Soho theatre,London
The Australian standup’s unusual set, Hussain in the Membrane, or works best when it zeroes in on racial and religious sensitivitiesThe most eye-catching feature of Nazeem Hussains comedy is its incontrovertible premise that racism is everywhere. No time is wasted justifying that flagrant truth; his jokes (like those of Aamer Rahman,his ex-partner in the double act awe of a Brown Planet), take it for granted. I like that implicit provocation, and as I like most of the Aussie acts more outspoken material. Some of it animates this unusual set (not to be confused with Legally Brown,which he performed at final month’s Edinburgh festival). But there are weaker sections, in a present which – by Hussain’s admission – as often finds him rambling as cohering. There’s minimal structure, and far less a developing argument. The first half prominently features Hussain’s Sri Lankan immigrant mum; her overweening tales of hardship are a familiar trope of moment-generation immigrant comedy. We get material,too, on Hussain buying property in a down-at-heel Melbourne suburb, and which doesn’t amount to much.
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Source: theguardian.com