Review of the comic's new lockdown-inspired show

Ahir Shah is one of the most astute stand-ups around, so he’s well aware of the pitfalls of basing a show on the past 18 months, in which we’ve all observed the exact same things and are in no rush to have some comedian remind us of them.

It’s not a problem Dress entirely transcends as the 30-year-old comic reminds us how poorly suited Boris Johnson is to lead a nation in crisis, how he’s not buying the virus’s Wuhan fish market origin story and how his life suddenly became stripped of all purpose, unable to work, unable to see family and friends, and unable to occupy himself in any meaningful way.

These are chewy existential matters, and Shah is well-equipped to sink his teeth in, throwing in mentions of his ‘low-grade mental breakdown and eating disorder’ while living alone and having a zen-like acceptance of the fact he was forced to confront his own insignificance.

Yet although he goes deep, the universality of the shared, futile experience works against him as it’s overfamiliar. That said, he’s got a cracking line about the pretentious recipes of middle-class darling Yotam Ottolenghi.

He’s no Michael McIntyre uniting us on shared foibles; he’s stronger on the macro stuff such as class issues or reminding his audience of the big hypocrisies of the world. A mention of the atrocious human rights conditions in China that allow us such as materialistic life elicits a tut of shock and he rails at the hypocrisy of that reaction. Even so, the routine about capitalist virtue-signalling didn’t flourish as you might hope, given Shah’s formidable track record on political issues.

Dress is so titled as Shah saw lockdown as a dress rehearsal for the apocalypse and for married life, as he eventually overcame single living and holed up with a new girlfriend, cramming years of relationship proximity into weeks.

Yet Dress currently also seems like a dress rehearsal for a more fluid show. Not just because of the notes he occasionally glances at, but because it never builds momentum or fully coheres.

Elements of the show are tied together with running gags and callbacks, but it doesn’t feel organic. Some routines are bold and unique, but others are makeweights based on common thoughts, even if expressed in a uniquely ornate way – and with all the force his dramatic delivery could muster.

For example, one big payoff is diluted by needing a long explanation of the Bhagavad Gita to work. Another, about meeting his father under lockdown, is a tender moment ruined by a glib punchline. Yet with more subtle deployment, either could have added some emotional heft to accompany the intellectual grandstanding. He surely needs just a little more time to shake off the lockdown rust to nail that.

• Ahir Shah is at the Soho Theatre until November 12, then touring until March. Ahir Shah tour dates

Review date: 4 Nov 2021
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Soho Theatre