One of Britain’s rising comedy talents, Muhsin Yesilada, will be among a formidable line-up of stand-ups heading to Harrow later this month for the latest Desi Central Comedy Show.
The comedian and psychology PhD will appear at Harrow Arts Centre on Friday 25 September, alongside Shazia Mirza, Kae Kurd, Eshaan Akbar and Preet Singh, bringing together five comics known for mining family life, identity, culture and the absurdities of modern Britain for laughs.
For T-VINE readers, Yesilada is undoubtedly one of the night’s big attractions. The British Turkish Cypriot comic has been steadily establishing himself as an exciting new voice on the UK stand-up circuit, with much of his material inspired by growing up between cultures and the colourful dynamics of his Turkish Cypriot upbringing.
His management describes his comedy as combining “razor-sharp punchlines” with personal stories about family life and identity.
He has supported some of Britain’s best-known comedians, including Mo Gilligan, Guz Khan, Tez Ilyas, Babatunde Aléshé, Kae Kurd and Richard Blackwood, while his online sketches and stand-up clips have clocked up more than 100 million views.
Yesilada’s route into comedy has been slightly less conventional than most. Alongside performing stand-up, he completed a PhD in psychology, specialising in areas including disinformation and radicalisation. He started performing seriously in 2021 while studying at the University of Bristol, quickly becoming a regular on the live circuit and reaching the final of the Chortle Student Comedy Awards in 2023.
His academic background may sound far removed from comedy, but Yesilada has turned family expectations, religion, relationships and the experience of growing up in a Muslim Turkish household in Hertfordshire into rich comic material.
He has since appeared at venues including The Glee Club, Top Secret Comedy Club, Hot Water Comedy Club, Big Belly and Up The Creek, as well as earning recognition through the BBC New Comedy Awards. Komedia included Yesilada among its ten club comedians to watch in 2025.
He will have plenty of established company in Harrow. Shazia Mirza has been a fixture of British stand-up and television for more than two decades, while Kurdish-British comedian Kae Kurd has appeared on Live at the Apollo and Comedy Central. Eshaan Akbar boasts credits including the BBC, Netflix and QI, with rising comic Preet Singh, a British Comedian of the Year semi-finalist, completing the bill.
The show forms part of Desi Central, the long-running comedy brand from LuvEntertainment, whose nationwide nights showcase established and emerging comedians from diverse backgrounds while aiming firmly at a mainstream comedy audience.
With five very different comic personalities on one bill, Harrow audiences can expect an evening of sharp observational humour, cultural clashes, troublesome families and plenty of jokes about the peculiarities of British life.
Event Details
Event: Desi Central Comedy Show – Harrow
Date: Friday 25 September 2026
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Harrow Arts Centre, 171 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Harrow HA5 4EA
Featuring: Muhsin Yesilada, Shazia Mirza, Kae Kurd, Eshaan Akbar and Preet Singh
Tickets: are priced £23.50.
