AN AUDIENCE WITH IMRAN YUSUF @ ESPIONAGE – EDINBURGH SHOW REVIEWS

> “Bounding on stage for his first ever solo show at Edinburgh, Imran Yusuf isn’t your stereotypical stand-up. For one thing, he’s a Muslim, though he barely refers to this fact. He is also full of positive energy, happiness and joie de vivre.

He’s no doom merchant lamenting his lack of luck with the ladies but a man so full of fun that the audience can’t fail to not only warm to him, but feel positively fired up by his infectious personality. He has the feel good factor on tap.

He’s no oil painting with his scrawny build, large nose and irregular teeth, but his smile lights up the room and the sound of his laughter peppers his material. Born in Kenya, he moved to England at an early age but was educated in the USA and it is from here that he draws the inspiration for most of his material.

His stories of going to school it the States were told in faultless American accents and delighted the bunch of Americans in the audience who, by coincidence, came from the same town.

The comedy drew on his experience of being ridiculed by the Americans for his English accent, but his cultural comparisons are seen from a totally different perspective as he subverts the traditional UK-USA dissonance.

By not focussing on the obvious racial stereotypes, he wins over the entire audience. His happy, positive personality leaves them feeling uplifted, energised and privileged to have had An Audience With Imran Yusuf” ***** Chortle (Cara Sandys. 17.8.10)

>> “Imran Yusuf’s show heralds the birth of a new comedy star. Intelligent, thought provoking and laugh out loud funny it’s a glorious debut.” **** Time Out (Tim Arthur)

>>> “Imran Yusuf has to be one of the most captivating, energetic, and animated stand up comedians I’ve ever seen. His act is at a mile a minute, and he doesn’t let off for any of it. This show was a slight change on his usual act, focusing much more on his personal life, ideas, and experiences.

His delivery is lightning-fast, and with this show you get a real feeling of ‘getting to know’ him. He describes about his time at an American school, and how he was bullied for being British, patriotism and how we choose ‘British (UK)’ on software installations. Throughout the show he high-fives the front row, blows kisses to the girls, which is a really funny touch.

A highlight of the show is the ‘British citizenship test’, showing words such as ‘schedule’ that are often mispronounced due to things like American TV, which he got a guy in the front row answers with flying colours. Although the Fringe was one of the first public shows of this new material, it is already fairly solid, providing a lot of thoughtful insights into big topics like immigration, religion and culture. The material is very personal, and it’s a great to hear so much about a very interesting character such as Imran.” ***** The New Current (Mark Thomas)

>>>> “The Free Fringe is throwing up some great talent, not least this young Londoner of Asian extraction who has been gigging in clubs for a while but appears to be on the cusp of a breakthrough into the mainstream. Yusuf’s material is almost entirely about being a British Muslim, or should that be a Muslim who lives in Britain – a question he poses more than once in a very well thought-through set that subverts a lot of notions about racism.
He has some great stories about the time he spent at middle school in New Jersey; it remains the only time, he tells us, that he has ever been picked on for being English. “You people complain about being called infidel, but you don’t know what racism is until you’ve been called ‘English muffin’.”

Yusuf has a tendency to be a little preachy, but he’s clued-up enough to draw it back with an unexpected punchline when he feels he is losing the room. When he isn’t talking about racism, though, he’s leering at the women in the front row and suggesting they meet him in the loos. Classy.

He’s a very animated performer and a young man in a hurry; Yusuf references coming back next year and being a big star a few too many times, but there’s is no doubting his talent. As he says, catch him before you have to pay for the privilege. Until 29 August” **** Veronica Lee – The Arts Desk

“Imran Yusuf’s show (Laughing Horse @ Espionage 4 stars) is an hour of cheek and charm that takes us briskly through the Asian comic’s early life at an American school where his peers treated him as if he was in Mary Poppins (”Can you imagine me in that film? Well, maybe as a chimney sweep”) through to his life in Britain as a Muslim. “ **** The Independent (Julian Hall)

“Here we are at the end of the Fringe, and there are so many acts I meant to see but didn’t. I have a ‘would like to see’ list the length of the Mile. Then a couple of days ago, Imran Yusuf graduated from this list to the ‘must see’ list. He was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.
My head is not usually so easily turned; there have been some truly dreadful winners of what was the Perrier, in its various incarnations. But Yusuf is special in that he is the first winner from the ever-growing free Fringe scene, placing it more firmly on the map than ever.
The place is packed to the rafters, with as many turned away. Whilst desperately wanting such a fantastic success story to come out of the incredible amount of hard work and dedication the that is the Free Festival, I am naturally swayed to distrust such hype and so the bar is set high. As far as I am concerned, he needs to prove himself. Not prove that he is a good free act; prove that is he a good act.
He is a bloody good act. He is so good I want to cry a little at the end. Taking in themes of race, culture and identity, he pleas for peace and tolerance. He would be broadly described as ‘political comedy’, but he in fact comes across not as political but as deeply human. It is his very rejection of such boxes that make him so remarkable. Add to this a tremendous physicality and a joyful glint in his eye, and it’s easy to see why I came out of the show somewhat in love with him.
What simultaneously makes him brilliant, but hinders this from being a 5 star review, is his potential to be better. He has his weak moments. These may pass in poorer performers as strong moments, but they undermine my expectations which, by the end, are still high – not because of the hype, but because of what I have seen him do.
I hope he wins the best newcomer. It would be not only an amazing achievement for the free Fringe Festival movement, but one that is well deserved.” **** The Skinny (Lizzie Cass-Maran)

Imran Yusuf
You Would Never Believe…Imran’s a passionate Video Games Consultant for Midway, Eidos, SEGA & Headstrong Games plus enjoys martial arts, free-running, climbing, football & learning to speak Japanese in his spare time.

Edinburgh Show: An Audience with Imran Yusuf
Where: Laughing Horse @ Espionage
When: 6-30 Aug
Time: 4.30pm-5.30pm
Show Summary: The fast-talking lyrical machine-gun comic slows it down for a deep and meaningful look at life with personal stories and a unique life philosophy. Based
on intense personal experiences, a lot of soul searching, lost friendships and fights, comes a light-hearted hour on our commonalities as human beings.

Imran Yusuf’s Upcoming Comedy Club Gigs