Meet stand-ups Saban Kazim and Sarah Sheldon

Following a sell-out run at Camden Fringe 2015, 2014 Comedy Store King Gong winner Saban Kazim and 2014 Jewish Comedian of the Year finalist Sarah Sheldon join forces again for an hour-long show of stand-up and storytelling, upstairs at the Hen & Chicken next month.

Debut show Saban and Sarah Do Stand-Up (Sat May 7, upstairs at the Hen & Chicken, doors 7.30pm, £10) draws upon the duo’s distinctive life experiences; on Saban’s Turkish-Cypriot dad who still doesn’t know he does stand-up, and Sarah’s Czech grandmother who knows she does it but doesn’t know what it is; reckless life choices; trying to buy a piece of toast; hoovers; and how children’s books can ultimately ruin your life.

All proceeds will go to Bristol Mind, an independent, self-funded local mental health charity which provides counselling, a helpline and advocacy support to adults and their families across the city as well as training to organisations.

Here’s Saban and Sarah to tell us a little about themselves and the show.

Saban Kazim
Saban has been gigging regularly since 2010, performing at London venues including The Comedy Store, The Comedy Cafe and The Backyard Comedy Club. A Laughing Horse 2014 semi-finalist, he is three times winner of The Comedy Cafe’s New Act night and won The Comedy Store King Gong show in December 2014. “A very funny comic with lots of heart. One to watch” – Shappi Khorsandi

I come from south-east London and I’m half Turkish Cypriot, half English. My style of comedy is mainly telling stories about my own life experiences, based on my mixed heritage, which may include anything from going to the Job Centre to trying to buy a piece of toast…

I was unemployed when I first got into stand-up. I used to self-publish comics/zines about funny stuff that I experienced (mainly involving my dad) and would take part in small-press/alternative comic fairs where I made friends with like-minded people. After the events, we’d hang out and tell each other stories. I used to make them laugh and get a kick out of it and they’d tell me to try stand-up.

After one of the fairs, the event organisers held a spoken word/music open mic night. After some encouragement, I decided to give stand-up a shot. I had nothing prepared but ended up telling some of the stories from my latest zine. The whole time my leg and arm were shaking like crazy and I was a nervous mess. Most of it was a blur, but I got a massive adrenaline kick and after I got off stage the response was amazing. I caught the stand-up bug and now I can’t stop.

My dad doesn’t really know that I do stand-up. My mum is fine with it, she is happy if it makes me happy. My auntie is really excited by it and very supportive. I haven’t really told all my family. There isn’t really a stand-up scene in North Cyprus, so it’s kind of difficult trying to explain it to them.

Sarah Sheldon
Sarah is a London-based writer and journalist who has covered everything from the Lithuanian laxative market to presidential elections in Panama. Her humorous writing has featured as a series on the Illustrated Guide to Life blog. Sarah began stand-up in 2012, is co-founder of monthly London comedy night Shake the Tree and was a 2014 Jewish Comedian of the Year finalist. “Like a short, curly-haired, Jewish Alan Bennett,”, said Sarah Cuddon, a producer for BBC Radio 4.

I have always been drawn to comedy in its various forms, particularly stand-up and humorous travel writing. I lived in Guatemala for two and a half years, where I worked for a local media organisation and broke both my legs. While there, I kept a weekly journal as a way of recording and making sense of the often absurd and challenging situations I encountered. These ranged from my living arrangement – staying with an elderly woman and her senile mother who were both obsessed with the British Royal Family and the film American Pie, to my job – which I was expected to do without a desk, chair or computer. 

The move to stand-up was gradual. As well as travel, my elderly Czech grandmother and her often perverse responses to things has also been an easy source of material. For her 90th birthday party I ended up doing a presentation about her in front of the extended family which gave me a taste of performing and has since been developed into a set. I finally took the plunge with stand-up in 2012 after attending a comedy workshop as part of a wedding present for a friend which was clearly more of a present for me than for her… 

My family has been very supportive of the stand-up – particularly my grandma, even though she doesn’t know what it is.

For more info and to book tickets, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bristol-mind-fundraiser-saban-and-sarah-do-stand-up-tickets-21957042104