Tez Ilyas is one of the most popular and richest Celebrity who was born on April 8, 1983 in Blackburn, Blackburn, United Kingdom. Ilyas’ debut show TEZ Talks resembles TED Talks, the popular conference lecture series Ilyas’ show is inspired by his life as a British Muslim and defuses numerous misconceptions about Islam. His show is staged as an introductory seminar in becoming a convert to Islam with the audience playing the part of potential new recruits. This enables Ilyas to explain the intricacies of his belief system, while putting ‘bigoted’ misconceptions to bed. He gives a series of mock-inspirational speeches on integrating into British society, and explains concepts like jihad and Ramadan with ‘unpatronising good humour’, explores “British values” and debunks Islamophobic abuse. In August 2015, Ilyas performed the show at the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2016, he performed the show at London’s Soho Theatre.
In June 2015, Ilyas made a short film The Fast and the Fool as part of the British Muslim Comedy series, five short films by Muslim comedians commissioned by the BBC to be released on BBC iPlayer. Ilyas goes through the day in the life of a fasting Muslim, and shows how he copes with the stresses and strains of an ordinary day in the office during Ramadan.
In December 2018, Ilyas featured in comedy short Bounty, a ‘Comedy Blap’ by Channel 4, which was set in his hometown of Blackburn.
Ilyas has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe four times. In 2011, he was in a three hander with Gary Tro and Kate Lucas called Gags Songs and Bombs. In 2013, he was on the comedy reserve in the Pleasance Dome. In 2014, he performed for a week.
In 2011, Ilyas reached the semi-finals of BBC Radio New Comedy Awards. In 2013, Ilyas was a finalist for Leicester Mercury New Comedian of the Year and won The Pleasance showcase The Comedy Reserve.
In July 2015, Ilyas performed at an Eid Special Comedy Night at The Comedy Store in London. In December of the same year, he performed at BBC Asian Network’s special comedy night, celebrating 50 years of Asian programmes on the BBC with a special comedy night in Birmingham.
