Guz Khan hints at frustrating end of Man Like Mobeen: ‘I’m definitely going to p*** people off’-Dave Freak-Entertainment – Metro

Guz Khan is reviving Man Like Mobeen for a fourth series (Picture: Kohinoor Singh)

Guz Khan has something to say. ‘I have to give Joe Lycett a massive shout out,’ he declares forcefully.

Eight years ago, Coventry teacher Guz had been uploading videos online for a spell, much to the amusement of mostly friends and family. But his Pakisaurus sketch – hilariously slamming 2015’s Jurassic World – had unexpectedly gone viral.

Joe, based in nearby Birmingham, had spotted the skit and messaged him.

‘He said: “Are you a stand-up comedian?” And I said: “Ummmm, noooo, but I could be!”’

And so began Guz’s stellar stand-up career, as Joe – unaware Guz had never set foot inside a comedy club before – convinced the ‘comic’ to open for him at The Glee Club, the region’s premier comedy venue.

Despite his lack of experience, Guz’s obvious charm and down-to-earth patter wowed the audience.

‘I didn’t really have material and just did crowd work,’ Guz laughs. ‘But I came off stage and [Joe] said to me: “You are going places, you prick!”

Joe Lycett convinced Guz to open his show for him (Picture: Getty)

The appearance quickly led to further stand-up bookings, setting Guz on a meteoric career trajectory that now spans countless panel and chat shows (from Celebrity Gogglebox and Blankety Blank, to Taskmaster and The Last Leg), his own Bafta-winning sitcom (Man Like Mobeen), plus Hollywood movie Army Of Thieves, and Judd Apatow’s The Bubble.

Looking back at Joe’s invitation he says: ‘If that had never happened, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get to a comedy club.’

Despite his love of live performances, where he typically shares the stage with several other acts, an increasingly packed film and TV schedule has meant it’s taken Guz several years to finally get his own full headline UK tour booked.

Guz presenting an award at the 2021 MOBO Awards with Alex Scott (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s weird, I love stand-up, I think it’s the purest form of art and communication I get to do, but I rarely get the chance to do it. I was talking to Romesh [Ranganathan] about this and he said that the thing he loves most in the world is stand-up comedy: it’s him and his audience. But between all the other things we have to do… by the time you get all that stuff done, it leaves such a little window for stand-up that you just wish there was more.’

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Guz’s debut tour sees the writer/comic/actor combine personal recollections and observations about growing up in Coventry with a good slab of rollicking off-the-cuff audience chat.

‘It’s weird bro,’ I think that stand-up is an art form, and really the more I’ve investigated different types of stand-up and different types of performer, I respect so much people who hone almost every word. [But] I’m not sure that’s something I could ever do.

‘I feel my nature, my personality, is that I’m always up for a laugh. If I’m in Aldi, Lidl, [or] buying a spare tyre for my car, I end up there for an hour-and-a-half, because I like talking to people.

‘So I think that’s definitely a unique part of the hour – we always find time to interact with the audience.’

Alongside the live dates, Guz is also putting the finishing touches to season four of his ground-breaking Birmingham-set sitcom, Man Like Mobeen.

Last seen in 2020, the co-writer, creator and star was ‘really quite concrete on leaving the story where it was’. But post-pandemic, Guz felt the time was right for Mobeen to return, with the final run finding the central characters ‘in the bin’ (ie. prison).

Guz on the Jonathan Ross Show in 2021 (Picture: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)

‘It was a challenge, initially, because we’re so used to seeing these characters in Small Heath, and seeing the vibrancy of an area like that, and always being out and about, moving at a pace,’ says Guz, who co-writes with Andy Milligan.

Though he won’t reveal any spoilers, Guz does hint that the conclusion may not please everyone.

‘I quite enjoy leaving the audience [saying]: “What’s gonna happen next?” That’s real life, in a way, you don’t always get all the answers in real life.

‘So I’m definitely going to p*** the audience off, which is the great joy of writing,’ he says. ‘But you’ve got to let me have that.’

Guz Khan Live! continues until February 4

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