Omar Marzouk

Omar Marzouk treats his immigrant background as the engine of the act rather than a side note, and much of his material works on the friction between Danish and immigrant communities. His early years were tied to Jan Gintberg, with whom he wrote and toured, and in 2003 he joined Sebastian Dorset, Carsten Bang, Mikael Wulff and Lasse Rimmer in the group show Fem på flugt.

Solo shows form the backbone of his career: Krig, terror og andre sjove ting, Præster, politikere og andre profeter, Omskåret, Bange for sjov and Afdanskningsbal. He has also taken the one-man format abroad, performing it in English at the London Soho Theatre. On television he fronted satirical formats such as Omar skal giftes, which DR put forward for an Emmy Award, and Grin med Gud, a series in which he staged shows about religion for different faith communities and probed the line between humour and blasphemy.

He works behind the camera too. He co-founded the production company Respirator, whose first programme was the satire Tjenesten on DR2, and which later made the entertainment show Grillet for TV3 from his concept, with Gintberg as host. In 2006 he received LO's kulturpris, awarded for using raw humour, warmth and compassion to shift prejudices on both sides of the immigration debate.