Hajar J. Woodland

Hajar's a British-Iranian standup and singer, and contestant on Channel 4's Secret Genius - a British Bakeoff for brainboxes hosted by Alan Carr and Susie Dent.

She been gigging for more than 15 years in the UK and Europe, performing as a singer, compere and comic at top-tier corporate events and at luxury venues for stars such as Steve Vai, Ron White, TV chef Monica Galetti, and for he family of the late Sean Connery.

Hajar started standup in 2021 and has since completed Soho Theatre's sought-after Comedy Plus Lab, twice beaten the Comedy Store gong and performed her musical comedy solo hour at Soho Theatre's Soho Rising Festival. She'll be redeveloping the show and debuting it at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Videos

Hajar "does exasperation really well" (-Currer Ball), and her blend of confessional and observational comedy is warm and self-deprecating with bitter notes, as she explores her Muslim background, daddy issues, non-motherhood, and the limits of her own labels in a label-obsessed society.

Hajar has a history degree from King's College London and a master's in creative writing from the University of Kent in Paris. A copywriter, presenter and content producer, she's been a judge at the British Podcast Awards, was published by Virago, and also wrote McLaren Racing's first-ever sustainability report. She's made programmes for BBC Radio and written for national publications including The Spectator, Stylist, The Independent, and The Times.

She's appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on several occasions, most recently to talk about the themes of her show First Love, and as a guest on Mathew Syed's BBC podcast Sideways. Hajar's spoken at literary events including Bath Literature Festival and the Women's Prize for Fiction with Kate Mosse and Kathy Lette, and interviewed Booker-winning novelist Douglas Stuart.

She loves Formula 1, examining social and cultural phenomena, and knows far too much about Friends.

Hajar's available for gigs and presenting work, and would love to be a guest on your podcast.

Sign up to the mailing list to stay in touch.