 2010
Fosters Comedy Awards Newcomer Nominated show
The fast-talking lyrical machine-gun comic
slows it down for a deep and meaningful look at life with personal stories and a unique
life philosophy. Based on intense personal experiences, a lot of soul searching, lost
friendships and fights, comes a light-hearted hour on our commonalities as human beings.
Chortle - FIVE STAR
review
Bounding on stage for his first ever solo show at
Edinburgh, Imran Yusuf isn't your stereotypical stand-up. For one thing, he's a
Muslim, though he barely refers to this fact. He is also full of positive energy,
happiness and joie de vivre.
He’s no doom merchant lamenting his lack of luck
with the ladies but a man so full of fun that the audience can't fail to not only warm to
him, but feel positively fired up by his infectious personality. He has the feelgood
factor on tap.
He's no oil painting with his scrawny build, large
nose and irregular teeth, but his smile lights up the room and the sound of his laughter
peppers his material. Born in Kenya, he moved to England at an early age but was educated
in the USA and it is from here that he draws the inspiration for most of his material.
His stories of going to school it the States were told
in faultless American accents and delighted the bunch of Americans in the audience who, by
coincidence, came from the same town.
The comedy drew on his experience of being ridiculed
by the Americans for his English accent, but his cultural comparisons are seen from a
totally different perspective as he subverts the traditional UK-USA dissonance.
By not focussing on the obvious racial stereotypes, he
wins over the entire audience. His happy, positive personality leaves them feeling
uplifted, energised and privileged to have had An Audience With Imran Yusuf. |
