Nazeem Hussain

Not to be confused with Nazim Hussain.
Nazeem Hussain
Born (1985-04-21) 21 April 1985
Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Medium Stand-up, television, radio, film
Nationality Australian
Years active 2007–present
Genres Observational comedy, satire, character comedy, sketch comedy, improvisational comedy, hidden camera, practical joke
Subject(s) Racism, racism in Australia, political humour, race relations, islamic humour, islamophobia, protest, social commentary, character comedy
Influences Bill Hicks, Dave Chappelle, Allah Made Me Funny, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Margaret Cho, Gary Foley
Notable works and roles Salam Café, Legally Brown

Nazeem Hussain (born 21 April 1986) is an Australian comedian, actor, and radio presenter of Sri Lankan descent. He is best known as creator and star of comedy show Legally Brown, and one half of the comedy duo Fear of a Brown Planet, along with Aamer Rahman.

Early life

Hussain's Muslim parents grew up in Sri Lanka.[1] After his parents got married, they moved to Australia in the 1970s.[2] At the time, his mother, Mumtaz Hamid, had never left Sri Lanka before.[3]

Hussain was born and brought up in Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[4][5][6][7] in a Muslim family.[8] Hussain is the second child of three children; he has two sisters.[2][9] Hussain's younger sister Azmeena Hussain (born 1987), is a lawyer and an associate at a law firm.[10][4][11]

In March 2015, Hussain told Confidential that former A Current Affair host Jana Wendt visited his family home unannounced to do an interview in 1993 when Hussain was six years old, during height of conflict in Iraq with dictator Saddam Hussein at the helm. Her target was Nazeem's father, Shereen, and the angle was that his name was listed as S. Hussain in the phone book.[12] Six months later, Hussain's father left for Sri Lanka and never returned.[13]

Hussain attended Melbourne High School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws at Deakin University.[14]

Hussain started off performing comedy informally in his mid-teens.[15]

Stand-up career

2004–2009

In 2004, Hussain met Aamer Rahman at an Islamic awards function,[16] as a result of their support for asylum seekers and for anti-racism activism.[17] They became friends and did youth work together in Melbourne.[18]

In 2006, Hussain hosted the Allah Made Me Funny Official Muslim Comedy Tour featuring American comics Azhar Usman and Preacher Moss,[14] which was then touring in Australia. After watching the show he realised that he could use comedy to speak about experiences that were specific to his Muslim identity.[2]

In 2007, Hussain entered Triple J's Raw Comedy Award open mic competition at the Melbourne Comedy Festival[19][20] After seeing Hussain compete, Rahman also decided to enter.[18] They beat hundreds of other hopefuls to reach the Victorian State final together. Hussain reached the Victorian final.[21] Rahman won the state final and went onto the national finals where he was voted the runner-up in a performance that was screened on ABC Television.[14][22]

Due to the success of Raw Comedy they decided to develop their five-minute stand-up routines into a one-hour show together.[20] In five years, they established their own stage show Fear of a Brown Planet and sold out around Australia.[17] Their name plays on the Public Enemy LP, Fear of a Black Planet.[19][22]

Hussain and Rahman performed their first show in 2007 and their second show in 2008. They were then given a network development deal for a year and a half.[23] In April 2008,[16] Hussain and Rahman first performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Rahman and Hussain first performed Fear of a Brown Planet at Melbourne Fringe Festival.[22]

In 2009, Hussain and Rahman were among ten writers selected for an exclusive script-writing workshop hosted by UK indie film company Warp X, Screen Australia and Madman Entertainment.[14]

2010–present

In 2010, Hussain and Rahman performed their follow up show,[14] Fear of a Brown Planet Returns[24][25] at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival, and the Adelaide Fringe Festival. In the same year, Nazeem performed in the Cracker Night of the Sydney Comedy Festival Gala, televised on The Comedy Channel, whilst Rahman performed in the Oxfam Comedy Gala televised on Channel Ten.[26] In October 2010, took part in a one-off concert with Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss and Mo Amer (Allah Made Me Funny) at the Athenaeum Theatre in Paris.[5][27] In the same year, Hussain performed at the The Falls Music and Arts Festival[28] and Southbound.[3]

During 2011, Hussain and Rahman performed their new show, Fear of a Brown Planet Attacks.[29] In August 2011, they performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[30][31][32] On the way home from Edinburgh they performed an impromptu show in London,[3] after a friend of theirs organised a show in Brixton[33] with two days notice.[34]

On 31 August 2011,[35] Fear of a Brown Planet Returns DVD and Blu-ray was released, which was recorded at the Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne[36] on 15 January 2013.[37] It features the "best of" material from their 2010 sell-out festival show, also entitled Fear of a Brown Planet Returns, as well content from their debut shows.[38][39] In December 2011[40] and December 2012, they performed on ABC2.[41]

In April 2012, Hussain and Rahman played at the second show of the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[42] In September 2012,[34] they toured the United Kingdom,[43][44][45] where they performed in cities including Manchester, Bradford, London, Birmingham and Cardiff.[34]

In 2013, Hussain performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival[2][46] All Star Gala on Channel Ten and the Sydney Comedy Festival Gala – broadcast on The Comedy Channel. He also performed at the annual The Falls Music and Arts Festival and Southbound[37] and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow across New South Wales and Queensland, as well as in Hong Kong and Singapore.[47] In October and November 2013, Hussain and Rahman performed at the Sydney Opera House, the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne, as well as the Darwin Festival and the Brisbane Fringe Festival.[48]

In April 2015, he performed at the Sydney Comedy Festival in his first solo stand-up tour.[49][50][51][52]

Television career

Hussain is currently appearing in the SBS2 comedy series "Live at Bella Union" which is airing in Australia from 9 March 2014. Hussain has performed at the Oxfam Comedy Gala, broadcast on Network Ten[53] and has also appeared as a panellist on the ABC's Q&A[54] and Network Ten's The 7pm PM Project.[53]

Hussain has written and performed for television[55] From 2005–2008 Hussain co-wrote and co-hosted Salam Cafe both during its time on C31 Melbourne produced by RMITV which won 4 Antenna Awards between 2005–2007 and then again on SBS TV in 2008,[56] which was nominated for a Logie Award in 2009.[37] This included his character "Uncle Sam", an unamusing "fanatical imam".[57]

His other television appearances include Network Ten's The Project, ABC's Sleuth 101 and ABC1's Q&A.[36][37]

In 2011, Australian Story broadcast a documentary on the ABC about Hussain's and Rahman's lives in Australia as well as their debut performances in Edinburgh and London.[33]

From 2011 to 2012, Hussain appeared on The Comedy Channel's Balls of Steel Australia as Calvin Khan the Very Foreign Correspondent.[44][58] His self-created character, saw his episodes achieve the highest ratings of the season and he returned in season two.[46]

In May and June 2012, Hussain was part of a panel for NSW Reconciliation Council and Sydney Ideas forum in Sydney to discuss the topic "I'm Not Racist But…" along with Steve Cannane, Jennifer Wong, Benson Saulo and Helen Szoke.[36][59][60]

In 2013, Hussain guest starred in the ABC1 comedy series It's a Date as Ashraf.[61] He also starred and co-wrote the 10 part comedy sketch show Legally Brown broadcast across Australia on Monday nights on SBS,[62][63][64] which included his characters "Uncle Sam", "The Prince of Mumbai", "Imran Farouq" – the fake guru and "The Hollywood Arab".[65]

Radio career

Hussain is a radio presenter for Triple J[66][67][68] and has also regularly featured on Nova 100, ABC Radio, 3AW, 2UE,[37] Radio Adelaide,[69] and others radio stations.[37]

In May 2015, he was interviewed by Tommy Sandhu on BBC Asian Network.[70]

Other activities

Hussain is also an outreach[71] youth worker,[14][36] he works in a law firm[72] he works as a tax consultant,[62][73] and in community service.[3] Since 2006,[9] he has been the director,[5][36] volunteer[71] treasurer and an executive of the Islamic Council of Victoria – the peak representative body for Muslims living in Victoria.[74]

Hussain is also a patron of RISE: Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees – the only refugee organisation in Australia that is run and governed by refugees and ex-detainees.[15]

Awards

In 2008, Hussain Rahman were a recipients of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Best Newcomer Award for their debut show Fear of a Brown Planet.[14][26][75]

In September 2010, Hussain received the 2010 Victorian Multicultural Commission Ambassador Award by the Governor and Premier of Victoria for showing an exemplary demonstration of leadership in the promotion of Victoria's diversity.[74] In 2008, he was awarded the Young Australian Muslim of the Year Award.[3]

Views

In December 2014, The Age incorrectly printed a photo of Hussain in its entertainment column with the caption: 'Waleed Aly joins The Project'. After the previous week's announcement that Aly secured a new role as the new co-host of news program The Project. Hussain responded on Twitter saying: "Well, we are kinda the same person..."[76] In May 2015, TV Week and NW magazine tagged a photo of Hussain at the Logie Awards as Waleed Aly.[77][78] Hussain picked up The Age's mistake, posting it on his Facebook page and captioned the picture simply with: "LOL!!!"[79]

Personal life

Hussain is a Muslim,[20][80] he can speak broken Tamil and can understand Sinhalese.[15] In 2014, he moved out of the parental home[4][13] in Burwood, Victoria.[6][7] Hussain is a fan of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs rugby league club and has said that he has never drunk alcohol.[4]

In September 2014, Hussain prank-called a man from Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane after he posted an advertisement on Gumtree Australia for a housemate, requesting "no backpackers, Indians or Muslims".[81]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Vranjes, Emilia (13 July 2011). "Muslims in the mainstream". Perth: inMyCommunity. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sin, Yuen (2 August 2013). "Comedian Nazeem Hussain puts his faith for the future in comedy". Singapore: The Straits Times Communities. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Barker, Arj (7 November 2011). "The Planet They're On – Transcript". ABC Online. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Northover, Kylie (3 April 2015). "Nazeem Hussain on dabbling with napalm, Legally Brown and overt racism in Australia". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Ziffer, Daniel (14 October 2010). "Brown humour". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman's comedy". Immigration Museum. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Monash boys' success with Fear of a Brown Planet". Waverley: Waverley Leader. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "Racism part of daily reality for Legally Brown comedian Nazeem Hussain". News.com.au. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. 1 2 Moore, Ali (3 October 2013). "Brian Nankervis, Nazeem Hussain, Shelley Ware". Victoria: 774 ABC Melbourne. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  10. ↑ Gardiner, Gilbert (22 June 2011). "Dandenong lawyer driven to help the hapless". Dandenong: Dandenong Leader. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet – Hijab". Fear of a Brown Planet. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Koha, Nui Te (31 March 2015). "Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Nazeem Hussain says Jana Wendt ruined his family's life". Melbourne: Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  13. 1 2 Meshel, Laurie (21 April 2015). "Nazeem Hussain, Ronnie Chieng & Andy Saunders". Nova 100. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Fear of a Brown Planet". Smartartists. 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 "(Interview) Nazeem Hussain". Poached Mag. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  16. 1 2 Nader, Carol; Cooke, Dewi (5 April 2008). "We're not racist, but ...". Melbourne: The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  17. 1 2 Barker, Arj (7 November 2011). "The Planet They're On". ABC Online. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  18. 1 2 MacDonald, Leigh (29 July 2013). "Vulture Chirps with Fear of a Brown Planet". Vulture Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  19. 1 2 Fahmi, Asme (30 November 2011). "Fear of a Funny Muslim". MuslimVillage.com. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  20. 1 2 3 "Interview – Fear of a Brown Planet". Heckler. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet". Eurasian Sensation. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 "Interview: Aamer Rahman, one half of Aussie comedy duo Fear Of A Brown Planet on politics, protest and why he's so bitter". TNT Magazine. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  23. ↑ "Episode 25 pt. 3 – Aamer Rahman: Fear of a Brown Planet". Podbay.fm. August 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  24. ↑ Broadbent, Penelope (27 March 2010). "Fear of a Brown Planet Returns". Australian Stage. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  25. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet Returns". Melbourne International Comedy Festivale. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Our Patrons". RISE: Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  27. ↑ "Nazeem Hussain Essentials". my247. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  28. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet perform Fear of a Brown Planet Attacks". Beat. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  29. ↑ Logan, Brian (10 August 2011). "Fear of a Brown Planet: the fast show". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  30. ↑ Logan, Brian (16 November 2011). "Fear of a Brown Planet – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  31. ↑ Hawkins, Si (17 July 2011). "Muslim comedians perform at Edinburgh's Fringe". Abu Dhabi: The National. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  32. 1 2 Fahmi, Asme (1 December 2011). "Fear of a Funny Muslim Returns". MuslimVillage.com. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  33. 1 2 3 Hamilton, Davina (19 September 2012). "'Is Australia racist? In a word, yes'". The Voice Online. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  34. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet". JB HI-FI. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nazeem Hussain". ABC Online. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fear of a Brown Planet Returns – DVD recording". ABC Online. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  37. ↑ Lamb, Lizzie (7 November 2011). "Fear of a Brown Planet Interview with Aamer Rahman". Australian Film Review. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  38. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet Comes To Dvd". Spotlight Report. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  39. ↑ "Fear of A Brown Planet". ABC Television. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  40. ↑ Galvin, Nick (2 December 2012). "Fear of a Brown Planet, Friday, December 2". The Age. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  41. ↑ Lan, Christine. "Political Asylum's Late Night Riot". Beat. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  42. ↑ "In Fear of a Brown Planet". India: The Times of India. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  43. 1 2 "WIN TICKETS: Fear of a Brown Planet". Asian Image. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  44. ↑ Rahman, Aamer (8 September 2012). "Fear of a Brown Planets' Bro Aamer Rahman's letter to Prince Harry". Son of Malcolm. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  45. 1 2 "The Events Centre". More Laughs for Melbourne Comedy. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  46. ↑ "Comedians perform as part of Comedy Festival Roadshow". The Courier. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  47. ↑ Blake, Elissa (20 October 2013). "A challenging comedy about Muslims has attracted more attention than expected.". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  48. ↑ Koziol, Michael (29 April 2015). "Sydney Comedy Festival 2015, Nazeem Hussain review: Alienation mined for laughs as brown comic skewers white world". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  49. ↑ "Nazeem Hussain: Legally Brown, Sydney comedy festival". The Guardian. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  50. ↑ Knowlton, Cassidy (17 April 2015). "MICF: Nazeem Hussain Legally Brown Review". Daily Review. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  51. ↑ "Nazeem Hussain: Legally Brown". London: London Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  52. 1 2 "I'm not racist but....". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  53. ↑ Kenny, Chris (17 May 2011). "Hussain's views on bin Laden disturbing and dangerous". The Australian. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  54. ↑ "Interview with Hussain and Rahman, from 'Fear of a Brown Planet'". Australian Times. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  55. ↑ "Melbourne Muslims on air". Melbourne: The Age. 26 October 2006. p. 1. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  56. ↑ Tuohy, Wendy (17 June 2010). "George Negus interviews Uncle Sam from Salam Cafe". Melbourne: Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  57. ↑ "Nazeem Hussain – Very foreign Correspondent on Balls of Steel Australia". The Comedy Channel. 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  58. ↑ "'I'm not racist but…': A forum on racism in Australia". Special Broadcasting Service. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  59. ↑ "I'm Not Racist But...". SydneyIdeas. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  60. ↑ Northover, Kylie (29 August 2013). "Show of the week: It's a Date". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  61. 1 2 Mathieson, Craig (14 March 2013). "The balls to make the bogans laugh". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  62. ↑ Aly, Waleed (24 September 2013). "Legally Brown: Muslim comedian finds the funny in radical, be it jihadists or bogans". Sydney: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  63. ↑ Aryal, Rajish (22 September 2013). "Nazeem Hussain is legally brown". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  64. ↑ Schinella, Nina (23 September 2013). "Legally Brown Cracks Us Up". spultured. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  65. ↑ Schwarten, Chris (9 May 2013). "Nazeem walks the fine line but is up for the challenge". The Bulletin. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  66. ↑ Nash, Kieran (1 August 2013). "Intervew: Comedian Nazeem Hussain". Australian & New Zealand Association. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  67. ↑ "The Doctor". ABC. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  68. ↑ "Nazeem Hussain – Comedian". Radio Adelaide. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  69. ↑ "Comedian Nazeem Hussain". BBC Asian Network. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  70. 1 2 Tuohy, Wendy (1 April 2011). "Lawyer Nazeem Hussain's jokes to plug tolerance". Melbourne: Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  71. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet". Perth: Eurasian Sensation. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  72. ↑ Hook, Chris (28 December 2011). "Fear of a Brown Planet to perform at Sydney's Comedy Store in January". Sydney: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  73. 1 2 "Fear of a Brown Planet". Festival Guide. 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  74. ↑ "Award Winners". Melbourne International Comedy Festivale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  75. ↑ Lee, Sally (18 December 2014). "'Why TV needs more non-white face': 'Legally Brown' comedy star Nazeem Hussain mistaken for new co-host of The Project Waleed Aly". Mail Online. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  76. ↑ Lee, Alex (6 May 2015). "Australian Media Still Can't Tell The Difference Between Nazeem Hussain And Waleed Aly". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  77. ↑ Moran, Rob (19 December 2014). "Leigh Sales' tweet on the Waleed Aly/Nazeem Hussain mix-up is A-grade, five stars". Daily Life. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  78. ↑ "An Australian newspaper can't tell the difference between two different famous men.". Mamamia. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  79. ↑ "Fear of a Brown Planet – Slumdog Millionaire". Fear of a Brown Planet. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  80. ↑ Lim, Naomi (19 September 2014). "Brisbane man gets pranked by Australian-Sri Lankan comedian Nazeem Hussain after online ad". Brisbane: The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 1 June 2015.


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