Review by Steve Bennett

Whatever you do, don’t call Imaan Hadchiti ‘cute’. It’s the one thing the small comedian hates the most – even more than all the condescending questions and the strangers who insist on picking him up.

But after this mixed bag of a show, ‘cute’ is probably the last word you’d use to describe him, given the amount of unpleasant, disgusting material on offer. Not cheeky or edge-pushing, just lots of gags about vaginas and how they smell of fish and the odd comment about ‘big black dicks’.

Such gross-out lines sit rather awkwardly against other routines which have a bit more thought and mischief behind them.

Many, inevitably, revolve around his size and people’s reaction to it. For a core part of the show, he hid a camera inside his hat and headed out into late-night Melbourne to filmed, in his own words, ‘fuckwits being fuckwits’. It’s a bit overplayed, but does give an insight to what he goes through every day – not cruel prejudice, but pain-in-the-arse obsession, way beyond respectful curiosity. However, it also calls for stand-up material to put the clips in context, to make them more than reality-show footage.

There’s the odd bit of material about when he’s used his size to his advantage, and routines that make no reference to it at all, notably a well-told tale of life in the rough suburb of Watsonia that demonstrates what a decent storyteller he can be. This is when he’s at his most enjoyable.

As a show, though, A Little Perspective lacks cohesion. Many gags are too straightforward, others are charmlessly offensive and the final film, of him pretending to be Jesus, again in the Melbourne streets, stretches a weak idea way too thin.

Away from the filth, Imaan has a glint in his eye, a sharp tongue and the sort of natural stage presence you get from having performed comedy since the age of 15. He’s only 20 now, so time yet to evolve beyond this patchy, but sometimes entertaining, offering.

Reviewed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, April 2011

Review date: 9 Jan 2012
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett