FULL DISCLOSURE - Shappi is something of a crush of mine. I had seen her at the Fringe in 2014 and if I hadn't fallen in love already I did then. At her book event earlier this day I had pretty much been a drooling fanboi (and she signed my book! Yay!), but she had also done a lot of stand-up at the show so I was concerned much of the material done then would be repeated here.
Which it was. But that's okay when it's this good and delivered so well.
I had been queuing for at least 30 minutes so I was in the front row. Shappi didn't recognise me (or at least pretended not to) but I did, for a moment, detect a hint of existential terror in her eyes.
Shappi is one of the finest stand-ups you can see on the circuit. She is highly engaging and charismatic with a fascinating family history and backstory. Ignorant people might try and pigeon-hole her as multi-cultural and PC, but I don't - she's pro-human (she's the President of the Humanist Association after all) and this show, celebrating her Englishness and how she feels after her family fled Iran when she was four, is about HER place.
Lots of really good stories. The tale of the first and second meetings she's had with Jeremy Corbyn, twenty+ years apart, was brilliant. She was really upset at some of the Twitter hate she was getting and shared this with her Father, who proudly asked her "Twelve people have insulted you on Twitter? I had fifty-thousand people in Tehran chanting 'Death to Khorsandi!' ... you haven't even had a death threat"
The general theme (a theme many comics have touched upon this year) was embracing who you are and where you are, not where you think you might come from or what's expected from you. Ach, I'm putting this clumsily, she put it better. But you would do yourself a real favour if you can see her live ...
Afterwards I had another show to go to - Best Of Burlesque down in the Assmembly Gardens Piccolo Theatre. But it didn't start until 2350, I had seen it last year (here) and I was already a bit fed up so bailed out at that point. Tomorrow would be another day ...
QUICK POINT ABOUT THE STAND 1 - It is HORRIBLE. Really, as a venue it is awful. Horrible L-shaped room, they sell way more tickets than they put out stools and seats, tiny wee stage ... it's just rubbish. Getting through a gig there is more about masochism ...
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