A Pakistani contribution to the Perth International Comedy Festival demonstrates the universal human experience and sense of humour.
Sami Shah served up a tightly-scripted, succinct performance for his one-night-only stint at Perth’s International Comedy Festival.
Shah is a recent arrival to Australia, but in his 10 months here has been a quick study of the quirks and vagaries of local life. His set was at times edgy, as he joked about terrorism, immigrant detention centres, boat people and even the 2013 Boston Marathon incident. However, he pulled his punches, staying fairly genial and swinging back to middle of the road topics such as cigarette pricing and packaging in Australia, masturbation, narcissism and daily family life to lighten the mood. Shah’s conversational delivery style was understated and had some of the audience wondering if he was “dying” on stage, but worked well in setting the scene for surprising twists which were also delivered in a straightforward manner. His precise timing dealt unexpected blows to the funnybone.
Shah’s set presented material familiar to Australian stand up comedy audiences, but contained some thought-provoking twists with the performer holding up a mirror from “the other side” and forcing consideration of the perspective of boatpeople, Muslims and other groups not overly represented in the regular comedy circuit. Shah’s stronger commentaries seemed to be inspired by his frustration with encountering entrenched Australian attitudes and prejudices, while his reflections on domestic life were well-developed but not as compelling. The quick changes from political commentary to everyman discussion did moderate the atmosphere in the room, despite some racist heckles early on in the piece in response to some of his cultural comparisons between Pakistan and Australia.
Ending abruptly after 40 minutes, Shah definitely embraced the showbiz maxim to leave us wanting more, but with an hour-long slot available to him, it seemed odd and disappointing that he did not make the most of the potential for his first full show in Australia.
One to watch as he experiences further adventures in regional Western Australia, able to recount his anecdotes with impeccable control of timing and word play, I, Migrant added to the diversity of acts at Perth International Comedy Festival 2013.
Three and a half stars
I, Migrant – Sami Shah
Jack High Room, Mount Lawley Bowls Club, Mount Lawley
14 May 2013
Perth International Comedy Festival 2013
