Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Paul Chowdhry
The star of last year's Finding Bin Laden, Paul Chowdhry is a British-Indian comedian who successfully travels a fairly well-worn comic path about cultural and sexual misunderstandings and emerges with credit for keeping the journey fresh and funny.
Chowdhry, an intense and sometimes aggressive stage presence, at times seems to be heckling his own audience: at one point admonishing a couple he claims were having sex at the back of the auditorium, just because a girl reached to lift a beer which was at her partner's feet.
Jealousy may be an issue; much of Chowdhry's routine concerns problems with women, ranging from trying unsuccessfully to chat them up in nightclubs to a failed excursion into Internet dating.
These aren't new comic directions but Chowdhry invests them with a personal angle and some of his best material works because of the sharpness of his observations. A routine about an overhelpful 'bro' working in a nightclub toilet, or an impression of his father on the phone both play better than they should due to a gift for mimicry and strong timing.
The only problem is the over-familiarity of the material. When Chowdhry finds a new tangent, and the eccentric audience gave him lots to go on, he's instinctively, effortlessly funny and the light comic breeze turns into gales of laughter.
Until Aug 29 (no perf Aug 16), Pleasance Courtyard, 8.30pm, £8.50 to £9.50, £7 to £8 concs.
