UK comic Ahir Shah dials down politics for more personal Melbourne International Comedy Festival show
Never mind Brexit, UK comic Ahir Shah’s debut show dials down the politics for something far more personal. And Baby Boomers will feel his wrath. PLUS: Our review of Shah’s show, Duffer.
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For his first visit to Melbourne, British comedian Ahir Shah will know better than to dabble too deeply into the upheaval ripping through British politics.
He didn’t exactly get burned when he played Adelaide last year, yet he was still able to gauge the depth of apathy Australians have for the workings of Whitehall.
The Mother Country might well be pulling itself apart, but most Australians truly don’t care.
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“I envy you that position!” Shah exclaims with a laugh.
“It’s really all that matters (in the UK) at the moment. It’s done something very weird to the national psyche.
“Whenever you’re gigging in a different country you’ve got to strip out the particularly niche material.
“There might be a little bit of schadenfreude towards the British in other countries at the moment, which I am more than willing to milk for laughs and money.
“But you’d much rather a smooth show that everyone was on board with rather than having to be on the Wikipedia page of British politics of the ’90s in order to understand.”
READ OUR REVIEW OF AHIR SHAH’S COMEDY FESTIVAL SHOW, DUFFER
Though Shah thrives on political commentary, his new show, Duffer, is a far more personal story.
At its core is the formative trip he took to India in 2017 to visit his grandmother, who was deported from Britain when Shah was five.
He also touches on his own mental health issues, which includes a crippling bout of depression.
He believes discussing such heavy topics through the prism of comedy does good.
“Certainly from my perspective, whatever you’re talking about on stage does provide a certain amount of catharsis,” he says.
“There is something quite nice about discussing more difficult subjects and (creating) a certain sense of recognition in the room whereby you can feel a lot less alone in a situation.
“Hopefully, it’s the case that some people will watch the show and think, ‘this is a fine thing to discuss and tell jokes about’.
“Maybe we should all be a bit more open about these things than we necessarily are at the moment.”
If Shah is well known for anything, aside from his feelings about US President Donald Trump (see below), it’s his disdain for the Baby Boomer generation.
“There is a pining for an imagined ‘good old days’ from the older generation that’s detracting from the possibility of creating good new days now,” he says.
“It’s a feeling of Boomers pulling the ladder up from behind them, setting fire to the ladder, destroying all ladder manuals and claiming how, in their day, they were simply better at jumping.”
But while he’s not into Boomers, he grew with Boomer humour such as Monty Python, The Two Ronnies and Benny Hill.
“My dad, in particular, is very into comedy and you end up getting into things through what your parents were into,” he recalls.
“For me it evokes very happy memories of my dad and I watching The Two Ronnies when I was a child. It still speaks of childhood and laughing as a family.”
Of special note was the landmark Goodness Gracious Me, a barrier-breaking sketch show that focused on Asians in Britain.
Shah remembers watching the show with his family and realising, “Oh, we can do that, too”.
“Seeing something that reflects a bit more of you, not only physically but also the sort of world that you grew up in, was amazing,” he says.
“It’s utterly invaluable, particularly for children.”
LOVING THE DONALD
For comedians the world over the advent of Donald Trump has been the gift that can’t stop giving, and Ahir Shah has certainly extracted his pound of flesh — and then some — deriding Trump in his routines and public utterances.
In May last year, Shah appeared on the BBC3 panel program New World Order in an indefensible segment titled Donald Trump Will Be the World’s First Crowd-funded Assassination.
Shah said of the president: “He’s become perfect for the world that we live in through the inventive medium of losing his f---ing mind.”
Jokes about killing politicians whose politics you disagree with? Isn’t that school of comedy, well, a little low?
For the record, Shah makes it clear that, as critical as he is of Trump: “Importantly, I certainly do not advocate assassinating anyone.”
And there are, he believes, some good things about Trump.
“I certainly think, in all seriousness, that one good thing that has come of this particular moment in time has been massive re-engagement in response to him and his brand of doing things and way of seeing the world,” he says.
“Going forward, that increase in energy for the values of non-populist, non-authoritarian liberal democracy will be a good thing, albeit one that I wish didn’t have to be birthed in such traumatic circumstances.”
There’s the global reappraisal of the colour orange.
Shah laughs.
“Well, I am talking to you wearing a t-shirt that’s very Trumpy in colour, so maybe he’s infiltrated my subconscious.”
Trump has also made the concept of the comb-over cool, surely.
“I don’t even know that I would refer to it as a comb-over,” Shah muses.
“I don’t know what it is. The only way that I could describe it is ‘unique’.”
Oh, give the guy credit for popularising The Swoop, at least.
“I will give you that. He has brought a sense of devil-may-care hair care to the Office.”
Shah sparks up when it comes to Melania Trump.
“Have you seen this thing at the moment about the Melania body double conspiracy theory?”
No. Love it. What about it?
“I really encourage you to look this up, because the circumstances of Trump’s life are objectively quite sad, in that he is in a position that he is woefully under-qualified for and not intelligent enough to fulfill, and his wife clearly hates him.
“If he weren’t as objectionable a person as he is, that would actually be quite upsetting.
“In a lot of his public appearances recently, Melania just doesn’t look like Melania.
“The theory is that she’s basically, finally had enough of him and they’ve had to hire a stunt double because she’s just fully estranged now, which would be excellent.”
OUR REVIEW OF AHIR SHAH, DUFFER
Rating: ★★★½
Reviewer: Patrick Horan
While most comics deliver their own introduction via a backstage mic, Ahir Shah bellows it from the side of the room.
It’s a forceful entrance that befits an uncommonly confident performer, especially one still in their 20s.
WHY AHIR SHAH IS DIALLING DOWN THE POLITICS
Shah is a Brit of Indian heritage and it’s on the topics of politics, religion and gentrification that Shah really shines, with some exceptionally smart takes and set-pieces.
When he focuses on family – and in particular bereavements that have taken a toll on him – Shah asks a lot of the audience as he veers away from comedy to tell personal stories that don’t always pass the relevance test.
As well put together as it is – a lyrics-related throughline is particularly impressive – an imbalanced hour makes for a qualified recommendation of this precocious talent.
Ahir Shah, Duffer, Mantra on Russell Mantra One & Melb Town Hall Powder Room, until April 21.
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