Ahir Shar – Distant: Confident and Intelligent Comedy at Producers’ Cranny – Adelaide Fringe Review

Producers – Cranny, Sat 27 Feb This was Ahir Shar’s first gig in Australia and it was fascinating to watch him jumping between some of his older and newer material. Some of the jokes and lines were very good - that some worked really well and some simply didn’t was an insightful indication of the difference between his usual English audiences and the different world of Australia. Shar finished with one of his better jokes, sitting in his AirBnB wondering what he might do tonight, thought he might come out and see an audience – and there we were… Shar played on ISIS connections, with his Indian skin with no qualms whatsoever playing this up, despite the fact that he has a Hindi, rather than a Muslim background. This began with the dispensing of the unnecessary microphone at the start of the show – although, as he said, it might feel more like a hostage situation than stand-up comedy. Shar has plenty of confidence and is prepared to think on his feet, even to try some wordplay and comedy off-the-cuff – and this tended to work quite well. He was also quite happy to explore the political world, relationships, professions and the future of the world, feeling quite secure to find that comedian isn’t in the list of jobs likely to disappear in the next twenty years. Rather than bluster, you’ll find an intelligent bloke with a posh accent that belies his appearance bouncing stories, yarns and one-liners off an audience, and he does it quite well. But to see his mind ticking over to work out the differences of Adelaide/Australian audiences and their idea of what is funny, in comparison to what he’s used to – he’ll soon have this sorted, so get in quick to see this part of the man at work! Clayton Werner Ahir Shar: Distant continues at Producers Cranny & Producers Warehouse, at various times, until Sun 13 Mar. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.