Ghulam Dustgir Khan (Punjabi: غلام دستگیر خان; born 24 January 1986), popularly known as Guz Khan, is a British comedian and actor. His TV appearances include Man Like Mobeen, Taskmaster (series 12), Our Flag Means Death (series 1) and stand-up performances on Live at the Apollo.
Early life
Khan was born on 24 January 1986 to a PakistaniPunjabi Muslim family of Khans in Coventry. He has two sisters who are ten and eleven years older than him.[4] His father died when he was three.[5]
In June 2015, whilst performing as his character Mobeen, a Muslim living in Small Heath,[2] Khan made a video called "Pakisaurus", expressing mock outrage at the lead character in the film Jurassic World[9][10] shouting the line "the Pachys are out of containment" (an abbreviation of Pachycephalosaurus),[9][11] observing it to be a homophone of Paki, a racial slur for people of South Asian descent.[12] During the video, Khan also discovers Pakisaurus is the name of a real dinosaur from Pakistan.[9] In six days, the video was watched over 340,000 times on YouTube, and it has also received over 700,000 views on Facebook.[12] Khan's hashtag on Twitter, #BoycottJurassicWorld gained attention,[13][14][15] After the Birmingham Mail publicised the story, Khan was interviewed by radio stations in the United States and Indonesia.[2]
Stand-up comedy
In December 2015, Khan performed at BBC Asian Network's Big Comedy Night in Birmingham, a special comedy night celebrating 50 years of Asian programmes on the BBC.[16][17]
Critics have celebrated Khan for his distinctive on-stage style, described as "his fusion of British-urban-Islamic clothing and personal accessories."[19]
Television
In June 2015, Khan made a short film Roadman Ramadan as part of the British Muslim Comedy series, five short films by Muslim comedians commissioned by the BBC to be released on BBC iPlayer.[20][21][22] Khan's sketch was a guide to Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting during daylight hours, which sees Khan's character Mobeen guide his newly converted friend Trev through his first Ramadan.
In July 2015, Khan gave up his job as a school teacher to pursue a career in comedy after his YouTube clips went viral.[2] In November, he featured in an episode of comedy web series Corner Shop Show. In 2016, he went on to play the rambunctious baggage handler Mo Khan in Borderline.[23]
In December 2017, Khan's four-part BBC comedy series Man Like Mobeen was released on BBC iPlayer.[8][24][25][26] Three more series of the show have been produced, which were released on BBC iPlayer in 2019, 2020 and 2023.[27][28]
In March 2019, Khan appeared as a guest on Hypothetical.
In September 2021, Khan appeared on the twelfth series of Taskmaster.
In December 2021, Khan appeared as Bonzo in Beauty and the Beast: A Pantomime for Comic Relief, originally broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday 21 December.[33]
In February 2022, Khan narrated the Peaky Blinders Ultimate Recap on BBC One.[34]
In March 2022, Khan appeared in the HBO Max comedy pirate series Our Flag Means Death, where he played Ivan, a member of Blackbeard's crew. Khan was the only main actor dropped ahead of the second season of the show.[35] Responding to the decision, he tweeted: "This is the industry sometimes. They might be choosing a different direction creatively, maybe it's financial decision, maybe they weren't feeling your boy."
In March 2024, Khan appeared in the Netflix show The Gentlemen, where he played Chucky "The Cobra" Kubra, an experienced money launderer.
Commercial endorsements
In June 2019, Khan appeared in an advert for Walkers crisps alongside the Spice Girls, playing Dev, the group's biggest fan.[36]
In February 2020, Uber Eats launched a UK-wide brand campaign starring Khan as a charismatic courier spreading positivity.[37]
Film
In February 2017, Khan appeared as Rocky in the romantic comedy film Finding Fatimah.[38]
