Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

So pleased is he with the show’s title – One Sinha Lifetime – that Paul Sinha opens with a song of the same name. Within the first minute, he’s dropped the C-bomb, a clear marker to people who only know him through The Chase that this isn’t going to be a cosy, teatime ITV-friendly hour.

Sinha addresses his Parkinson’s diagnosis up front, notably The Sun’s misreporting of it, by way of introducing the show’s structure. Wholly autobiographical, Sinha proceeds to take us on a whistle-stop tour through the chronology of his remarkable life to date, right up to his speech at the 2022 Bafta TV awards. 

We hear about his childhood, his time at medical school, parental pressure, and his past gambling addiction. Sinha talks movingly about his outing, and his disappointment with the London gay scene, leading to a smart Pet Shop Boys spoof number. 

In one remarkable section, Sinha recreates his very first stand-up set from 1995, performing material that brought gasps from the audience and, by today’s standards, might see him cancelled, dropping in a Jerry Sadowitz reference by way of a content warning.

If this all sounds quite heavy, it’s balanced by the sheer number of jokes of all shapes and sizes, so you’re never more than ten seconds from the next punchline. The musical interludes also help with the show’s pacing, and indulge Sinha’s considerable talent for writing patter songs, sneaking in some barbed lyrics too fast to always catch in full.

A spiky exchange with a member of the audience whose phone rang was an uncomfortable moment and seemed excessive, but such is the rhythm and momentum of the show that it’s easy to see how any distraction would have the potential to derail it.  

Elsewhere, Sinha takes down targets as varied as Rishi Sunak and The Last Leg to name but two. A glimpse behind the curtain of The Chase proves crowd-pleasing towards the end, with a choice anecdote about a celebrity special that proved to be something of a conflict of interest, with a hefty dose of politics thrown in for good measure. 

This is a seriously impressive show, and Sinha remains a Chaser well worth trying to catch.

• Paul Sinha: One Sinha Lifetime is on at The Stand’s New Town Theatre at 4.40pm

Review date: 20 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Matt Carwardine-Palmer
Reviewed at: The Stand's New Town Theatre