2011 Edinburgh Fringe
Ahir Shah review
I was getting increasingly annoyed at the alarmingly young girl fidgeting about on her mother's lap next to me. However, at one stage she whispered: "why is he getting so cross?" This was a phrase which had much more pertinence than the young girl realised.
Stewart Lee-esque, Shah breaks out into flash fits of rage throughout his set, at one stage incorporating the 'invading the audience' technique. The problem is not enough thought has gone into this. It's not enough to simply go ballistic, you must have built for it and have justification for it. Performers such as Johnny Vegas and Stewart Lee are able to justify anger through being bitter outsiders, which Shah isn't. Even his less extreme outbursts seem unnecessary and confusing. It all breaks down to the fact Shah isn't quite sure of his character yet. Perhaps this is something that's going to come with time, but for the moment as an audience we're just not quite sure what we're watching.
However, I do admire the ambition of the show. Theatrically pleasing, Shah incorporates words spoken by his father which compliment well the show's central theme which is related to the document that outlined, from birth, how his life should turn out. The structure of Astrology does build nicely, and really kicks in near the end with a satisfying finish.
However, Shah's inexperience is still pertinent. A misjudged beginning irritated the audience, and although this is a technique adopted by adept outsider comics, it is foolish if you need an audience on your side. Also many of the set pieces felt overlong with a noticeable lack of humour punctuation.
Shah is sure to go onto great things, and with the strong structure of the piece it shows this is a performer with very good comedic intentions. With experience, Ahir Shah is sure to be great... but he's not there yet.