Kaneez Surka is a South African improv artist, actress, comedian and a YouTuber, based in India. She started her career with the show The Week That Wasn't.[1][2][3][4][5] She has performed on various stand up platforms.[6] She was a judge on the first two seasons of the Amazon Prime Video stand-up comedy reality show Comicstaan.[7][8] She also hosts an online comedy game show, The General Fun Game Show on YouTube.[9][10]
| Kaneez Surka | |
|---|---|
 Kaneez in 2018 | |
| Born | Mthatha, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Alma mater | Rhodes University |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Genres | Improvisational comedy |
| Notable works and roles | The Week That Wasn't The General Fun Game Show All India Bakchod Comicstaan |
| Website | Kaneez Surka on Twitter |
Personal life
editKaneez Surka was born and raised in the Mthatha, South Africa. She studied in DSG, Graham School and attended Rhodes University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in law and psychology.[11]
Ethnically a Gujarati, Kaneez Surka was born into a Muslim family originally from Kapadvanj, which allowed her to have a deep understanding of different cultures and religions.[12]
Career
editSurka was part of the Mumbai improv scene since 2009.[11][13] Her initial work in Mumbai was with Divya Palat's Imps troupe.[11] Surka was co-director of a Mumbai-based story-telling club "Tall Tales"[14] in 2013.
She achieved mainstream popularity on the satirical news show The Week That Wasn't[15] on CNN-News18 (formerly CNN-IBN). She also worked with Weirdass Comedy, a Vir Das venture and then began collaborating with[16] and making appearances in several All India Bakchod videos including roles such as Clitika from 'A woman's besties', 'Honest wedding', 'Honest Bars' and the Instagram character from 'If Apps were people'. She was also a judge for shows such as Comicstaan[17] and 'Improv All Stars' for Amazon Prime and Queens of Comedy[18] for TLC. Surka is part of an improv group called "The Improvisers"[19] along with Abish Mathew, Kanan Gill, and Kenny Sebastian, and has an Improv special titled 'Something From Nothing' on Amazon Prime Video. She also teaches the art of improv comedy, proving her comedic skills by being a judge in Amazon Prime's stand-up comedy reality show Comicstaan.[11]
Filmography
editWeb
edit| 2021 | Netflix | Comedy Premium League | Stand-up comedy |
| 2020 | Netflix | Ladies up | Stand-up comedy |
| 2018 | Amazon Prime Video | Improv All Stars: Games Night | Show conceptualiser, producer and host |
| 2005 | Film | Dosti: Friends Forever | Debut Film (Kareena Kapoor's Date.Time stamp from 01:49:30 to 01:51:25) |
| 2014 | TV series | The Living Room | |
| 2016 | TV mini-series | How Insensitive! By Kanan Gill | Plays various side-characters |
| 2015-2016 | YouTube | AIB Honest Series | AIB: Honest Bars & Restaurants Part 1, 2, 3
AIB: Honest Indian Weddings Part 1, 2 |
| 2016 | TV series | Better Life Foundation | Plays Vashma Chandi (1 episode) |
| 2017 | YouTube Series | Son of Abish | Season 3 with Swara Bhaskar (Episode 7)[20] |
| 2018 | Amazon Prime | The Improvisers: Something from Nothing | Herself |
| Comicstaan Season 1 | Herself - Judge | ||
| 2019 | Amazon Prime | Comicstaan Season 2 | Herself - Judge |
References
edit- ^ "People find it easily digestible when guys are a little crude: Comedian Kaneez Surka". Hindustan Times. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Kaneez Surka on stand-up, multiculturalism and political humour". The Indian Express. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Kaneez Surka: I m scared to do stand-up comedy". mid-day. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "From #MeToo to Bolly humour: Kaneez Surka takes our really random rapid fire". t2online.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Watch: Mallika Dua, Kaneez Surka reprise roles in AIB's If Apps Were People 2". Firstpost. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Comedienne Kaneez Surka hosts Sapan Verma, Sahil Shah and RJ Malishka in her game show". mid-day. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Comicstaan's Latest Episode Focuses On Kaneez Surka's Improv Round!". Businessofcinema.com. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "'Comicstaan' Review: The Future Looks Pretty Funny". The Quint. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Comedians talk about books they read in new YouTube series". mid-day. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Things to do in Mumbai today". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d Kale, Arun (26 August 2014). "Kaneez Surka". Astray. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ Vadgama, Arpita (19 November 2016). "I want to explore story-telling: Kaneez Surka". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Laughter Therapy With The Rising Stars of Comedy". NDTV. 18 May 2015.
- ^ Gianani, Kareena (19 May 2013). "Tell stories at Tall Tales, Mumbai's newest storytelling club". Mid Day.
- ^ "Small talk: The improv lady". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Singh, Jasmine (26 July 2015). "Nothing half-baked about it". The Tribune.
- ^ "Comictaan". firstpost. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Queens Of Comedy". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ^ Singh, Anvita (13 May 2018). "Kaneez Surka on stand-up, multiculturalism and political humour". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Abish Mathew (24 November 2017), Son Of Abish feat. Kaneez Surka & Swara Bhaskar, retrieved 17 October 2018
External links
edit- Kaneez Surka at IMDb