Enissa Amani

Enissa Amani is an Iranian-German comedian, artist, and activist born on 8 December 1981 in Tehran, Iran. She is widely recognized for her stand-up comedy focusing on social issues, politics, ethnicity, and racism. Amani achieved international distinction as the first European woman to present an international stand-up special on Netflix. Beyond her performances, she is a prominent activist addressing various human rights topics and social justice issues across Europe and internationally.

Amani spent her earlier years studying law at the University of Cologne in Germany while competing in beauty contests, winning titles such as Miss West-Germany. She eventually left her legal studies to pursue literature and philosophy. After working briefly as a television host on QVC for a few months, she made her stand-up comedy debut at an open mic event in 2013. This marked the beginning of her transition into full-time entertainment and comedy performance.

Following her comedy debut, Amani quickly gained visibility through appearances on several German television programs and late-night shows, including TV total, NightWash, Stand-up Migrants, and The Satire Summit. In 2014, she earned a nomination for the Prix Pantheon jury prize. The following year, she participated in the RTL Comedy Grand Prix and competed on the reality competition show Let's Dance alongside dance partner Christian Polanc, finishing in fourth place. She also appeared in the 2015 film Fack ju Göhte 2 and received the Deutscher Comedypreis award for Best Newcomer.

In 2018, Amani released her stand-up special Ehrenwort on Netflix, making her the first German and first European woman to host an international special on the platform. She followed this success in 2019 with another Netflix short-special titled Comedians of the World. During this period, she expanded her career to English-language stand-up comedy, performing at notable venues including the Soho Theatre in London, the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, and the Comedy Cellar in New York. The German broadcaster ZDF featured her trip to New York in the documentary project Heroes.

In 2020, Amani produced, created, and hosted Die beste Instanz, a viral panel talk show addressing racism. The show earned her the prestigious Grimme Online Preis in 2021. Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades, including the 2019 Glammy Award for Character of the Year from Glamour Germany magazine, the 2022 Emotion Magazin Award, the 2022 Hamza Kurtovic Award for her work against racism, and the 2022 Hurz Award for extraordinary social contributions.

Since 2019, Amani has actively campaigned for human rights, focusing on racism in Germany, human rights in Iran, sexism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and issues in Afghanistan. Politicians regularly invite her to give public addresses, such as her speeches at the Frankfurt Römerberg for Black Lives Matter in 2020 and Woman Life Freedom in 2022. Her engagement on social media includes a large following on Instagram, which encompasses high-ranking German politicians and the German foreign minister. A clip from her 2022 speech on humanity on the satirical program Die Anstalt also went viral.

Amani's public profile continued to grow through high-profile events and global initiatives. In March 2024, her likeness was transformed into a Barbie doll alongside other female celebrities to mark the 65th anniversary of International Women's Day. In September 2025, she participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to protest the Gaza war, departing the flotilla due to a medical condition shortly before Israeli forces seized its vessels in October 2025.