Review of visiting Indian comedian at London's Soho Theatre

It’s not immediately obvious what mild-mannered Kolkata-born, Mumbai-based comedian Anirban Dasgupta means when he says Cry Daddy – the second hour he’s performed in the UK – is a ‘playful, experimental show’.

Everything seems pretty straightforward as he relates low-level stories about taking antibiotics or not needing an alarm clock now he has a toddler daughter to wake him up. Indeed it’s fairly pedestrian observational comedy, albeit engagingly related, with each incident prefaced with the question: ‘Has this ever happened to you?’

To change things up he tells us the second batch of gags will pivot not on that phrase but on the word ‘similarly’. And indeed they do as he draws parallels across his observations. Moderately amusing again – although he gets bigger laughs from explaining the structure than he does the actual material.

Indeed, this becomes the nub of the show, and the point of difference he promised at the start. For after some further modest material about having to accept his sporting ambitions are thwarted now he’s 36, Dasgupta introduces the show’s gimmick.

These 60 or so minutes are to be a sports-style clash, comedian versus audience showdown with an on-stage scoreboard to keep tally. Point to him if he gets the laugh he wants; point to us if he doesn’t. 

The first half then becomes funnier in recap as we assess each previous routine, leading to a half-time score of 5-2 in our favour. There are no points for the analysis, more's the pity from his point of view, as the dissection proves much funnier than the base material.

After a mid-match pep talk, Dasgupta’s back with stories about his four-year-old, including an excellent metaphor based on her sharing her parents’ bed – one of a small handful of brilliant lines in the show.

Dasgupta freely admits he doesn’t want to get too personally truthful with his comedy. He knows that as to make art he must ‘dig deep’ to find out who he really is. He jokes that he did that and ‘didn’t like the answer’. 

Hence he instead offers a not always comfortable mix of relatable observational comedy, subtle hints at the political material he’d like to do if the Indian authorities weren’t so touchy,  and darker gags – the latter receiving decidedly mixed reactions. 

A bit about suicide bombers and traumatising his daughter is received particularly uneasily  – whether because of the day’s headlines or just because even fictional psychological damage to a child is difficult to package as just a bit of fun, however cheerily delivered. No wonder Dasgupta has to ask us to separate the craftsmanship of a joke from its morality.  

The final score tonight is a 7-5 loss for the comedian, which is probably a fair reflection of how the material was received, as he acknowledges.

But it’s not indicative of how much fun the hour was, especially after Dasgupta had introduced his scoreboard MacGuffin. He’s got a loose, playful approach, with his chilled delivery belying astute instincts on when and how to engage with the audience. That banter, as we pick over what worked and what didn’t, is a rather brilliant way to make the fact that his material is hit-and-miss into an asset rather than a liability. 

• Anirban Dasgupta: Cry Daddy is at the Soho Theatre again tonight and tomorrow.

Review date: 3 Oct 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Soho Theatre