Sabrina Jalees
Gig Seeker Pro

Sabrina Jalees

New York, New York, United States

New York, New York, United States
Band Comedy

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Comic Sabrina Jalees gives students study break at Spoke"

Dressed in a white tee and dark skinny jeans, Sabrina Jalees could pass for an average university student.

However, the star-struck fans and daily autograph signings make this Canadian comic slightly more interesting than your typical 22-year-old.

Jalees, who is best known for her appearances on MuchMusic’s Video on Trial, performed her stand-up routine in front of a large and welcoming crowd at the Spoke last Thursday afternoon.

“It was a lot of fun — smart audience,” she said afterwards.

Cracking jokes about everything from Facebook to STIs, Jalees provided a hilarious mid-afternoon study break. Her frequent shout-outs to audience members — which consisted mostly of her making fun of them — made for an engaging half-hour set.

Afterward, the laid-back Toronto native chatted with fans, signed autographs and invited everyone to add her to Facebook.

“It’s weird,” she said when asked about her adjustment to fame. “I hosted a show on CBC called Smart Ask that was on every single day for a year, and the amount of times I got recognized then doesn’t even compare to how much I get recognized now.”

While she’s been making waves on the Canadian comedy scene since the tender age of 16 — including beating Mike Myers’ record as the youngest Second City Improv Troupe member at age 17 — Jalees considers Video on Trial, now in its third season, to be her big break.

“[The comics on the show] get total creative freedom, which is why I think that show is so successful ... it’s not forced. Our careers have kind of blossomed because of the exposure.”

When asked about her favourite celebrity to make fun of, she says, “It used to be Britney, but now it’s at the point where I just want to call her and hug her.”

When she’s not trashing music videos and celebrities, Jalees draws much of her material from her Pakistani-Swiss heritage. She pokes fun at everything from arranged marriages and the embarrassment of having her dad blasting Bollywood in the family car when picking her up from school to her aggressive moustache hairs and using her bourkha to buy booze underage.

“The jokes that are the most successful are the things I used to be so embarrassed about. To be the one saying, ‘Yeah, I’m Pakistani,’ it kinda takes the piss out of people’s mockery.”

Tackling sensitive issues like religion is difficult for any comedian to pull off successfully. Jalees explains there is a fine line between being funny and ironic, and being racist and rude.

“I think comics have to be responsible when they are writing their material,” she adds.

While she says rookie comedians are notorious for taking their jokes too far, she confessed there’s one big-shot comedian she can’t stand because of his often borderline racist routines.

“Carlos Mencia [host of Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia] is a notorious joke thief, which is stupid, but he’s also quite racist. He sells it like he’s really pro-America, but in the midst of [America’s War on Terror], to be joking about Arabs and making it seem they brought this on themselves ... it’s really bad.”

Next up for Jalees is the Allah Made Me Funny World Comedy tour, which stops in Toronto Dec. 22. The tour aims to provide appropriate and effective comedy with an Islamic perspective.

“People have this idea of what a Muslim is,” she says. “Religious people are portrayed in the media as people who can’t take a joke, but there are tons of Muslim people that come out to these shows. It’s liberating.” - The Gazette


"Media & Festival List"

Television:
CBS’s Flashpoint
Lifetime Network’s Mom At Sixteen
CTV’s Comedy NOW
CBC's Smart Ask
Much Music’s Video On Trial and Stars Gone Wild
MTV Canada’s MTV Live
Animal Planet’s The A List
CBC Newsworld's The Hour

Comedy Festivals:
Just For Laughs Festival
Sudbury Comedy Festival
Winnipeg Comedy Festival
Vancouver Comedy Festival

Comedy Clubs and Venues:
Allah Made Me Funny Comedy Tour
Second City Touring Company
Yuk Yuks Comedy Clubs (Across Canada)
Absolute Comedy
Caroline’s Comedy Club
Stand Up New York
Broadway Comedy Club

Theatres:
The Rose Theater- Brampton
The Norman Rothstein Theater- Vancouver
The Diesel Playhouse- Toronto
Second City Mainstage- Toronto
The Gas Station Theater- Winnipeg
The Panasonic Theater- Toronto

Radio:
CBC Radio
XM Radio Laugh Attack


- Sophie K. Entertainment


"The young, talented, and funny: Sabrina Jalees"

CANADA IS KNOWN for its comedians; Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, and the Kids in the Hall have all helped put Canada on the comedy map. Montreal’s annual Just for Laughs festival is the biggest comedy festival in the world. The latest entry into the Canadian comedy scene is Sabrina Jalees, born in Richmond Hill and known nationwide from her work on MuchMusic’s Video On Trial. The Fulcrum recently spoke with her over the phone about her career and upcoming Jer’s Vision Gala gig in Ottawa.
Peter Henderson: How did you get involved with Jer’s Vision Gala?
Sabrina Jalees: I had heard about the charity before. When they asked me about it, I said “yeah, man!” I love their initiatives and all the cool people they have for the lineup.
You talk a lot about being from two very different nationalities, Swiss and Pakistani.
I think that that has a lot to do with why I’m a comic. I think that oftentimes, comedy comes from these fish-out-of-water experiences, like, being a part of the masses but being outside the masses, so you can say “Masses, why you do things like that?” It gave me enough of an exclusion that I could look at my family or life and find humour in [them].
How did you get into comedy originally?
I started doing comedy when I was 16 years old. I would go to stand-up shows and Second City and stuff when I was still in my teens. It was something that was far enough on the subway line that my friends and I would feel like “We’re cool, we’re going downtown!” but close enough that our parents would say, “They’re not going [to] get tattoos, and their nipples won’t be pierced.” I started going to Yuk Yuk’s a lot in particular, and I started getting that obnoxious urge to perform onstage.
Was it scary for you, being onstage and being so young?
I think for me it was the opposite. It’s not until you fall that, you know—like after my first shitty show, I was like “Oh, wow, I don’t know about this.” But I always love that rush of being onstage and making someone laugh, and if you really are a comic at heart you won’t be able to give that up. I mean, maybe for a TV show. If I got a sitcom, I could quit the road. But I think there’s always something in a comic’s heart that makes them return to the stage.
How did you get involved with Video on Trial?
It was a producer ... who had seen me on my first show on CBC, Smart Ask. He moved to Much[Music] and sort of kick-started Video on Trial. [The show] has got me recognition and increased interest in my live shows.
Comedians often get into acting. Is that something you’re aiming for?
I have always been interested in acting. The first thing I ever did in terms of performing was [when] I auditioned for a part on System Crash, a show on YTV. That was when I was 14. I lined up for three hours with my mom and basically just did stand-up for the routine. I just did a little rant about how bad it was to have braces. I was a drama major in high school, and acting is something I always wanted to do, but ultimately, I want to be a comic actress.

****
You can see more of Sabrina Jalees on her website (http://www.sabrinajalees.com), and in person at the annual Jer’s Vision Gala on Oct. 19. For ticket information, visit http://www.jersvision.org.




- University of Ottawa's Fulcrum


Discography

If You Don't Like Me, You're Probably Racist

Photos

Bio

Sabrina Jalees is a comedian, actor, keynote speaker and writer based in New York City (Brooklyn.)
Since stepping onto the stage of (Torontos) Yuk Yuks amateur night at 16, shes become one of the most recognizable faces in the Canadian media.
Lovers of comedy were immediately intrigued by the -Pakistani, -Swiss teens humor (mostly because she was so damned clever (and admittedly, partially due to her moustache at the time).
She was soon skipping class to tour the country. Going on to record a CTV Comedy Now special, perform at the famed Just For Laughs Festival and break Mike Myers record as the youngest improviser ever hired by Second City.
Between now and then shes crossed over into acting (CBSs Flashpoint, Lifetimes Mom at Sixteen), hosts a Canadian reality series (YTVs In Real Life) as well as a national radio show (CBCs Laugh Out Loud) and is best known for her rapier wit as a fixture of the most popular show on Canadas version of MTV (Much Musics Video On Trial).
Her confidence and ambition has been in the scope of several international publications (Cosmogirl, Marie Claire Italy, ABCs Switched) and has led to the birth of a budding career in motivational speaking. Her comedy itself has caught glimpses of the globe, having toured North America, England and South Africa.
Cut to now. Shes completed her B.A. in Radio and Television Production. Shes moved to the U.S. where shes heavily booked touring colleges across the country. Shes turned some important heads (NBCs Last Comic Standing, Logos Year End Revew, Animal Planets The A-List) and shes working on turning a few more (i.e. You).
Check out her EPK (if you dont like her youre probably racist.)