Bazil Ashmawy
Encyclopedia
Bazil Ashmawy popularly known as Baz Ashmawy, is an Irish
radio and television personality who appears on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
. He is co-host of Weekend Breakfast with Baz & Lucy on RTÉ 2fm
. He was co-host of the reality show Fáilte Towers
on RTÉ One
.
, Ashmawy's mother is from Ballycoogue, Avoca
in County Wicklow
though Ashmawy was born in Libya
and is part-Egyptian
. He moved to Ireland at age eight and grew up in the suburb
of Rathfarnham
on the Southside
of Dublin. He was educated in County Dublin
and in County Offaly
. He began by co presenting the cult comedy travel show How Low Can You Go?
with Michael Hayes and Mark O'Neil. After doing this for five years he went on to manage Ballymanus GAA club in the hit RTÉ 1 series "Celebrity Banisteoir". He also appeared in Jason Byrnes award winning prank series Anonymous
. He later appeared numerous times on RTÉ One's flagship travel show No Frontiers before venturing into his own solo project Baz's Culture Clash on RTÉ Two. The series seeing him living with wild and wonderful people from around the world. His latest project Baz's Extreme Worlds aired on May 10, 2010
travel show, How Low Can You Go?
where he appeared with co-presenters Mark O'Neill
and Michael Hayes
. In remarking on this experiences with that show, Ashmawy said that he loved Las Vegas
where he received a lap dance
from (as he describes) 'a former hooker who looked like she was in her late 50s' and said of his experiences on the set of a porn movie in California
that 'We saw things there that will be in our minds for a very long time.'
Ashmawy is a sports fan who tried his skill at GAA
management on the RTÉ show Celebrity Bainisteoir
. According to The Irish Times
, Ashmawy managed managing his team while wearing 'nicely polished footwear'. When asked in an RTÉ Sport
interview who he would like to see win the 2007 Rugby World Cup
, Ashmawy joked that be was 'not going for the patriotic
'Go Ireland' I'd have to say New Zealand
...typical. How boring is that. Think I've made myself feel a little sick there saying that. I'm going back....'GO IRELAND!'
Despite his popularity, Ashmawy has opined 'Most TV critics hate us' and has also said '...maybe RTÉ will get sick of us as well.' Indeed, an article in the Evening Herald
(subtitled '...Bellowing Baz just seems to have taken off for another planet') complained about Ashmawy's 'unnerving' personal style on Fáilte Towers and said that he 'seems to be addressing a completely different audience
in a completely different programme on a completely different planet
, somewhere inside the universe
of his own head.'
A later article by the same publication said that professionalism was something Ashmawy 'has a distinct lack thereof.'
In addition to appearing on as television host, Ashmawy is an actor who has appeared in television dramas and other programmes. He has also appeared in a plays and short films. Although he says that comedy comes naturally to him, his dramaturgical
background has led him to productions of classical theatre and the works of Shakespeare
.
On the 4th March 2011, Ashmawy's employer, Raidió Teilifís Éireann
, suspended Mr. Ashmawy for a period of one month following a drink driving incident the previous weekend.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
radio and television personality who appears on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
. He is co-host of Weekend Breakfast with Baz & Lucy on RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
. He was co-host of the reality show Fáilte Towers
Fáilte Towers
Fáilte Towers was an RTÉ reality TV show that was broadcast as a one off during August 2008. The concept of the show involves thirteen celebrities running a hotel for sixteen days and nights in order to win money for their designated charities. The show format was not repeated nor was it exported...
on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
.
Personal life
According to an article in the Carlow NationalistCarlow Nationalist
The Carlow Nationalist is an Irish regional newspaper, published each Wednesday. It has three comprehensive sections, containing news, sport and 'living' articles.-History:...
, Ashmawy's mother is from Ballycoogue, Avoca
Avoca, County Wicklow
Avoca is a small town near Arklow, in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated on the River Avoca.The Avoca area has been associated with its famous copper mines for many years and the valley has been immortalised by Thomas Moore in the famous song The Meeting of the Waters...
in County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
though Ashmawy was born in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and is part-Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
. He moved to Ireland at age eight and grew up in the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Rathfarnham
Rathfarnham
Rathfarnham or Rathfarnam is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils.The area of Rathfarnham...
on the Southside
Southside (Dublin)
The Southside is not an official administrative area but a colloquial term referring to the area of County Dublin bounded to the north by the River Liffey to the east by Dublin Bay, to the south and west by the boundaries of County Dublin...
of Dublin. He was educated in County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and in County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
. He began by co presenting the cult comedy travel show How Low Can You Go?
How Low Can You Go?
How Low Can You Go? is an RTÉ comedy travel television programme which runs on RTÉ Two. It involves actors, Michael Hayes, Bazil Ashmawy, and Mark O'Neill visiting various cities and attempting to find the lowest cost to get to and stay in a number of different cities...
with Michael Hayes and Mark O'Neil. After doing this for five years he went on to manage Ballymanus GAA club in the hit RTÉ 1 series "Celebrity Banisteoir". He also appeared in Jason Byrnes award winning prank series Anonymous
Anonymous (TV series)
Anonymous is an Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ Two. Its concept is to disguise well-known personalities, with the use of prosthetic masks, bestow upon them a fake identity and set them up in what are intended to be humorous situations for the sake of entertainment...
. He later appeared numerous times on RTÉ One's flagship travel show No Frontiers before venturing into his own solo project Baz's Culture Clash on RTÉ Two. The series seeing him living with wild and wonderful people from around the world. His latest project Baz's Extreme Worlds aired on May 10, 2010
Career
Ashmawy is 'best known for his antics' on the popular RTÉ TwoRTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...
travel show, How Low Can You Go?
How Low Can You Go?
How Low Can You Go? is an RTÉ comedy travel television programme which runs on RTÉ Two. It involves actors, Michael Hayes, Bazil Ashmawy, and Mark O'Neill visiting various cities and attempting to find the lowest cost to get to and stay in a number of different cities...
where he appeared with co-presenters Mark O'Neill
Mark O'Neill (TV personality)
Mark O'Neill is an Irish television personality and producer. He grew up on the Northside of Dublin City.-Career :O'Neill's on-screen broadcasting career started in 2003. He appeared as a co-host along with Bazil Ashmawy and Michael Hayes on How Low Can You Go?, a budget travel show now in its 4th...
and Michael Hayes
Michael Hayes
Michael Hayes may refer to:* Michael Hayes , TV director of Dr. Who episodes, such as the serial City of Death* Michael Hayes , Irish Fine Gael politician...
. In remarking on this experiences with that show, Ashmawy said that he loved Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
where he received a lap dance
Lap dance
A lap dance is a type of sex work performed in some strip clubs in which a naked or topless dancer performs an erotic dance either in immediate contact with a seated patron, or within a very short distance. With full-contact lap dances, the stripper may engage in non-penetrative sexual contact...
from (as he describes) 'a former hooker who looked like she was in her late 50s' and said of his experiences on the set of a porn movie in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
that 'We saw things there that will be in our minds for a very long time.'
Ashmawy is a sports fan who tried his skill at GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
management on the RTÉ show Celebrity Bainisteoir
Celebrity Bainisteoir
Celebrity Bainisteoir is a prime-time reality programme produced for Radio Telefís Éireann, which was produced by Animo Television/Kite Entertainment...
. According to The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
, Ashmawy managed managing his team while wearing 'nicely polished footwear'. When asked in an RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
interview who he would like to see win the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
, Ashmawy joked that be was 'not going for the patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
'Go Ireland' I'd have to say New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
...typical. How boring is that. Think I've made myself feel a little sick there saying that. I'm going back....'GO IRELAND!'
Despite his popularity, Ashmawy has opined 'Most TV critics hate us' and has also said '...maybe RTÉ will get sick of us as well.' Indeed, an article in the Evening Herald
Evening Herald
The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...
(subtitled '...Bellowing Baz just seems to have taken off for another planet') complained about Ashmawy's 'unnerving' personal style on Fáilte Towers and said that he 'seems to be addressing a completely different audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
in a completely different programme on a completely different planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, somewhere inside the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
of his own head.'
A later article by the same publication said that professionalism was something Ashmawy 'has a distinct lack thereof.'
In addition to appearing on as television host, Ashmawy is an actor who has appeared in television dramas and other programmes. He has also appeared in a plays and short films. Although he says that comedy comes naturally to him, his dramaturgical
Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Dramaturgy is a distinct practice separate from play writing and directing, although a single individual may perform any combination of the three. Some dramatists combine writing and...
background has led him to productions of classical theatre and the works of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
On the 4th March 2011, Ashmawy's employer, Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
, suspended Mr. Ashmawy for a period of one month following a drink driving incident the previous weekend.