Imran Yusuf - Bring the Thunder - 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Show Review
“strong, clever material which builds to a thoroughly uplifting finale…fascinating” **** FEST
Date of live review: Sunday 7th Aug, ‘11
Imran Yusuf is by no means short of confidence. It’s perhaps not surprising: the Kenyan-born, Hackney-raised ex-computer games tester played 101 shows in 25 days at the 2010 Fringe. It’s an experience which, clearly, has left its mark. Here Yusuf breezes through a set of strong, clever material which builds to a thoroughly uplifting finale.
It is identity—specifically it’s malleability and ambiguity—which provides Yusuf with his comedic fodder. Undoubtedly, he speaks from a fascinating place on the topic, his mixed heritage providing him with a unique angle on national identity. This is a cultural no man’s land he works to his advantage, allowing him to exercise his knack for taking topics to the bounds of acceptability, digging deeper into uncomfortable territory on race and religion before dropping, erm, the comedic bomb.
This ebb and flow also allows him room to be, for want of a better word, preachy. But Yusuf steers well clear of boorishness, instead crafting a well rounded show whose central message—that it’s totally right-on to be yourself and to let others do the same—comes through gleefully, stripping away our various affiliations rather than asserting a political one of his own.
There’s the odd weak point – Yusuf can do much better than jokes about boobs and Back to the Future, and a recurring theme of him being “gangster” never looks close to sprouting wings. But these are moments of timidity among otherwise braver material. There are few comedians willing to recite the Qur’an as part of their finale – and still fewer who could make it work.
Review by Evan Beswick, FEST Mag
Incurable diseases and botched suicide attempts aren’t usually a laughing matter, but a taboo-busting new show is attempting to challenge cliches about mental health.
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