Kaneez Surka

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Kaneez Surka
Surka in 2018
Born
Kaneez-e-Fatema Surka

(1983-10-28) 28 October 1983
Umtata, Transkei
Alma materRhodes University (B.A.)
Notable work
Comedy career
Years active2006–present
GenreImprovisational comedy
WebsiteKaneez Surka on X

Kaneez-e-Fatema Surka (born 28 October 1983) is a South African improv comedian, actress, and YouTuber, based in India. She started her career with the show The Week That Wasn't.[1][2][3][4][5] She has performed on various stand up platforms.[6] She was a judge on the first two seasons of the Amazon Prime Video stand-up comedy reality show Comicstaan.[7][8] She also hosts an online comedy game show, The General Fun Game Show on YouTube.[9][10]

Early and personal life

Kaneez-e-Fatema Surka was born on 28 October 1983[11] in Umtata, Transkei. She studied in DSG, Graham School and attended Rhodes University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in law and psychology.[12]

Ethnically a Gujarati, Kaneez Surka was born into a Muslim family originally from Kapadvanj, which allowed her to have a deep understanding of different cultures and religions.[13]

In 2018, Surka accused comedian Aditi Mittal of sexual harassment, stating that Mittal had forcefully kissed her on the mouth. Mittal denied the accusation, leading to Surka publicly posting what had happened on Twitter.[14] In October 2018, Mittal said that "she gave the improv artiste, who was hosting an open mic, a peck on the lips as a joke, as a part of the act" and apologised later to Surka when she realised "the discomfort she had caused".[15]

Career

Surka was part of the Mumbai improv scene since 2009.[12][16] Her initial work in Mumbai was with Divya Palat's Imps troupe.[12] Surka was co-director of a Mumbai-based story-telling club "Tall Tales"[17] in 2013.

She achieved mainstream popularity on the satirical news show The Week That Wasn't[18] on CNN-News18 (formerly CNN-IBN). She also worked with Weirdass Comedy, a Vir Das venture and then began collaborating with[19] and making appearances in several All India Bakchod videos including roles such as Clitika from "A Woman's Besties", "Honest Weddings", "Honest Bars & Restaurants" and the Instagram character from "If Apps Were People". She also teaches the art of improv comedy, proving her comedic skills by being on the judge panel in Amazon Prime's stand-up comedy reality show Comicstaan[20][12] and Improv All Stars for Amazon Prime Video and Queens Of Comedy[21] for TLC. Surka is part of an improv group called "The Improvisers"[22] along with Abish Mathew, Kanan Gill, and Kenny Sebastian, and has an improv special titled Something From Nothing on Amazon Prime Video.

Filmography

Year Title Platform Role
2005 Dosti: Friends Forever Film Anjali's friend
2014-2015 The Living Room TV series
2015-2016 Various AIB videos YouTube
2016 Better Life Foundation TV series Plays Vashma Chandi (1 episode)
2017 Son of Abish YouTube Herself with Swara Bhaskar (Season 3 Episode 7)[23]
2018 The Improvisers: Something from Nothing Amazon Prime Herself
2018-2019 Comicstaan Judge
2020 Ladies Up Netflix Herself
2021 Comedy Premium League

References

  1. "People find it easily digestible when guys are a little crude: Comedian Kaneez Surka". Hindustan Times. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. "Kaneez Surka on stand-up, multiculturalism and political humour". The Indian Express. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. "Kaneez Surka: I m scared to do stand-up comedy". mid-day. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  4. "From #MeToo to Bolly humour: Kaneez Surka takes our really random rapid fire". t2online.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. "Watch: Mallika Dua, Kaneez Surka reprise roles in AIB's If Apps Were People 2". Firstpost. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. "Comedienne Kaneez Surka hosts Sapan Verma, Sahil Shah and RJ Malishka in her game show". mid-day. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  7. "Comicstaan's Latest Episode Focuses On Kaneez Surka's Improv Round!". Businessofcinema.com. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  8. "'Comicstaan' Review: The Future Looks Pretty Funny". The Quint. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  9. "Comedians talk about books they read in new YouTube series". mid-day. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  10. "Things to do in Mumbai today". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  11. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  12. Kale, Arun (26 August 2014). "Kaneez Surka". Astray. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  13. Vadgama, Arpita (19 November 2016). "I want to explore story-telling: Kaneez Surka". The Times of India.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. "Kaneez Surka accuses comedian Aditi Mittal of sexual harassment". 10 October 2018.
  15. "#MeToo: Comedian Aditi Mittal apologises to Kaneez Surka, says her intentions were not 'sexual in nature'". The Economic Times. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  16. "Laughter Therapy With The Rising Stars of Comedy". NDTV. 18 May 2015.
  17. Gianani, Kareena (19 May 2013). "Tell stories at Tall Tales, Mumbai's newest storytelling club". Mid Day.
  18. "Small talk: The improv lady". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  19. Singh, Jasmine (26 July 2015). "Nothing half-baked about it". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  20. "Comictaan". firstpost. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  21. "Queens Of Comedy". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  22. Singh, Anvita (13 May 2018). "Kaneez Surka on stand-up, multiculturalism and political humour". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  23. Abish Mathew (24 November 2017), Son Of Abish feat. Kaneez Surka & Swara Bhaskar, retrieved 17 October 2018