Anirban Dasgupta's Polite Provocation brings the Indian stand up comedian back to England, with a sharper set that delves into the political landscape of India, and the joys (and struggles) of being a new parent. Dasgupta delivers a hilarious and witty, yet also informative performance, choosing his topics of comedy carefully and most importantly, without censorship.
Highlighting the difference between stand up comedy in India and England, Dasgupta neatly finds and explains the loopholes that allow for social commentary to thrive in the Indian stand up scene. This is amusing and informative in its own right, but works best as a set up for the uncensored deep dive into Indian politics and religion.
Opting to focus primarily on Mahatma Gandhi, who is considered the father of India and a prominent freedom fighter, Dasgupta unleashes his sharp wit. Admirably, Dasgupta does occasionally pause his set to ensure that the audiences are caught up with references, even answering questions put forward by the audience to ensure that everyone follows, without dropping the amusement level in the audience. Ironically this occasionally leads to even more chaos and improvised jokes, as the audience questions often throw curveball which Dasgupta handles with the air of an expert.
Dasgupta caters to the Indians in the audience, allowing them to fully grasp the depth of some of his jokes, that may be missed by British audiences, although still enjoyable for all. Examples include the description of Ganesh Chathurthi festival, Dry Days (government enforced alcohol free days) and the decline of physical cash. These jokes are still amusing and garner loud laughs, but will more deeply resonate with the Indians in the audience.
Unapologetically Indian, this is a refreshing style, as Dasgupta doesn't lean into stereotypes, choosing to focus his comedy on more niche and unexplored topics that still hit the mark. Dasgupta chooses to use most of his 60-minute set, to contemplate the political and social politics of India, only touching on his personal life (a winningly funny future show of its own no doubt), in the last quarter. Having grown up in a large joint family of eighteen, and recently becoming a new parent, Dasgupta is gifted with endless material which he utilises well.
Sharing the ups and downs of new parenting, most especially the dreaded mid-night awakenings, Dasgupta's own trials are received with guilty roars of laughter from audience members who can relate. Reflecting on his own relationship with his parents, and extended family, Dasgupta holds nothing back as he mercilessly mocks his own upbringing and the bizarre strict rules of his household.
Dasgupta adopts an awkward persona, and constantly gauges the audience reaction and overall atmosphere of the room, which helps him edit the show's flow whilst performing. After a surprising and tense audience reveal moment, Dasgupta quickly recuperates and alters the set to dissolve this tension. Also, a noticeable but subtle feature is Dasgupta's gift for dark humour. Sprinkled sparsely throughout the piece, Dasgupta often drops a line that silences the audience before quickly moving along.
Anirban Dasgupta's Polite Provocation is a fun evening brought by a veteran Indian stand up comedian. Filled with wit, and a front row seat into the current political ironies in India, and mid-night baby focused missions, it's a deeply entertaining show. The show is currently playing at the Soho Theatre until 2nd November - for more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Aly White
Comments