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Created page with '{{Infobox comedian | name = Paul Chowdhry | image = | caption = | birth_name = Tajpaul Singh Chowhdry | birth_date = {{Birth date and a...'

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{{Short description|British comedian and actor (born 1974)}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Paul Chowdhry
| native_name = ਪਾਲ ਚੌਧਰੀ
| native_name_lang = pa
| image = Paul Chowdhry 2015.jpg
| caption = Chowdhry in 2015
| birth_name = Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|8|21|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Edgware, London]], England
| occupation = Comedian, actor
| years_active = 1998–present
| website = {{url|paulchowdhry.com}}
}}

'''Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry''' ({{lang-pa|ਤਾਜਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਚੌਧਰੀ}}; born 21 August 1974),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/p/33221/paul_chowdhry/videos/ |title=Paul Chowdhry |work=Chortle |access-date=11 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theasiantoday.com/index.php/2006/12/05/the-prince-of-comedy/ |title=The 'Prince' of Comedy|work=[[The Asian Today]] |publisher=The Asian Today Ltd |date= 5 December 2006|access-date=11 January 2012}}</ref> better known as '''Paul Chowdhry''', is an [[English People|English]] [[comedian]] and [[actor]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://harrowonline.org/2017/12/04/harrows-own-paul-chowdhry-edges-out-the-competition/|title = Harrow's Own Paul Chowdhry Edges Out the Competition|date = 4 December 2017}}</ref> He is of [[British Indians|Indian]] [[British Punjabis|Punjabi]] [[Sikhism in the United Kingdom|Sikh]] descent.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=12 November 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfcy5tfZVvM |title=BREXINNIT |publisher=Paul Chowdhry |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=15 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712072456/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfcy5tfZVvM |archive-date=12 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |date=7 April 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-5Ii8Q3_s |title=Patels – Paul Chowdhry |publisher=Paul Chowdhry |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=15 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711051016/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-5Ii8Q3_s |archive-date=11 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://harrowonline.org/2017/12/04/harrows-own-paul-chowdhry-edges-out-the-competition/|title = Harrow's Own Paul Chowdhry Edges Out the Competition|date = 4 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |date=18 July 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jZ84TjZOOI |title=Live at the Apollo Paul Chowdhry. It's baking Dave |publisher=Ovid |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=15 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711051307/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jZ84TjZOOI |archive-date=11 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> He 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 (TV series)|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 (TV series)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://avalonuk.com/clients/paul-chowdhry/ |title=Paul Chowdhry |work=Avalon|date=7 March 2017 |access-date=26 October 2021}}</ref> In 2020, Chowdhry appeared in the television drama series ''[[Devils (TV 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.

==Early life==
Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry was born on 21 August 1974 to a [[Punjabi Sikh]] family of [[Chowdhury|Chowdhries]] in [[Edgware, London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/p/33221/paul_chowdhry/videos/ |title=Paul Chowdhry |work=Chortle |access-date=11 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theasiantoday.com/index.php/2006/12/05/the-prince-of-comedy/ |title=The 'Prince' of Comedy|work=[[The Asian Today]] |publisher=The Asian Today Ltd |date= 5 December 2006|access-date=11 January 2012}}</ref>

== Influences ==
He 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."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Partnership|first=The Kolberg|title=INTERVIEW: A quick chat with COMEDIAN Paul Chowdhry – London Art Scene from The Art Stop|url=https://www.allinlondon.co.uk/blogs/2619-interview-a-quick-chat-with-comedian-paul-chowdhry|access-date=2021-10-27|website=AllinLondon|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Chowdhry makes an effort to keep fit during touring, telling Coach Magazine: "I don't eat [[chapati]]s, 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. ”<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paul Chowdhry: "Treat yourself like Bruce Lee!"|url=https://www.coachmag.co.uk/go/4982|access-date=2021-10-27|website=Coach|language=en}}</ref> alongside speaking about his battles with mental health in the New Statesman, "Mental health problems aren’t really discussed in the Asian community."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-09|title=Paul Chowdhry: "Mental health problems aren't really discussed in the Asian community."|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2018/03/paul-chowdhry-mental-health-problems-aren-t-really-discussed-asian|access-date=2021-10-27|website=New Statesman|language=en-US}}</ref> Talking to the South China Morning Post, "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.'"<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 October 2006|title=Comic awake to dangers of stereotypes|url=https://www.scmp.com/node/567300|access-date=2021-10-27|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
|-
| 1999
| ''The Colour of Funny''
| Raj Mahal
|-
| 2000
| ''[[It Was an Accident]]''
| Rafiq Roy
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Colour Me Kubrick]]''
| Pub Announcer
|-
| 2008
| ''The Blue Tower''
| Dil
|-
| 2011
| ''[[Swinging with the Finkels]]''
| Henry
|-
| 2016
| ''[[Taskmaster (TV series)|Taskmaster]]''
| Contestant
|-
| 2020
| ''[[Devils (TV series)|Devils]]''
| Kalim Chowdrey
|-
|2021
| ''[[Cruella (film)|Cruella]]''
|Restaurant Owner
|-
|2021
| ''[[The Cleaner (British TV series)|The Cleaner]]''
| Man Boy (1 episode)
|}

==Stand-Up DVDs==
* ''What's Happening White People?'' (19 November 2012)
* ''PC's World'' (30 November 2015)

== See also ==
* [[List of British Sikhs]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.paulchowdhry.com/}}
* {{IMDb name|0159550}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhry, Paul}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:British people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:British Sikhs]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:English Sikhs]]
[[Category:British comedians]]
[[Category:British stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:English stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:Comedians from London]]
[[Category:British male actors of Asian descent]]

Paul Chowdhry - Revision history

Speedwriter: Created page with '{{Infobox comedian | name = Paul Chowdhry | image = | caption = | birth_name = Tajpaul Singh Chowhdry | birth_date = {{Birth date and a...'