British-Kurdish comedian wants to break boundaries after release of first stand-up special
In his special, the young Kurdish comedian relays his experiences of growing up as an immigrant in Britain as well as the challenges of balancing the two cultures.
“I’ve always been active in the Kurdish community,” Kae noted. “My parents and family have always ensured that I had a strong Kurdish upbringing.”
Kae’s parents were born and raised in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province. His father Jaza and uncles Halo and Barzan were Peshmerga who fought for Kurdish rights against the former Iraqi regime under dictator Saddam Hussein.
His family fled to Saqiz in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) in 1988 when his father suffered mustard gas poisoning in battle. When his parents heard Britain was accepting refugees in 1990, they got on a plane with Kae and moved to the UK where his father received proper treatment for his lungs.
Breaking the Boundaries
Kae said one of the challenges of being a Kurdish comedian is that no one before him has pursued stand-up comedy, so he has had to break the boundaries himself.
“No one from my background has embarked on this kind of career path, so my parents, and I think a lot of the [Kurdish] community, thought I was wasting my time, and thought it was a phase,” he told Kurdistan 24.
However, Kae said that once he began to find success with the stand-up, and once his family realized he was serious about pursuing a career in comedy, “they became a lot more supportive.”
“Although anytime I do have some success, my mum and dad say, ‘maybe you can do a masters now,’” he jokes.