We recently had great fun welcoming Tez Ilyas (MSc Management, 2005, BSc Biochemistry, 2004, Furness) back to campus as part of his rearranged UK ‘Vicked’ Tour. He joined us prior to the gig to give an update on how his career was developing since we last interviewed him for the alumni magazine in 2016 as he was just venturing full time into comedy.

Since swapping the civil service for the comedy circuit, Tez has appeared on Live at The Apollo (BBC Two), The Last Leg (C4), Man Like Mobeen (BBC Three), Mock the Week (BBC Two), Live From the BBC (BBC Two), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central), Live from the Comedy Store (Comedy Central), Kevin Hart’s Live from Montreal (LOL Network), Virtually Famous (E4), The Now Show (BBC Radio 4), Roast Battle (Comedy Central), The Rob Rinder Verdict (C4) The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (C4) and currently Steph's Packed Lunch (C4). In 2019 he fronted his own Channel 4 satirical sketch series The Tez O’Clock Show and in 2020, Tez released his first stand -up comedy special, Teztify, recorded live at the Southbank Centre, playing out exclusively on YouTube. His debut novel The Secret Diary of a British Muslim Aged 13 3/4, a teenage memoir, was released in April 2021.

We took the opportunity to ask a few quick questions before he headed to the Nuffield Theatre:

How do you prepare for your tour gigs?

I'm quite relaxed these days. When I first started it was different, but my timekeeping isn't great, so I tend to be a bit last minute. In fact, I'm a year late for this gig!

How did you cope with the lockdowns during the pandemic?

I actually enjoyed spending some time back at home. I've been back in Blackburn with my Mum as I moved out of London when I quit my day job back in 2016, but I didn't feel I was particularly missing out or left behind as the whole world had stopped. Initially I had little stamina when it all opened up again, but I had spent a lot of time doing TV work plus exercise and meditation, so quite enjoyed it, although the second lockdown after Christmas 2020 was pretty miserable.

How did you end up doing your 'Tez Talks?'

I took a show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 and it went really well. BBC Radio 4 really liked it and put me together with my producer and we ended up doing 16 episodes in total for Radio 4, all inspired by life as a British Muslim. People keep asking me to make more, but it’s on hiatus for the moment.

How do you regard your relationship with social media?

I have a love/hate relationship with it, but I have to do it as part of my work. I keep ending up in ‘interesting’ conversations as I tend to say what I think!

Which comedians have influenced you and do you have a favourite appearance on a particular show?

I have quite a few including Stewart Lee, Russell Peters and Dave Chappelle. Live at the Apollo is one of my favourite gigs to date and supporting Trevor Noah at the O2 Arena with a crowd of 15,000 was amazing. The best bit about being the support is that often you're unknown, but if you're good, you instantly create loads of new fans!

Mock the Week is quite stressful if you are not a regular as you don't get much chance to get into it as a guest, so there's a lot of pressure in a relatively short space of time.

How do you write your material?

I do a mix of dedicating specific time to try and sit and write, but equally if an idea comes to me I ensure I jot it down as and when I think of it.

When will we see you on 'Strictly?'

As it happens they asked me to a zoom meeting last year and I do enjoy dancing. It was during lockdown and I was getting up quite late. Around midday on this particular day, my manager kept ringing me and I ignored it and when I finally answered he reminded me that I was due to be part of the meeting. By the time I got around to joining it (16 minutes late) they had given up! So, maybe one for the future...

What do you miss about Lancaster?

My four years at Lancaster were amazing - I miss my friends and I miss my nights out (my gigs are my nights out now) Those four years formed the basis of what I became.

What happens next?

I have all sorts of ideas for TV but I'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'll just keep on going...

Tez performed to a full house on campus and gave a student member of the LU comedy society a bit of performance time in addition to his own support act, Jamie Hutchison (well done student Fred!) We look forward to Tez’s next appearance back at his alma mater - if we can still afford him by then!

(Tez at LU in 2005 as part of the alumni department call team)