Shappi Khorsandi
| Shappi Khorsandi | |
|---|---|
Khorsandi performing at Latitude in 2009.
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| Birth name | Shaparak Khorsandi |
| Born |
8 June 1973 Tehran, Iran |
| Medium | Stand-up, television |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Black comedy, observational comedy, deadpan |
| Subject(s) | Modern life, Iranian-UK cultural divide, and the generation gap |
| Spouse | Christian Reilly (2005–2010, divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Hadi Khorsandi (father) |
| Website | Official website |
Shaparak "Shappi" Khorsandi (Persian: شاپرک خرسندی, born 8 June 1973) is a British comedian and author of Iranian origin. The daughter of the Iranian satirist Hadi Khorsandi, she left Iran as a child following the Islamic Revolution. In January 2016, she became president of the British Humanist Association. Her second book and first novel, Nina is Not OK, was released in 2016.
The daughter of Hadi Khorsandi, she was born in Iran and says her earliest memory is 'riding on a bicycle in Tehran, on my uncle’s lap at dawn, to get chocolate milk'. She and her family were forced to flee from Iran to London after the Islamic Revolution following the publication of a satirical poem her father composed. The poem was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime. Khorsandi was raised without any religion, and identifies as an atheist and a humanist. She later became a Patron of the British Humanist Association, which appointed her as its President from January 2016, succeeding Jim Al-Khalili.
Khorsandi graduated from King Alfred's College, now the University of Winchester, in 1995, with a degree in Drama, Theatre and Television, then moved on to pursue a career in comedy. In 2010, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate.
Khorsandi was married to fellow comedian Christian Reilly, with whom she has a son, Cassius. They divorced in 2011. Khorsandi lives with her son in west London near Richmond Park. Her father and brother are also stand-up comedians. In November 2012, she announced on Twitter that she was expecting her second child, due in the summer of 2013. On 7 June 2013, Khorsandi gave birth to a baby girl, Genevieve. In a 2014 interview she said "I’m doing it all on my own, I have no contact with the father. But that’s fine, I’m not angry or bitter."
Khorsandi performs stand-up comedy, having been a noted performer at Joe Wilson's Comedy Madhouse throughout 1997. She has appeared on many BBC Radio 4 programmes, including Quote... Unquote, Loose Ends, You and Yours, Midweek, Just A Minute, The Now Show and The News Quiz, as well as BBC Television's Have I Got News For You and QI. In July 2009, she hosted her own four-part series, Shappi Talk on BBC Radio 4, examining what it is like growing up in multi-cultural families. She also writes an occasional column for online magazine Iranian.com.
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