The show line up: Shirley & Shirley, Darius Davies, Sophie Galustian, David Lewis, and Laila Alj
What happens when a Moroccan, Palestinian, and Iranian walks into a bar? Well, join Weapons Of Mass Hilarity for the 10 installments to find out! The only show to celebrate and showcase talent from emerging and established comedians with some sort of tie to the Middle East and surrounding regions returns for 2022 Guardian approved and with a slew of 5-star reviews.
Sophie Galustian
Instagram comic Sophie Galustian is a born-and-bred Mancunian actress of Armenian heritage. Attracting acclaim for her online sketches which have amassed millions of views, she recently joined the writing team for BBC Three’s upcoming comedy series PRU, about a pupil referral unit. She has also starred and written the Threesome pilot BBC Peck’Eds centered on the trials and tribulations of three 15-year-old teens in Manchester with a series being commissioned. She has been described as a “unique voice at the heart telling relevant stories that audiences love”.
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Shirley & Shirley
Unashamedly untamed, Shirley & Shirley are madcap duo Joanna Carolan and Pascale Wilson, filtering the world through their fabulously twisted minds. Delivering a deliciously dark feast of character comedy, these two childhood friends have shocked and awed many unsuspecting audiences for almost a decade. They are without a doubt, the best Irish-Palestinian duo on the circuit.
As well as six years performing at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Shirley & Shirley have traveled the length and breadth of Britain bringing joy to its most insalubrious venues including Madame Jojo’s, Soho Theatre, Latitude, Leicester Comedy Festival, The Stand Comedy Club, Bloomsbury Theatre, and Spank at The Southbank.
Their onscreen credits include Sketchorama (BBC Radio 4), BBC Comedy Online, Bad Teeth (Hat Trick Productions), The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (C4), PhoneShop (C4), Marley’s Ghosts (Gold), and Purge of Thrones (Netflix).
Laila Alj
Laila is a Moroccan actress and comedian who tells it like it is and is part of the steering group for a relatively new organisation MENA Arts UK.
“Suffers no fools” The Monday Club
Darius Davies
The 2017 English Comedian of the Year finalist, Iranian-British Darius is a regular performer at all of the major UK comedy clubs and has also toured internationally. With a particular style akin to a performance poet or faith healer, Darius commands his audience with wonderful charisma – an American style comedian with a British soul.
A distinct voice in a sea of ubiquity – Darius is fearless in his belief in what is funny and forging his own path. This is high energy, captivating stand-up comedy fuelled with passion, soul and wit.
Darius is also the host and co-creator of the hit sell-out Edinburgh show, Hate ‘n’ Live and recently performed his five star show “Don’t be shit” at the Edinburgh Festival
David Lewis
Of course, no WMH night would be complete without self described “super Jew” and head honcho David Lewis MC-ing the evening.
Weapons of Mass Hilarity is January 30th 19:00, 2 Northdown Street N1 9GB
