Shabana Rehman

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name = Shabana Rehman

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birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1976|7|14
location = Karachi, Pakistan
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nationality = Norwegian
field = stand-up comedy
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Shabana Rehman (born 14 July 1976 in Karachi, Pakistan) is a Norwegian stand-up comedian, internet editor and columnist.

Marriage to fellow comedian

She married stand-up comedian Dagfinn Nordbø in 2003, the two having initially met on the stand-up circuit in 1999. Tabloid newspaper "Dagbladet" listed the couple among the country's most influential opinion shapers. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,685999,00.html Nice Witch of the North] , Time, 22 August 2004] After two years of marriage the couple split up as Rehman was moving to the United States for studies. Then in August 2007 the couple announced that they were divorcing though still remaining friends. [cite news |first= Carina |last= Opsann |title= Shabana Rehman skilles |url= http://www.seher.no/php/art.php?id=400538 |format= |work= Seher.no |publisher= Se og Hør |location= |id= |pages= |page= |date= 14 August 2007 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |language= Norwegian ]

Professional career

She is active in several arenas and is devoted to breaking taboos and creating more openness.

Rehman started her career as a columnist in "VG" in 1996, her debut as a stand-up comedian came in 1999. [http://www.norway.org/culture/performing/Shabana+Rehman+in+New+York.htm Standup comedian and writer Shabana Rehman in New York] ] She later started working as a columnist for "Dagbladet" in 2000 and now regularly writes for newspapers and magazines.

Rehman has received international publicity and has been interviewed by "Time Magazine" and the "New York Times". Her shows have played for full houses in Norway, Denmark, Iceland , and the Faroe Islands. She is fluent in Norwegian, Urdu and English, and has performed in German.

In 2006 Shabana joined the American Comedy Institute in New York.

Debate

These are some of the events that have created debate around her persona. In Scandinavia it is referred to as the "Shabana debate".. She has police protection. [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-8-2005_pg7_39 Shots fired at Pakistani-born comic’s Oslo restaurant] , "Daily Times", 25 August 2005]

Anthropologist Marianne Gullestad accused Rehman of reinforcing stereotypes about Muslims, and making Norwegians think it's ok to discriminate against immigrants.

*25 August 2005 - Shots were fired at a restaurant owned by Rehman's sister.
*21 August 2005 - Rehman was invited to the opening of the Norwegian International Film Festival and was granted huge press attention after kissing the then cultural minister of Norway Valgerd Svarstad Haugland (Haugland represents the Christian Democrats (KrF) of Norway and has worked extensively against gay rights). She also flashed her naked bottom saying "I want to show that in Norway, you can do such things without being lynched or arrested."
*19 March 2005 - In a commentary in Dagbladet, "Fødemaskinens fødselsarv" (Translated: The birth heritage of the breeding machine) she talked openly about her own abortion.
*27 April 2004 - Rehman was granted enormous publicity both in national and international press after lifting Mullah Krekar. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article783368.ece Immigrant comedienne maddens Mullah] , Aftenposten, 28 April 2004] . The event resulted in a complaint to the police but was later closed with the reasoning: 'there is currently no reasonable ground for the public to search for perpetrations that the public should persecute'. Her own reason for doing this stunt was: -A person that can be lifted isn't that dangerous.
*2000 - Posed nude on the cover of Dagbladet with the Norwegian flag painted on her, saying "I take my clothes off to provoke the authoritarians in order to expose them."

Prizes

*2001 - Lions Clubs International award
*2002 - Freedom of Expression Foundation award
*2006 - Danish Free Press Society's Freedom of Print award (shared with Roy W Brown)

ee also

* Norwegians of Pakistani descent

References

Further reading

* "Skien Journal; Where East Meets West Warily, She Makes Them Laugh", New York Times, 14 November 2003

External links

* [http://www.shabana.no/ Shabana's homepage]
* [http://www.nrk.no/litteratur/forfattere/1760802.html Biography at NRK] (Norwegian)