Aliya Kanani

Aliya brings her high energy and vibrant nature to every show. She is easily able to adjust her act to suit her audiences and modify her material for clean/corporate comedy. Her mission is to make sure everyone has a good time and remind everyone not to take life too personally.

A reviewer once called her “delightfully tickling”!

Here's are a couple more reviews from her solo show to give you an idea of her flavour:

"The heart of Kanani's show is in forming a ‘togetherness’ with the room and her audience…ensuring the audience always has plenty to laugh at and plenty to bond over.” - My Melbourne Arts, 2019

"By the end you feel like you could easily watch another hour of her – display her comical wisdom. " ★★★★ Fourth Wall Media, 2020

Aliya Kanani, an award-winning standup comedian, Canadian academy award-nominated actress and writer, captivates audiences globally with her vibrant personality and sharp wit.

As a standup comedian, Aliya has toured around the world in Canada, Australia, South Africa, UK and USA. She has performed at Just For Laughs, JFL42, Johannesburg International Comedy Festival, Seattle International Comedy Competition, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Chicago’s Breakout Festival and more. She was a semi-finalist in the nation-wide NBC Standup competition in New York. Her comedy can be heard on CBC’s LOL network and SiriusXM.

Her one-woman show, ‘Where You FROM, From?’, celebrated for its humor and deep engagement with themes of identity and belonging, has won accolades at Ottawa and Toronto Fringe Festivals. Aliya disarms audiences with her playful mischief, tackling complex topics like race, gender, and social labels with humor, sharing personal stories from her life as a nomad and debunking assumptions. Currently touring North America and developing a new show in Australia, Aliya’s performances invite laughter while fostering a connection to humanity.

Notably nominated as Best Lead Actress for the Canadian academy awards for her performance in ‘Scarborough,’, it was also her first role in film. She has gone on to take on roles in films that have landed her at the Toronto International Film Festival three years in a row!

After creating her first web-series, ‘Juicy’, Aliya has since written for the sketch comedy show ‘Abroad’ and was a finalist in the Just for Laughs ‘Standup & Pitch’ competition for her comedy variety series ‘HYPE’.

Aliya continues to expand her creative repertoire in comedy, film and television, maintaining a legacy of impactful entertainment.