Ahir Shah : New Order
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Ahir Shah : New Order

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In the past ten years, Shah has made a name for himself in the UK as a political and social commentator, capped off with thought-provoking humour and articulate delivery.

“Almost everything is crushingly awful and terrifying. I’ve written a lot of jokes about it though. Things seem bleak for the foreseeable future, so it’s handy there doesn’t seem to be much future to foresee,” says Shah.

Shah is heading to Melbourne to be a part of New Order, a lineup bill showcasing some of the hottest talent from the UK. “My parents are from India and I was born and raised in London which is where I’ve lived my whole life,” he says. “This makes it all the more mystifying when anonymous strangers on Twitter tell me to go back to Pakistan.”

He was a particularly early starter when it came to comedy, starting stand-up at 15. “I didn’t really have anything to say when I was 15,” he recalls. “I’m vaguely embarrassed that I chose to inflict that on strangers in rooms. People were very kind, I think partly because of the novelty of the thing, but doing stand-up is in large part a constant justification of the fact that you’ve broken the silence that came before.”

Shah has already performed a couple of times previously in Australia at the Adelaide Fringe. “They’re very similar beyond the obvious cultural differences between the U.K. and Australia – shorts, informality, a casual racism that white Brits generally internalised in the ‘90s,” he says.

The New Order show, however, will be his first time performing as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. “I’ve heard nothing but good things,” he says. “Either I’m going to have a lot of fun or many of my friends are evil liars.” 

Shah is being joined on the bill by stand-up Brennan Reece, who was nominated for 2016 Best Newcomer Edinburgh Comedy Award; ex- Cambridge Footlights character comedian Emma Sidi; and BBC Radio Best New Comedy Award-winner Steve Bugeja. What can we expect to see from Shah?

“I’m going to do a bunch of my fun japes and quips about the contemporary resurgence of fascism,” he says. “I love that the only requirement is to make the audience laugh, and you have total freedom in how you choose to fulfil that brief.

“That’s one of the things that’s going to be fun about this show, we all have very different comic styles, and our means of attaining the same end varies hugely.”

By Joanne Brookfield

 

Venue: Victoria Hotel – Banquet Room 

Dates: Thursday March 30 – Sunday April 23 (bar Mondays)

Duration: 70 minutes

Tickets: $26.50 – $34

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