Tarek Ziad is an LA based artist who received his Theater Degree from Yale on full scholarship. Described as having “abundant charm, excellent timing, and sharp instincts” by The New Haven Independent, Tarek graduated as the first in his family to attend university, with Honors, and as a finalist for the Louis Sudler Prize in The Performing and Creative Arts. He has found himself in every corner of performance since, from playing the iconic role of Belize in Angels in America, to his viral YouTube video Mumps Quarantine at Yale, to his original solo pieces Laughing at Crying Babies and Give Me The MacArthur Genius Grant.
On stage, Tarek has appeared in a variety of works, including the Subveritas premiere at San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater, the Holiday Craptacular at Brooklyn’s Colt Coeur Theater, and in performances of ILLEGAL: A New Musical. He’s trained under world renowned professors from The Yale School of Drama including James Bundy (Shakespeare), Gregory Wallace (Chekhov), and Chris Bayes (Clowning), and has completed scene study work at NYC’s The Barrow Group. Tarek also spent Fall 2022 in residency at Burlington’s The Flynn Theater developing a new play with fellow artist Deb Margolin.
In the world of comedy, Tarek first began his pursuit of the laugh with his 2016 viral YouTube video, landing him on RightThisMinute, Yahoo News, NBC Nightly, HelloGiggles, The Doctors, and more. He would go on to produce many more digital sketches, including commissions for the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance. Beyond sketch comedy, Tarek has further honed his comedic skills as the director of The Exit Players, Yale's oldest and nationally touring improv comedy group, and as a stand-up comedian in NYC, where he hosted The Backyardigang, an outdoor comedy show raising money for local mutual aid organizations.
Tarek is a member of SAG-AFTRA and works in Film, TV, and Theater through manager Tam Sackman at Anomaly Artists and agent Amy Posey at Eris Talent. When not auditioning for roles or performing stand-up, he is producing showings of his latest piece, Give Me The MacArthur Genius Grant. Tarek has a working understanding of Arabic, French, and German, is a trained singer, breakdancer, and fight choreographer, and can be seen in the most recent season of The Equalizer on CBS.
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