29-year-old Humza Arshad regularly addresses young British Muslim students in London schools about extremism. He jokes about Pakistani parents, Eid, when one eats a “whole month’s ration in a day” and girls with moustaches.

Amid all the frivolity in Hamza Arshad’s stand-ups, however, lies a message. He wants Muslim youngsters to laugh at extremism, not embrace it. Watch one of his videos here:

Humza’s audience loves him because he represents them and knows them.

The Washington Post reports that Arshad’s comic routine has an unlikely supporter in New Scotland Yard, London’s special investigative branch. The police have partnered with Arshad and sponsors him to engage with Muslim teenagers at London high schools against extremism in an approachable and humorous fashion.

Arshad’s message is also communicated through the 50 odd videos he has made over the years for his YouTube channel, Humza Productions. The channel has had over 62 million views since 2009, and has a subscriber base of 2.4 lac users. He goes by the moniker, Badman in many of his videos.

I want to show that as Muslims we are about peace - and not as we are portrayed. I want to show the world that we are just like everyone else.
– Humza to BBC

Rick Warrington, a police officer involved with counter-extremism outreach in schools for six years, now appears in Arshad’s slapstick comedy on stage, and in his videos.