# Guz Khan
**Guz Khan** (born 1986, birth name Ghulam Dustgir Khan) is an English comedian, actor, and writer from Coventry, best known as the creator and star of the BBC comedy *[Man Like Mobeen](https://www.edgepedia.org/man-like-mobeen)* (2017–2025). He began performing while working as a secondary school teacher, posting comedy videos as the character Mobeen, and went on to win a [Royal Television Society](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-television-society) award and receive two BAFTA nominations.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1986, Coventry, England, as Ghulam Dustgir Khan; of Pakistani descent, with two older sisters[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) |
| Former career | Secondary school teacher in Coventry, later head of department at Grace Academy; gave up teaching in 2015 for standup[2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) • [3](https://birmingham.livingmag.co.uk/guz-khan/) |
| Breakthrough | June 2015 viral video as Mobeen mocking a *Jurassic World* line that sounded like a racial slur[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/141246/guz-khan) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/09/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-citizen-khan-on-the-buses) |
| Signature show | *Man Like Mobeen*, BBC, 2017–2025, five series, co-written with Andy Milligan[2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) • [6](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television-feb20-lo-res.pdf) |
| Awards | Three RTS Midlands prizes (2018); RTS award 2020; two BAFTA nominations[7](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/january19-television-low-res.pdf) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) |
| Screen work | *Army of Thieves* (2021), *The Bubble* (2022), *Our Flag Means Death*, *Digman!* (voice of Zane Troy), *That Christmas* (voice of Dasher, 2024), *The Gentlemen* series two[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/guz_khan) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/05/how-guz-khan-became-an-unlikely-festive-tv-icon-interview-stuffed) |
| Recent roles | Zulfi, cousin of Riz Ahmed's character, in Prime Video's *Bait* (2026); host of *Guz Khan's Custom Cars*[10](https://www.easterneye.biz/guz-khan-riz-ahmed-chemistry-new-show/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) |
## Early life and teaching career
Khan was born in Coventry in 1986, is of Pakistani descent, and grew up with two older sisters.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) He has said he was raised largely by his mother and sisters, who were considerably older than him, and spent his youth in Hillfields, an ethnically mixed, working-class suburb of the city.[11](https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/academy/academyfiles/Making_Man_Like_Mobeen_with_Guz_Khan_%28Transcript%29.pdf) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/30/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-as-a-child-of-immigrants-i-cant-help-but-be-politicised) After graduating from [Coventry University](https://www.edgepedia.org/coventry-university) he worked as a teacher, rising to head of department at Grace Academy Coventry.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) • [3](https://birmingham.livingmag.co.uk/guz-khan/)
**The classroom as training.** He later credited teaching with teaching him to perform. "Every hour of every day teaching is a performance," he told the *Evening Standard*, explaining that holding the attention of children with difficult lives made standup "a doddle".[13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) He was named his school's teacher of the year three years running.[14](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/man_like_mobeen/interview/guz_khan/)
## The Mobeen videos and viral breakthrough
In 2014, while still teaching, Khan began uploading comedy videos in which he played Mobeen, a British Muslim character, at first under the alias Guzzy Bear so his pupils would not find out.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) • [3](https://birmingham.livingmag.co.uk/guz-khan/) He has described the videos as jokes made for WhatsApp groups of friends before a friend pushed him to post them on Facebook and YouTube; the first uploads drew about 30 likes and some local West Midlands news attention.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/sep/13/guz-khan-comedian-man-like-mobeen)
In June 2015 a video in which Mobeen expressed mock outrage at a line in *Jurassic World* went viral: a character's shout of "the Pachys are out of containment", an abbreviation of [pachycephalosaurus](https://www.edgepedia.org/pachycephalosaurus), sounded like a racial slur for people of Pakistani descent, and Khan's character called for a boycott of the film.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/141246/guz-khan) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/09/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-citizen-khan-on-the-buses) The video's popularity prompted him to leave teaching and pursue comedy full time.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) [Steve Coogan](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-coogan)'s production company Baby Cow then invited him to make a BBC comedy short, and he picked up a radio slot on [BBC Asian Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-asian-network) along with appearances on *Drunk History* and the mockumentary *Borderline*.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/09/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-citizen-khan-on-the-buses)
## Man Like Mobeen
*Man Like Mobeen*, written by Khan and Andy Milligan, debuted on [BBC Three](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-three) in 2017 and ran for five series, ending in 2025.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) • [6](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television-feb20-lo-res.pdf) Khan plays Mobeen, a 28-year-old British Muslim of Pakistani heritage in [Small Heath](https://www.edgepedia.org/small-heath), Birmingham, who tries to leave a criminal past behind while looking after his younger sister Aks and his friends Eight (Tez Ilyas) and Nate (Tolu Ogunmefun).[13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/30/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-as-a-child-of-immigrants-i-cant-help-but-be-politicised) The show mixes comedy with subjects including racism, [Islamophobia](https://www.edgepedia.org/islamophobia), mental health, food banks, and knife crime, and drew attention for an early episode in which Mobeen is locked in a police van with a far-right leader modeled on Tommy Robinson, a character the BBC initially resisted.[13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) • [16](https://www.nme.com/features/tv-interviews/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-2600407)
**Authenticity and method.** Khan has said he wrote the first versions in the Notes app on his iPhone and that the production was deliberately loose, with improvisation a large part of the process.[17](https://rts.org.uk/article/guz-khan-man-midlands) He was dissatisfied with the 2016 pilot, calling it "the biggest piece of shit I ever made", and reworked the show after visiting Small Heath with producer Gill Isles and director Ollie Parsons, where a local woman asked them not to "mug us off".[18](https://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2023/05/30/53236/man_like_mobeen_pilot_was_the_biggest_piece_of_shit_i_ever_made) The fourth series, which followed a three-year hiatus and was partly inspired by a cousin's eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence at the start of the Covid lockdowns, moved the characters into prison.[18](https://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2023/05/30/53236/man_like_mobeen_pilot_was_the_biggest_piece_of_shit_i_ever_made) • [13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) At the RTS Midlands Awards the sitcom won Khan three prizes in 2018, and he received a Royal Television Society award in 2020 and two BAFTA nominations.[7](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/january19-television-low-res.pdf) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview)
The show has also drawn scholarly attention: an academic study describes *Man Like Mobeen* as serving the BBC's 2016 remit for socially cohesive representation, portraying British Pakistani-Muslim life in Small Heath in 20-minute episodes.[19](https://pinakes.wacclearinghouse.org/article/993517) • [20](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13675494251348359?download=true)
## Screen work beyond Mobeen
Khan's acting career extended to Hollywood during the Covid period. His film credits include Rolph in *Army of Thieves* (2021), a role in [Judd Apatow](https://www.edgepedia.org/judd-apatow)'s *The Bubble* (2022), and Mr. Atkins in *How to Date Billy Walsh* (2024).[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/guz_khan) • [13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) His television work includes Netflix's *Turn Up Charlie* with [Idris Elba](https://www.edgepedia.org/idris-elba), Hulu's *Four Weddings and a Funeral* remake, [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max)'s *Our Flag Means Death*, and the voice of Zane Troy in the animated series *Digman!* (2023–2025).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/30/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-as-a-child-of-immigrants-i-cant-help-but-be-politicised) He also appeared in series two of Guy Ritchie's *The Gentlemen*.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/05/how-guz-khan-became-an-unlikely-festive-tv-icon-interview-stuffed)
**A festive fixture.** Khan has become a recurring presence in British Christmas television. He voiced the reindeer Dasher in [Richard Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-curtis)'s animation *That Christmas* (2024), made a festive special with [James Acaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-acaster) testing the science of *Home Alone*, and stars as Arslan, a Muslim father in an interfaith marriage, in the Lapland-set BBC comedy *Stuffed* (2025), opposite [Morgana Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/morgana-robinson), on which he also served as executive producer.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/05/how-guz-khan-became-an-unlikely-festive-tv-icon-interview-stuffed) • [21](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/guz-khan/) In 2026 he plays Zulfi, the business-savvy cousin, raised as a brother, of Riz Ahmed's character Shah Latif in *Bait*, a six-part Prime Video comedy created by Ahmed about a struggling British-Pakistani actor who auditions for James Bond; Zulfi's goal is to expand his business, Muber, short for Muslim Uber.[10](https://www.easterneye.biz/guz-khan-riz-ahmed-chemistry-new-show/) • [22](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/bait-review-tvs-new-james-bond-is-hilariously-insecure-muslim-actor-riz-ahmed/) He also fronts the unscripted series *Guz Khan's Custom Cars*, which began on Quest in January 2026.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/05/how-guz-khan-became-an-unlikely-festive-tv-icon-interview-stuffed) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview)
## Stand-up
Khan performs standup built on extended storytelling rather than polished one-liners. His tours have filled the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End, where one critic called him "a formidable entertainer", and the Eventim Apollo.[13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) • [23](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/jan/25/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-review-eventim-apollo-london) His material draws on his childhood in a conservative Muslim family in 1980s Coventry, his older sisters, and his mother's enduring lack of interest in his fame; when he was nominated for a BAFTA, she remarked that the trophy "looks like it's in TK Maxx on the discount aisle".[24](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2023/01/27/52432/guz_khan_live) • [13](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html) His 2023 tour was the first since his *Taskmaster* appearance propelled him into the mainstream.[24](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2023/01/27/52432/guz_khan_live)
## Personal life
Khan is married and lives in the West Midlands. Sources differ on the number of his children: his IMDb biography states four, while a December 2025 Guardian interview states five.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview) Asked for his greatest achievement, he has said it is "turning my life around", moving away from the level of criminality he was involved with as a young man.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview)
## References
1. [Guz Khan – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7960400/bio/)
2. [Guz Khan: 'What do I most dislike about my appearance? My breasts', The Guardian (13 December 2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/guz-khan-actor-comedian-writer-interview)
3. [Guz Khan, Birmingham Living](https://birmingham.livingmag.co.uk/guz-khan/)
4. [Guz Khan, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/141246/guz-khan)
5. [Man Like Mobeen's Guz Khan: 'Citizen Khan reminds me of On the Buses', The Guardian (9 January 2018)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/09/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-citizen-khan-on-the-buses)
6. [Guz Khan profile, RTS Television magazine (February 2020)](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television-feb20-lo-res.pdf)
7. [Guz Khan scores hat trick of wins, RTS Television magazine (January 2019)](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/january19-television-low-res.pdf)
8. [Guz Khan, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/guz_khan)
9. ['Christmas paid for the extension on my house!' How Guz Khan became an unlikely festive TV icon, The Guardian (5 December 2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/05/how-guz-khan-became-an-unlikely-festive-tv-icon-interview-stuffed)
10. [My bond with Riz Ahmed: Guz Khan reveals secret of chemistry in new show, Eastern Eye (16 April 2026)](https://www.easterneye.biz/guz-khan-riz-ahmed-chemistry-new-show/)
11. [Making Man Like Mobeen with Guz Khan, BBC Academy transcript](https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/academy/academyfiles/Making_Man_Like_Mobeen_with_Guz_Khan_%28Transcript%29.pdf)
12. [Guz Khan: 'As a child of immigrants, I can't help but be politicised', The Guardian (30 March 2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/30/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-as-a-child-of-immigrants-i-cant-help-but-be-politicised)
13. [Guz Khan: 'Man Like Mobeen resonated with the world bro, it blows my mind', The Standard (2 June 2023)](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-series-4-interview-b1084670.html)
14. [Guz Khan interview – Man Like Mobeen, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/man_like_mobeen/interview/guz_khan/)
15. [Guz Khan: 'I didn't have an agent, I just had my mates', The Guardian (13 September 2022)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/sep/13/guz-khan-comedian-man-like-mobeen)
16. ['Man Like Mobeen' star Guz Khan: "Anyone can make a generic sitcom – but we want to present real issues", NME](https://www.nme.com/features/tv-interviews/man-like-mobeen-guz-khan-2600407)
17. [Guz Khan: Man of the Midlands, Royal Television Society (9 June 2023)](https://rts.org.uk/article/guz-khan-man-midlands)
18. [Man Like Mobeen pilot was 'the biggest piece of shit I ever made', Chortle (30 May 2023)](https://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2023/05/30/53236/man_like_mobeen_pilot_was_the_biggest_piece_of_shit_i_ever_made)
19. [Transcultural Comedy in Man Like Mobeen (2017–2023), Pinakes](https://pinakes.wacclearinghouse.org/article/993517)
20. [Streaming video and diasporic worldmaking, Sage Journals](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13675494251348359?download=true)
21. [Guz Khan, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/guz-khan/)
22. [TV's New James Bond Is a Hilariously Insecure Muslim Actor, The Daily Beast (25 March 2026)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/bait-review-tvs-new-james-bond-is-hilariously-insecure-muslim-actor-riz-ahmed/)
23. [Guz Khan review – Man Like Mobeen star relishes the outrageous, The Guardian (25 January 2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/jan/25/guz-khan-man-like-mobeen-review-eventim-apollo-london)
24. [Guz Khan Live review, Chortle (27 January 2023)](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2023/01/27/52432/guz_khan_live)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › British and Irish comedians › Alternative comedy generation*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license