10 Cal Alumnae You Should Know (Cal Alumni Association)

Zahra Noorbakhsh ’06 is revolutionizing comedy by embracing diversity and her unconventional story. Through comedy, she makes a point to counter the assumptions audiences tend to make of her as a woman, a Muslim person of color, and an LGBTQ individual. Noorbakhsh’s work offers a perspective and narrative that are not customarily encountered in comedy. She is the co-host of the #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast, which explores the American Muslim female experience. In 2019, both performances of her stand-up comedy special, On Behalf of All Muslims, were sold out. As a senior fellow at Pop Culture Collaborative, she has called much-needed attention to the stereotypes she has surmounted in order to give way to a fresh, inclusive format for stand-up comedy—one that brings the more uncommon narratives into the limelight and makes them common. Learn more about Noorbakhsh and her style of comedy.