Show Details
Papa CJ: Slumdog Comedian
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2009
Starring Comic:
Papa CJ

Papa CJ: Slumdog Comedian


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Description

Indian tea-planter's son reaches top 10 of Last Comic Standing, funding an entire village through comedy.

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Reviews

Papa CJ: Slumdog Comedian
Live Review

 Papa CJ: Slumdog Comedian rated 1/5

If you do not think it is acceptable to stereotype people based on where they come from, if you think that jokes about Indians working in call centres or newsagents are both hackneyed and borderline racist, if you like your comedy to have lots of laughs then Slumdog Comedian is not the show for you.

Papa CJ has been traveling the world performing comedy based on his upbringing and life in Calcutta and not only are his exploits incredibly dull, the way he presents them is on the verge of being hateful, stating at one point that Indians are better than Chinese people because the Indian kids wear the shoes that the Chinese children make in the sweatshops. If he had aimed for his intonation for this particular gag to be anything other than smug and serious, he failed.

As he ploughs through his material he excuses the lack of laughs by pointing out that we are not getting the jokes. We are getting them fine, they’re just not funny. The performance is hindered further when a few well intentioned heckles leave Papa CJ at a loss for words, freely admitting that the biggest laugh of the show is provided by a young man in the front row.

It is very clear that CJ truly believes his own hype and is not shy about pointing out all of the fantastic gigs he has played in all the interesting places, making sure to mention he was in the American reality TV show Last Comic Standing – not quite so quick to point out that he didn’t even get as far as the public vote.

There is a pomposity about this man that jars the nerves, a smug self-satisfaction that dominates his writing and leads to material that is derogatory and in some instances cruel. This attitude and confidence is so far removed from the basic and amateurish nonsense that he spouts.
Date of live review: Friday 14th Aug, '09
Review by Corry Shaw
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Comments

It isn't that intelligent though. In most of the jokes you can work out the punchline yourself. And the delivery is quite forced and rehearsed. Mediocre.

Dave Simms, August 2009

This review deserves high fives.

Dave Saunders, August 2009

Well of course papa CJ is pompous and over confident , I mean can you imagine a man having the audacity to be comfortable in his own skin and being able to stand proud of himself and his achievement. I think it's hateful that CJ has a brand of intelligent humour that keeps his audiences laughing even after they have left the show. In this day and age of slap stick humour how can we tolerate an intelligent point ofview that forces us to question the societal moral code. It's cheap and cruel of him to talk about sweatshops in china. It is essential for our survival to carry on living in a bubble that refuses to allow anyone to bring out these issues in front of us. And achivement must necessarily be evil and not spoken about even if it took papacj to make it past almost 3,000 contestants in order to reach the top 10 of last comic standing. If anyone believes in the idea of free speech still, slumdog is one show you wouldn't miss

Neha, August 2009

Only Papa CJ would be so deluded to think that he dealt with the heckles well on Friday, and that the chortle review wasn't fair. Painful, and unfunny.

Paul Shane, August 2009

Wow! What a hateful review. I saw this show yesterday and so googled Papa CJ today to find this. It seems far removed from the show I saw yesterday. I cannot imagine the writer of this review was in the room on Friday. It was a very enjoyable show with much laughter and Papa CJ seems like a friendly and likeable man. At no point did I feel uncomfortable with any of his material. There were some Indian girls in the front row and they seemed fine with it too. He also dealt with the Australian heckler and the man from London quite well. Unless the reviewer has a personal bone to pick with Papa CJ or has a heightened sensitivity that doesn't relate to the audience reaction or the performer's background, this review in my opinion is quite inaccurate and unprofessional.

Kelly Green, August 2009

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