Comedy review: Schalk Bezuidenhout: South African White Boy Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33), Edinburgh

While it might seem bold for a white comedian to have so many takes on race, as an Afrikaans South African, Schalk Bezuidenhout appreciates that, like the jarring charity announcement before his show, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

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No matter that he’s not the rugby-playing stereotype, preferring chess and choir singing, still less that he was born after Apartheid ended.

He also argues for the British’s influence in creating the racial segregation of his homeland and offers an excruciatingly funny account of his choir’s superficial political correctness, their efforts to be on the right side of history only superficially skin-deep.

Bezuidenhout is confident in who he is, even if that’s the sort of guy who perennially finds himself in a friendzone with girls.

While he doesn’t distance himself too far from them, he’s a little cruel about the unattractive, though his blithe, straight-talking delivery is part of his abrupt, outsider charm.

He mocks what the first world describes as news and improvises admirably when the lights fail for an extended period in his venue.

That situation in part might explain why his closing anecdote of his celebrity back home felt tacked on and underwhelming.

Until 26 August. Today 9:30pm

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