Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Celebrating ten years as an Australian citizen, Sami Shah still views the nation with an outsider’s eye. Yet while grateful for his life here – from drinkable wine to drinkable tap water – he’s also integrated enough to complain about some aspects of it.

This easy-going, conversational hour has no strong theme, cruising likably between topics and stories from the last 12 months, ranging from eye surgery, The Bachelorette and zombie survival plans.

His big news is that his second wife left him on the eve of lockdown, and he’s self-deprecating about how being twice-divorced is a ‘terrible achievement’ by Pakistani standards. It leads to material about sex and dating in his 40s compared to earlier decades and homeschooling his daughter, with the cornerstone routine a self-flagellating description of his worst parenting moment.

Elsewhere, he is teasingly provocative on subjects such as racism – he admits to prejudice of his own – and conspiracy theories. There’s an undertow of small-p politics to this but it's conveyed as personal experience rather than polemic. 

He’s a charming presence, speaking with honesty and good humour about his shortcomings – and those of others – with understated confidence. The amiability can be deceptive, as there’s substance behind some of the anecdotes, but it’s an easily enjoyable hour.

Review date: 24 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival