Paul Chowdhry
Paul Chowdhry | |
|---|---|
 Chowdhry in 2025 | |
| Born | Tajpal Singh Chowdhry 21 August 1974 Edgware, London, England |
| Relatives | Navin Chowdhry (cousin) |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Medium |
|
| Genres | |
| Website | paulchowdhry |
Tajpal Singh Chowdhry (born 21 August 1974),[1][2] better known as Paul Chowdhry, is a British comedian and actor.[3] He is of Indian Punjabi descent.[4][5][3][6]
Chowdhry has made numerous appearances on television comedy shows including hosting Stand Up for the Week, and he twice headlined Live at the Apollo, in 2012 and 2015. In 2016, he competed on Taskmaster alongside Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe, Al Murray and Rob Beckett. In 2017, Chowdhry became the first comedian of Asian heritage to sell out Wembley Arena.[7] He has released four stand-up comedy specials, What’s Happening White People through Universal Pictures in 2012 and later broadcast on Channel 4, PC’s World released on DVD through Universal Pictures in 2015, Live Innit on Amazon Prime Video in 2019 and later shown on Comedy Central, and Family-Friendly Comedian on Sky UK in 2024.
He has performed six tours across the world – Not PC (2010), What’s Happening White People? (2012), PC’s World (2014), Live Innit? (2017), Family Friendly Comedian (2022), and Englandia, which debuted in 2025.
Early life
[edit]Chowdhry was born in Edgeware in 1971. His father had emigrated to England in the 1964 to Southampton and worked as a bus conductor before buying a newsagent and sandwich shop.[8] He attended private school at The Harrodian School in Barnes.[9]
His mother passed away when he was five years old. [10]
As a child, he grew up watching a lot of stand up comedy including American and British acts from Morecambe and Wise, Benny Hill and Bruce Forsythe.[11]
His sundays were spent visiting a temple with his cousins and other relatives who enjoyed eating indian food together. [12]
Career
[edit]Chowdhry began his stand up career in 1998 and hosted the Channel 4 comedy series Stand Up for the Week as of the fifth series, having been a regular act for the third and fourth series. Chowdhry was the first British act to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival in Trinidad in 2003. He has been a guest panelist on 8 out of 10 Cats, Comedy World Cup, and Sorry, I Didn't Know. He has appeared on Live at the Apollo twice, in 2012 and 2015.
In 2016, he was one of the contestants on series three of the comedy show Taskmaster. In 2017, he was a guest stand-up performer in The Russell Howard Hour and also sold out the 10,000-seater Wembley Arena, becoming the first British Asian stand-up comic to do so.[13]
In 2020, Chowdhry appeared in the television drama series Devils.
Since 2021, he has been hosting the podcast The Paul Chowdhry PudCast, in which he interviews comedians. He uses the signature phrase "what's happening white people?" at the start of his stand-up routines.
He performed Family-Friendly Comedian in Riyadh as part of the "Riyadh Laughs" comedy festival on 1 December 2023.[14]
Incident at Lowestoft gig in 2017
[edit]A man was arrested after causing distress and abusive language at the Marina Theatre during Chowdhry's 'Live Innit' performance. [15]
Incident at Hammersith, London gig in 2021
[edit]David Haye was cleared of assault, which he was accused of halfway during Chowdhry's 'Family-Friendly Comedian' performance. The judge said that Haye had no case to answer. [16]
Incident at Southend-on-Sea gig in 2025
[edit]A fight had broken out in the theatre stalls within the Cliffs Pavillion due to a heckler interrupting Chowdhry throughout the performance.[17]
Racist attack against Chowdhry in 2004
[edit]Chowdhry was attacked by a heckler in 2004 at the Bound And Gagged club, then 29, Chowdry called the police who attended but no arrests were made. [18]
Influences
[edit]Chowdhry lists his influences as: "Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin and Sam Kinison. Then Morecambe and Wise, Little and Large and Bruce Forsyth from the UK definitely inspired me to get into comedy."[19]
Personal life
[edit]Chowdhry makes an effort to keep fit during touring, telling Coach Magazine: "I don't eat chapatis, even though I’m Indian" – and replacing them with higher-protein substitutes like bulgur wheat and quinoa. "If I only had ten minutes to work out, I’d do high-intensity abs training.”[20] He has also spoken about his battles with mental health in the New Statesman: "Mental health problems aren’t really discussed in the Asian community."[21]
Talking to the South China Morning Post, he said, "People see you as an Asian comedian, whereas the other two guys coming to Hong Kong (Sean Meo and Michael McIntyre) aren't Asian comedians – they're just British. But they're not referred to as 'English white comedians'. I'm British. I was born in England. The fact that I'm Asian has very little to do with my stand-up, although it would have an influence for an obvious reason because of the way I'm perceived by certain people. So I play on the stereotypes and try to change them."[22]
Stand Up
[edit]Chowdhry started his stand up career performing in pubs and clubs around London, often risking racial attacks.[23]
Chowdhry has received numerous awards, including the Comedy award at the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture & Theatre Awards 2019, Comedian of the Year award at the Asian Voice Political & Public Life Awards 2019, and he was nominated for Entertainer of the Year by the British Asian Awards 2019. His show Live Innit? won Best Live Event 2018 at the ITV Asian Media Awards.[24]
Stand-up shows
[edit]| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Not PC | |
| 2012 | What's Happening White People? | |
| 2014–15 | PC's World | |
| 2017–18 | Live Innit | |
| 2022–23 | Family-Friendly Comedian (no children) | |
| 2025 | Englandia |
DVD releases
[edit]| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What's Happening White People? | 19 November 2012 | Live at London's Hammersmith Apollo |
| PC's World - Live 2015 | 30 November 2015 | |
| Live Innit | 19 August 2019 | Amazon Prime Video special Live at London's Hackney Empire |
Stage
[edit]In early 2003 Chowdhry appeared on stage as "shady, Archers-obsessed Raheem" in the play Finding Bin Laden.[25]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Colour of Funny | Raj Mahal |
| Rogue Trader[26] | Uncredited | |
| 2000 | It Was an Accident | Rafiq Roy |
| 2002 | Bollywood Queen[27] | Uncredited |
| 2005 | Colour Me Kubrick | Pub Announcer |
| 2008 | The Blue Tower | Dil |
| 2011 | Swinging with the Finkels | Henry |
| 2016 | Taskmaster | Contestant |
| 2020 | Devils | Kalim Chowdrey |
| 2021 | Cruella | Kebab Restaurant Owner |
| The Cleaner | Man Boy (1 episode) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Paul Chowdhry". Chortle. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
- ^ "The 'Prince' of Comedy". The Asian Today. The Asian Today Ltd. 5 December 2006. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Harrow's Own Paul Chowdhry Edges Out the Competition". 4 December 2017.
- ^ Brexinnit. Paul Chowdhry. 12 November 2019. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Patels – Paul Chowdhry. Paul Chowdhry. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Live at the Apollo Paul Chowdhry. It's baking Dave. Ovid. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Dessau, Bruce (3 March 2025). "Paul Chowdhry Adds Extra Tour Dates Due To Demand". Beyond the Joke. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ^ "Paul Chowdhry reflects on British Asian experience in Englandia at York Barbican – charleshutchpress". 22 May 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Rae, Nicci (4 December 2017). "Harrow's own Paul Chowdhry edges out the competition". Harrow Online. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Saner, Emine (4 August 2017). "Paul Chowdhry: 'People write this abuse to me, and I've just got to take it?'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ "'Hornchurch? Where's that?'". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Pelley, Rich (20 April 2025). "Sunday with Paul Chowdhry: 'I'll have a big brunch, then lie around watching YouTube'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ "Paul Chowdhry". Avalon. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Paul Chowdhry set to bring 'family-friendly' comedy to Riyadh". Arab News. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ^ "Man charged after causing a disturbance at comedian Paul Chowdhry's Lowestoft show". Eastern Daily Press. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ "David Haye cleared of assault as judge rules he has no case to answer". Sky News. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ "Police called as fight breaks out after heckler disrupts comedy gig". East Anglian Daily Times. 1 April 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Bennett, Steve. "Attacked by a racist heckler : News 2004 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Partnership, The Kolberg. "INTERVIEW: A quick chat with COMEDIAN Paul Chowdhry – London Art Scene from The Art Stop". AllinLondon. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Paul Chowdhry: "Treat yourself like Bruce Lee!"". Coach. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Paul Chowdhry: "Mental health problems aren't really discussed in the Asian community."". New Statesman. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Comic awake to dangers of stereotypes". South China Morning Post. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Paul is pulling no punches". News Shopper. 21 March 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Barnes, Brad (12 December 2024). "Comedian Paul Chowdhry adds Peterborough date to tour". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ^ Bennett, Steve. "Finding Bin Laden : Reviews 2003 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Saner, Emine (4 August 2017). "Paul Chowdhry: 'People write this abuse to me, and I've just got to take it?'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Rae, Nicci (4 December 2017). "Harrow's own Paul Chowdhry edges out the competition". Harrow Online. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
External links
[edit]| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
- 1974 births
- 20th-century English comedians
- 21st-century English comedians
- Living people
- British people of Punjabi descent
- English people of Indian descent
- English people of Punjabi descent
- English Sikhs
- British male comedians
- British stand-up comedians
- English stand-up comedians
- Male actors from London
- Comedians from the London Borough of Barnet
- 21st-century British male actors
- Actors from the London Borough of Barnet
- People from Edgware