Guz Khan

As the city’s comedy festival rolls into town, we sent Shelley Carter to catch up with funny man Guz Khan to find out what makes him tick

Guz Khan who is living the comedy dream. A teacher at Grace Academy Coventry until just last year, he’s swapped marking books to making people laugh. Guz’s three-minute You Tube rant about Spielberg’s Jurassic World and the ‘Pakisaurus’ catapulted him into the public eye in 2015 and his character Mobeen was born. As a teacher Guz felt he ought to keep his You Tube videos quiet and initially used the alias Guzzy Bear. He says: “The kids knew about it and kept it very quiet. One posted a link on his Facebook page and was quickly shouted down by 80 school friends keen to keep it under wraps. I got comments like ‘decent’ from the kids which I guess is good!” Guz’s job was stable, he was moving up the pay scale and had become head of department, but he wanted more. He says: “I loved the kids, but I was sitting marking one day and thought ‘just one more tick and I’ll jump out of the window’. I had things I wanted to do, social issues I wanted to address which I couldn’t really do as a teacher.”

Guz was funny growing up and his old friends aren’t surprised by his comedy career. “We lived in a rough area in Birmingham, but mum made sure we went to a decent school. I was the funny kid using humour to break down barriers. I used to watch Eddie Murphy Raw with my sister which had a big influence on me. When I watch ‘Pakisaurus’ I can hear a similar rhythm and tone of voice.” Guz filmed Man Like Mobeen around Small Heath and Balsall Heath and wouldn’t have had it any other way. “We had so much love when we were filming. It was authentic which was important to me.” Man Like Mobeen is currently airing on BBC3, a new programme called Zapped is starting soon on Dave, there’s Borderline on Channel 5 as well as live gigs and writing. Guz is a busy man. “I know it could all go away as quickly as it started, so I’m just enjoying it. I still don’t believe I’m living this actually.”

ALL THE LOLS Birmingham Comedy Festival takes place at various venues across the city 7 to 16 October For the full line up visit http://www.bhamcomfest.co.uk/