Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Omar Badawy’s Fringe debut is tight as a drum. Meticulously constructed around the day he found himself accidentally caught up in Tommy Robinson's far-right Unite The Kingdom rally en route to a fancy dress party, the narrative provides a robust skeleton on which to hang many tight, smart gags and savvy observations.

Most obviously, it is a launchpad for the comedian to consider his own heritage as an Anglo-Egyptian Muslim. He was teased at school for his background and as an adult baffled the bizarrely woke racist who wanted to level just the right ethnic slur at him.

He attended a Christian school – the prospect of good grades trumping religious doctrine in his immigrant parents’ eyes – and has amusing commentary on the culture clash he encountered there, especially surrounding the Nativity play. He’s aware of his privilege growing up in cosy Cambridgeshire – giving him a relatively posh received pronunciation accent that aids assimilation – especially compared to those living in the Middle East.

Much of his material loops back to cultural identity, even when talking about his relationship, given his partner’s an Iraqi-American Christian – but it’s far from his only topic. Perhaps more than anything, he identifies as dithering, far more likely to get dragged into things than acting on his own agency, given he so readily becomes crippled by decision paralysis. He also accepts that he’s innately uncool, and has a raft of examples.

All this – and other routines on anything from plastic surgery to having to screen his divorced mother’s potential suitors – weaves effortlessly around his central story. Sometimes, however, the narrative is a little too convenient, the polish too apparent.

Likewise, his delivery is assured, if a little fixed – it can feel as if he’s talking at us rather than with us – and he overuses the Josh Widdicombe trick of ending observations on a note of higher-pitched, outraged incredulity. 

However, it’s easy to afford him some licence, since the jokes are so densely packed together, and often brilliantly inventive. No wonder he was picked to be part of the inaugural Saturday Night Live UK writing team. Both that job – and this hour – will surely be a springboard to greater things.

Review date: 18 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard