Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

It’s been said before: why isn’t Sid Singh bigger than he is?  

An American comic of Indian heritage, he has huge energy – or maybe I just mean he’s very loud – and a manner of unstoppable bonhomie. He is obviously smart, a human rights lawyer, but is judged to have his priorities skewed, as that is what he fits around his main job as a comedian. 

Singh can obviously ride both those horses well, although I must admit to being more impressed by his legal skills blocking something terrible that Donald Trump wanted to do than his undeniably vigorous material about politics, conscience and where to get life guidance.

He has some wonderful stuff on conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, a theme that crops up a lot this year, but he has the best takedown. This is only a fragment of his show, Illegally Funny, but it resonated with me.  

Talk of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, both removed for being annoying more than being evil, the difficulty of being dully correct if you are on the left, his burgeoning stardom in Romania and Turkey – clearly mystifying to him – tears along.  

There’s not enough political comedy on the Fringe, or indeed anywhere, but ideas tumble out of Singh. I don’t feel smart enough to review him, I just wanted to listen. 

He manages to mix the personal – dating, exes, awkward Tinder moments, family life and being in the UK way past his visa – with bigger-picture politics on refugees in America.

Singh grabs your attention and the panache of his delivery is reassuring. His American polish and professionalism give a sheen to material which might not pass so well in other hands. But it also means he sounds like other wonderful American comics, with a cadence familiar from film and TV. 

 I look forward to the time when he’s more recognisably his own voice, because he has uncommon stuff to say.

•  Illegally Funny is on at Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire at 4.15pm

Review date: 10 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Julia Chamberlain
Reviewed at: Just the Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire