Comedy review: A Singh in the North!

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Nothing fazes Sid Singh. Not even the woman in front of me loudly clipping her nails.

Laughing Horse @ Dropkick Murphys (Venue 289)

***

“There’s never a bad time to look your best,” he reassures her. He is like that, friendly, funny and smart. Some of his one-liners are little peals of genius and around them we get an explanation of Asian Guilt vs Catholic Guilt, a tale of school bullies and karma that would make Buddha cry, a horrific tale about a “diverse gig” in Birmingham that went hideously wrong, and getting called Gandhi at school. Singh seems like such a jolly sort, it is a surprise when the hour suddenly goes all sex‘n’drugs‘n’being a gentleman in the face of an unexpected penis. It is wonderful stuff.

Sid has a lovely way with words and it is what unites all his stories of Grandma trying to arrange him a marriage, the accepted response to terrible drag, racism and why we should marry as young as possible. Sid is too nice to name him but I think this show could be called How Patrick Monahan Ruined My Career. The story is a good one. Do go. Don’t self-manicure in the front row.

Until 27 August.