Shaparak Khorsandi

Shaparak Khorsandi (born 8 June 1973), who previously performed as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi, and her family left Iran for the United Kingdom following the 1979 revolution, a heritage she frequently references in her stand-up. She rose to national prominence after her 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Asylum Speaker and her appearance at The Secret Policeman's Ball in 2008, which led to regular television bookings including Live at the Apollo. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes, including the BBC Radio 4 programme Shappi Talk and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2017. She has authored several books, including the memoir A Beginner's Guide to Acting English, the novel Nina is Not OK, and Scatter Brain. She graduated from King Alfred's College, now the University of Winchester, in 1995.