Birmingham-born Muslim stand up Shazia Mirza doesn't sound like she comes from the Black Country.

But maybe that's because it has been hammered home to her that flat nasal drones just won't do.

"The accent definitely comes back when I'm in Birmingham,"she says. "When I went to drama school, they told me to lose it if I wanted to get anywhere in this business."

Received pronunciation firmly back in place Shazia's husky voice is due in part to a bout of laryngitis, although she insists that a planned tour of Pakistan last week was cancelled for security reasons not because of her illness.

"God no, it wasn't because I'm not well. I'm Asian, I work all the time" she quips.

"Some people thought I might provoke a volatile situation over there," she explains. "I can't think why."

Much has been written about Mirza's desire to challenge boundaries with her laconic musings on life as a British Muslim woman. But she certainly doesn't see it that way.

"I don't go out of my way thinking, I must change the world, it's not conscious. A lot of the time, things I say people misinterpret.

"Everyone thinks I'm some amazingly brave woman, they try to turn me into what they want me to be and, before I know it, I'm on Woman's hour and Jenny Murray's my new best friend "I didn't get into comedy because I'm a remarkable woman, it's just what I wanted to do. I wanted to be on the stage but it wasn't acceptable in my culture or family so it turned into a bit of a struggle."

Despite her success - winner of the 2001 Hackney Empire Best New Act at The London Comedy Festival and Metro Magazine's Peoples' Choice for Best Comic in 2002 - Shazia's parents still haven't come to terms with their daughter's chosen career.

"It's like being gay really," she laughs. "We all sit around the dinner table and everybody knows what I do it but nobody talks about it. It's like, 'Whatever you do don't mention what Shazia does at night'. It's a guilty family secret that they're all in denial over and I'm thinking, 'Come on, it's only comedy'. So we end up discussing the weather."

Shazia says touring America came as a complete culture shock, because, unless the material is about America, the audience just don't get it.

"The first time I went, I did some stuff about Sweden and they weren't really sure where Sweden was. They certainly didn't want to hear about it."

But going to the States does allow her to indulge in her other great passion, shoe shopping.

"I only need one pair of shoes but when I'm packing I put in loads," she says.

"You never know when someone will invite you to a party that calls for five-inch stilettos. I just can't stop buying them, especially in America where the pound's so strong."

Although Shazia says that she doesn't really talk about being a Muslim any more, she does acknowledges that for a women to break into the macho world of stand-up it helps to have an angle.

"The thing about women like Jo Brand and Jenny Eclair is that they are different. If you're a woman, you need something else. You have to be either surreal, fat, black or Muslim - anything that's unique."

Starts 8.30pm, Tickets £8/£6, Tel 01273 647100