Urooj Ashfaq has landed in London from the comedy circuit of Mumbai and is showing the Soho theatre audience how she earned Edinburgh Fringe’s esteemed ‘Best Newcomer’ award.
‘In India I’m edgy, in London I’m boring’ – that is Ashfaq’s opening comment for the London transfer of her Edinburgh show Oh No. Although perhaps not as provocative as some Brits on the UK circuit, Ashfaq weaponizes her parents’ divorce, her boyfriend, her therapist and more to succeed in presenting an hour of delightful colloquial storytelling and effortless laughs.
Using outstanding live performance skills, Ashfaq is the star in her show and the stories she tells. Although acknowledging it is ‘more economical to be sad’, Ashfaq admits to paying the heavy price for therapy and revolves a lot of her jokes around her therapist. At one moment Ashfaq finds herself presenting awkward hypotheticals to her therapist on behalf of her friends who can’t afford therapy, severely confusing her therapist by talking about her porn addiction, her lack of interest in sex and her habit of having sex with everyone she knows.
Ashfaq also utilises her parents’ divorce to illustrate her proclivity to avoid responsibility; she blames her boyfriend’s ‘normal childhood’ on his ability to not need therapy and therefore ‘win’ arguments. But that is not to say she isn’t self-deprecating, noticing that no matter where she is in the world, her BA in psychology is never impressive.
Effortless crowd work and an ability to be completely unphased by an, at times, unforgiving audience on a Tuesday evening confirm Ashfaq’s magnetism on stage. She uses breaks in her jokes to lightly tease the audience for just the right amount of time. At another moment she speeds through a series of one-liners written on paper, disposing of them according to the reception of the audience; sometimes handing them to the delighted crowd, sometimes ripping them up into confetti.
Although determining herself as unedgy by London’s standards, she prefaces her jokes about Islam with a promise that if they offend Muslim audience members, Ashfaq will ‘apologise after’ and if that is the case they are ‘not allowed to tell other Muslims’ as ‘we do our infighting when we’re alone’.
Talking about your boyfriend and religious family members isn’t a particularly unique comedy persona, but Ashfaq is so endearing it continues to be entertaining. For example, reading from a teen diary isn’t groundbreakingly original (there’s a whole Radio 4 series dedicated to it), Ashfaq uses her cheeky irony to make it quite fresh and elicit authentic laughs.
As one of the six South Asian artists brought to Edinburgh Fringe by Soho Theatre, Urooj Ashfaq, is young, fresh and a name to watch. It’s a show applicable to everyone.
Runs until 4 November, and then 8-20 January 2024
