‘Will Allah be OK with this?’: inside the BBC's first British-Muslim sketch show

They joke about airport security and overindulging over Ramadan. Meet the creators of Muzlamic, the trailblazing comedy exploring the contradictions of modern Muslim lifeAs Ali Shahalom and Aatif Nawaz scan the faces on the walls of the boardroom we’re in, their faces light up. “The BBC have put us in the brown room!” laughs Shahalom, gazing up at the cast of Goodness Gracious Me. It feels fateful that this is where we meet in Broadcasting House, given the impact the pioneering British-Asian sketch show had on these two comics. (“That was the first time I ever saw brown people on TV,” says Shahalom. “That did something to me.”) These days he and Nawaz are the trailblazers; they are about to launch Muzlamic – the first British-Muslim sketch show ever broadcast on the BBC. From airport interrogations to a childrens’ author forced to answer extraneous questions while plugging a book called The Diary of a Friendly Squirrel (“Don’t you think it was insensitive to release it so soon after the anniversary of September 11?!”), the Muzlamic pilot is made up of bite-sized chunks that never outstay their welcome. In one sketch, which they refer to as “the whitest brown guy”, two feuding colleagues stalk one another around an office in Stevenage, playing top trumps with facts like “I’m so white I have a loyalty card at Greggs” and “I think a C is a really good grade.”Shahalom and Nawaz often offer up a jester v straight man dynamic, with Shahalom playing loveable buffoons like... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-18 13:28:25 UTC ]
News tagged with: #brown people #loyalty card #open mics #unsuccessful attempts

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A Look Inside an Amazon Pop-Up

Amazon has opened 26 pop-up stores at malls in 13 states, and it's projected the retailer will have 100 of these locations open by next year. We take a look inside one of these pop-ups, at the Natick Mall in Natick, Mass. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Great British Bake Off' boost for booksellers

As "The Great British Bake Off" marks its last series on the BBC, ending an era, The Bookseller's charts and data editor Kiera O'Brien takes a look at how much dough books related to the programme have made via Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NEIBA 2016: A High Energy Show

From the opening keynote with Zadie Smith to the closing lunch with Douglas Preston, the energy at the 43rd annual NEIBA fall conference never failed. In part booksellers were buoyed by a strong year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First footage from 'Ghost in the Shell' shows Scarlett Johansson's cyborg side

The live-action adaptation of “Ghost in the Shell” starring Scarlett Johansson as the cyberpunk-fighting cyborg just dropped its first bit of footage. No doubt manga, anime and genre fans everywhere will have something to say about this brief glimpse of the new dystopia.  The first footage from... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British authors dominate Cundill Prize longlist

Winner of the Royal Society Book Prize, Andrea Wulf, is one of four British authors to have made the six-strong longlist for the 2016 Cundill Prize for Historical Literature. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Foreman sketch collection to Templar

Templar Publishing is set to release a collection of sketches by Michael Foreman about his travels between the 1970s and 1990s. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Trade Show in Political Times: Frankfurt’s Weltempfang

Asking the question, 'How do we want to continue living together in Europe?' Frankfurt Book Fair's Weltempfang is a hub of debate and inquiry. The post The Trade Show in Political Times: Frankfurt’s Weltempfang appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SIBA 2016: Attendance Jumps Amid Debate to Move the Show to Spring

Attendance at SIBA's September 16-18 show was up 25% over 2015 and one of the main topics of conversation was the plan to move the event to the spring in 2018. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Intimate, yet universal' BBC short story award shortlist revealed

Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel, poet and author Lavinia Greenlaw, and short story writer K J Orr have all made the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award with BookTrust for the second time. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What is women's writing? Publishing insiders discuss power of female voices

Writers and editors explored what it means to be a woman in the literary world at an Emily Books event in Brooklyn: ‘The industry is mostly female, but male-run’“We’ll have a definitive answer of what women’s writing is by the end of this.”Emily Gould, novelist and founder of Emily Books, was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saqi to publish 'creative call to arms for Muslim women'

Saqi Books has acquired an anthology, edited by poet and playwright Sabrina Mahfouz, intended to be "a creative call to arms for Muslim women in Britain". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SIBA to Move Fall Discovery Show to the Spring

On the eve of its fall regional trade show to be held in Savannah (Sept. 16-18), the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance announced that it will partner with GABBS and move its show to the spring, starting in 2018. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A New Standard for Regional Bookseller Association Trade Shows

After nearly a decade of experimenting, regional bookseller association trade shows have found the right mix of authors, education, and exhibits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global publisher rankings show big groups getting bigger

Pearson retained its position as the biggest publisher in the world for the eighth consecutive year in the Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry 2016 which, despite the number one publisher’s slump, also showed ongoing growth of the top end of the list. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bill Bailey pens humorous guide to British birds

Bill Bailey has penned a “humorous and personal guide” to his favourite British birds, set to be published by Quercus in October this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC to adapt seven more Agatha Christie works

The BBC has signed a deal to adapt seven more of the late Agatha Christie's works. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inside W Magazine’s glossy digital strategy

In the past year, W Magazine has grown its digital team from four to 16 people, with a focus on creating specific content not only for its website, but social platforms like Instagram and Facebook. With more than half of its website traffic coming through mobile, its publisher and chief revenue... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inside Fatherly’s very grown-up viral video strategy

Plenty of publishers are fretting about the time, posts and resources they are pouring into Facebook, especially Facebook video. But Fatherly, a millennial dad-focused website that's piled up more than 300 million video views this year, has had great success using its viral hits to convert... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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