Mustafa Algiyadi’s A Little Killing Hurts No One | Brighton Fringe comedy review

Mustafa Algiyadi’s A Little Killing Hurts No One

Brighton Fringe comedy review

A warm and engaging comic, Mustafa Algiyadi greets the audience as they enter the pub, let alone the intimate room he’s performing in. And when he gets going, his hour is peppered with good-natured crowd work, affectionately ribbing the audience in the finest traditions of compering.

As Algiyadi reveals over the course of the show, he was born 33 years ago in Tripoli, but comes to Brighton by way of Munich, where he runs an English language comedy club. However, the migrant story is very much in the background of what is a breezy hour of accessible humour, referenced only tangentially in jokes about misunderstanding nonsensical English idioms we all use without a second thought or confessing to being a bad Muslim.

Algiyadi mostly sticks to familiar comic ideas and never delves too deep. His focus is always on keeping his listeners entertained, which comes naturally, thanks to his extroverted, chatty nature. Gentle but witty jokes target hippies who shop in overpriced organic supermarkets, meditation apps, and the unnaturally restrained language of couples’ counselling. Politics is limited to a brief routine highlighting the gender pay gap.

If there is a theme – and I’m pretty sure there isn’t – it’s merely that people are dumb, himself included. A self-confessed ‘recovering smartass’, he wishes he could honk aggressively at anyone who irritates him with their stupidity, and there are plenty of candidates for that.

Later in the hour, he indulges in just one personal story, describing how he had a confusing sexual awakening at the age of eight – then gleefully tried to share his newfound knowledge with his uncles and aunts. It’s quite a sweet anecdote, and shows the seeds which blossomed into the cheerful, eager, almost guileless, persona he adopts in his stand-up. It’s a demeanour which effortlessly endears him to his audience.

• Mustafa Algiyadi’s A Little Killing Hurts No One is at Arista at 5.40pm tonight, and the three Jolly Butchers at 9.15pm Friday, 10.30pm Saturday and 8pm Sunday as part of the Brighton Fringe.

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Review date: 1 Jun 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett