Degrees of Funny: My Path from Lab Coat to Laughs | My Soho Times

As theatre season heats up with the Edinburgh Fringe around the corner, we spotlight one of this year’s most talked-about debut acts. In this timely self-penned piece for My Soho Times, comedian Hasan Al-Habib shares how rejection, resilience, and a PhD led to his long-awaited Cambridge acceptance — and the comedy career that began with a teenage dream and a Celebrity Mastermind episode.

His debut solo show Death To The West (Midlands) runs 30th July–24th August at Pleasance Courtyard, blending sharp satire with personal stories of growing up Iraqi in post-9/11 Britain.

From Baghdad to Footlights: A Comedy Education

University: where many of us spend years working towards, and the rest of our lives reminiscing about. At school, I dreamt of going to Cambridge, partly because it’s a world-leading academic institution. 

Mostly, however, because I wanted to be a comedian.

Aged 15, I watched an episode of Celebrity Mastermind. The contestant, comedian Robert Webb, was asked what advice he would give to budding comics. After a meandering answer about doing comedy at the famous Cambridge Footlights comedy society, host John Humphrys said, “So you’re saying they should go to Cambridge?“. Webb laughed and nodded.

Since then, I’d read that so many greats started out at Footlights: Monty Python, John Oliver, Olivia Colman, Richard Ayoade. Footlights seemed like the key to success in the comedy industry. 

So desperate was I to get into Cambridge that, after my application to study Chemical Engineering was rejected, I took a gap year to reapply. But when sending my second application by post (my first time engaging with the British postal system), I didn’t put enough stamps. Vital details from my application were never received, and once again I was rejected.

Instead, I studied biochemistry at Imperial College London. I then did a Masters at Oxford in Radiation Biology, purely to strengthen my CV, before finally being accepted at Cambridge, for a PhD in Oncology research. 

“Mum, I’m going to Cambridge!” I cried over the phone. “That’s amazing son, well done! But when will you get a real job?”.

A humbling comedown is never far away with Iraqi parents.

Science by Degree, Comedian by Destiny

At the fresher’s fair in my first week, I saw the “Cambridge Footlights” stall and started crying again. My dream of over 10 years was now only metres away. 

But accessing Footlights came at a price – I had to “better myself academically” by studying for degrees at some of the world’s best universities. Here’s how I managed it:

Organisation is key: Work hard, organise harder. People that make the most of university will have competing responsibilities: societal commitments, sports training, project deadlines etc. You’ll go crazy if you don’t keep track of it all – doing so allows you to make the most of uni life.

Work smart, not just hard: At undergraduate level, the harder you work and revise, the better you’ll do. Postgraduate research, however, doesn’t work that way. I spent months troubleshooting my zebrafish genotyping method. Taking the time to read and discuss papers and protocols online made me realise the fin clips themselves were being stored at too cold a temperature…

Remember, you deserve to be there: Imposter syndrome is understandable but illogical. Don’t be put off by people who act like they’re above you – they aren’t. Take up space, you’ve earned the right to do so.

Make friends: I had such a short temper when I was younger. I’d go looking for arguments, earning the nickname “Drama Queen Hasan”. Later, I became someone who instead looks for new friends. 

Friends help you have the best time whilst you’re at uni and often support you afterwards too. My debut solo comedy hour at the Edinburgh Fringe this august, Death to the West (Midlands), is an autobiographical hour about growing up as the only Iraqi at school near Birmingham during the second gulf war. 

Footlights friends that have since appeared on Live at the Apollo, Netflix and late night US talk shows have been an incredibly rich source of advice when composing the show and approaching the fringe more generally. The same applies regardless of your future career.

From the Lab to the Laughs at Pleasance

“Hasan Al-Habib will be famous in at least two languages very soon with an emphatic stage presence and mainstream appeal”  Rolling Stone                                                                

“Deliciously funny and challenging in the way [he] engages with race, class and privilege” The Guardian

Death To The West (Midlands) runs 30^th July – 24^th August at Pleasance Courtyard Below. Tickets available HERE. 

Written by Hasan Al-Habib IG: amusingarab TikTok – Hasan-al-habib-comedy

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