Tez Ilyas started performing comedy in 2010 – hitting the ground running he found himself in no less than eight competition finals, including the prestigious BBC New Comedy Award and Leicester Mercury New Comedian of the Year.
He achieved phenomenal success with his debut stand up show TEZ Talks, which was met with packed out audiences and huge critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which he performed at in 2013. A totally sold-out run at the Soho Theatre followed, with additional dates at the prestigious Southbank Centre. Such was the success of TEZ Talks, it was adapted into a series for BBC Radio 4.
Tez followed this up with his sophomore show, Made in Britain. A critical and commercial success, he totally sold-out the Edinburgh Fringe run, including extra dates, and received rave reviews and is now embarking on his first national tour in 2017
Tez has appeared on Live From the BBC (BBC Two), Man Like Mobeen (BBC Three), Virtually Famous (E4), The Now Show (BBC Radio 4), @elevenish (ITV2) and The Funny Thing About… (Channel 5) as well as writing and starring in his own scripted comedy shorts for BBC Three, BBC iPlayer and Sky Arts.
“Blackburn-born Ilyas has a slickness more reminiscent of US comics, and the gags to back it up, though his most prized asset could yet be his bold, subversive streak” The Guardian