Fatiha El-Ghorri: I was mortified by my heckler

After my second divorce I was online looking for a walking group when a pop-up said 'try standup comedy', so I did and here I am 10 years later. One of my favourite gigs was at Angel Comedy club when 12 hijabs turned up; it was so touching I ended up crying. At the final of the BBC New Comedy awards 2025, Amy Gledhill was the host and I was the head judge when a man shouted out, 'Show us your 9-5’s'.

Me and Amy thought he wanted us to flash him and we were mortified. It turned out he wanted to see my trainers … which were Air Max 95s. The debut show Cockney Stacking Doll is inspired by a Russian stacking doll — I have many layers and the show is an introduction to them.

'I am a bit of a sweary Maryum' and, to keep things accessible, I’m doing two family-friendly matinee performances: proper clean fun you can watch with your mum and dad. Cockney Stacking Doll is on tour in the UK from 25 April. I never eat a meal before a show, I have plenty of water and do a little prayer when I am called to go on stage.

UK

fatiha el-ghorri, standup comedy, heckler, angel comedy, hijabs, bbc, amy gledhill, air max, cockney stacking, family friendly