniform pic. Go girl power/female empowerment/ironic photo shoot that really puts all us blokes in our places. In the end all we're left with is some piccys of shappi in a faux school uniform and a feeling that we've been put right about our terrible misogynistic ways. Hopefully her next comedy tour will be about that terrible time she was hounded by the press for all those topless beach pics that were taken by the paparazzi.

Mysterykat, October 2012

Another woman that thinks she is funny. Suffers from delusions of averageness.

Tony Mercedes., August 2011

After enjoying "Shappi Talk" on Radio Four I saw her at Glastonbury but was disappointed at her use of foul language in front of a family audience. And her "joke" about enjoying being sexually-abused by a rugby team was embarrassingly unfunny.

Mark Doran, July 2011

Funny but politically naive.

Bramley, January 2011

I've only heard her radio show, Shappi Talk. I'm sure she's a really nice person, but how she has made a career for herself in comedy. Her standup is utterly pedestrian, lazy and derivative.

James McMann, October 2010

I think Shappi is wicked and had me in stiches. Lmao.

marriya zaman, May 2010

A woman whose presence on the airwaves is entirely disproportionate to her talent as a comedian. This is clearly someone who ticks all the right boxes as far as radio & TV producers are concerned, but leaves the rest of us struggling to see what the appeal is beyond the engaging personality and pleasant smile. Her recent series on Radio 4 revealed the 'depth' of her talents. Take away the racism material and there's virtually nothing left. And it's at that point you find yourself slightly irritated by the central theme of her act (...that 'we' are all racist to a greater or lesser extent) and start to consider the likely fate of a female comedian in a short skirt in the country her parents were forced to leave.

Nigel Lord, October 2009

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