Comedians’ stories enlightening

October 8, The Royal — Palmy Fringe Festival Review by Natasha Melbye

Quick before they deport us! was an enlightening comedic experience exploring New Zealand, Australian and Indian stereotypes through various points of view from each culture, or all if like one particular comedian you too claim to be “culture fluid”.

This show consisted of four comedians of Indian descent; Sanjay Parbhu, Advait Kirtikar, Sri Nair and Sowmya Hiremath, hosted by Aku, whose recollections of his childhood growing up with very conservative parents who liked to avoid difficult truths proved to be one of the highlights of the evening; from his misconceptions of how often women get their periods to the lie his mother told him about what sexual tension really means — note it does not mean simply being tense around a member of the opposite sex.

As an 11-year-old boy, the implication there was sexual tension between him and his mother caused quite a bit of an upset with his teachers.

The comedians each had their own personal experiences and views to share with each topic.

They discussed an idea that an Indian mother would not accept her daughter marrying a man who ate meat and would rather she stay single but would be acceptable of her dating another woman as long as she is vegetarian because she would just say they were “flatmates”.

This did raise the subject of arranged marriages and the pressure for both Indian men and women to settle down, get married and raise children — something they may not necessarily want.

Despite some jokes being missed by the audience or certain inappropriate jokes referring to Gallipoli, this was overall quite an entertaining collection of comedians each with their own unique styles and stories, displaying cultural differences and some rather intriguing opinions about New Zealanders and Australians — obviously with their views favouring New Zealand.

Here’s hoping they all stick around a while and encounter some more open minded audiences.