Comedian Shappi Khorsandi: ‘I got my mum a role in Les Misérables’

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Shaparak Khorsandi, who also goes by Shappi, was born in Tehran, in 1973. The daughter of celebrated Iranian satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi, she moved to London with her family after the 1979 Revolution; her father had made a joke that was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime. After studying drama, theatre and TV at what is now the University of Winchester, Shappi began performing professionally in the late 90s, coming to prominence with her acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Asylum Speaker in 2006, which explored her family's experiences of exile and adaptation. Since then, she has become one of the UK's best-known comedians, appearing on shows like Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, QI and Have I Got News For You . Shappi Khorsandi shared her London favourites, memories, pet-hates and everything in betweem with Robert Elms in 2022.