Melbourne comedy festival review by Steve Bennett

Nazeem Hussain has made his comedy name as a gateway Muslim – an affable bridge between white and brown cultures able to gently mock both. Without being stridently political, he defangs the ‘go back to where you came from’ venom of the intolerant right by offering a different perspective in an easy-going package. Who could hate this guy?

In Hussain In The Membrane, the Fear Of A Brown Planet star offers a wryly humorous response to the terrified cries that Muslims are ‘invading’ Australia by building the occasional mosque. He’s drawn, too, to stories such as the Florida gun store offering a $25 discount to anyone saying the codeword ‘Muslim’, presumably not in a positive way, and elsewhere nicely turns stereotypes back on his predominantly white audience.

However, other sections don’t deliver on their promise, whether it’s asserting that it’s now considered weird and unfashionable to claim you’re any sort of religious, or the work ethic of immigrant families evaporating after one generation. Neither premise amounts to much in the telling, though they offer a small glimpse into his life as part of a Sri Lankan family.

Such inconsistencies in the impact of routines mean the show lacks momentum, with decent stories sitting next to more pedestrian ones of shithole suburbs, dating and getting rid of a troublesome possum.The anecdote of being robbed in Japan is his strongest routine, inherently dramatic with a solid payoff – though he shouldn’t have to go through such ordeals for every tale. 

There’s lots of crowd work, too, perfunctory time-fillers which mostly lead into conversational dead-ends – it’s definitely not his forte, and the show would be notably sharper without it.

Hussain In The Membrane is a perfectly fine show from a perfectly fine comedian, but needs more bite or sense of purpose to make an impact in a crowded comedy festival market.

Review date: 12 Apr 2016
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett