As the great African-American comedians well know, racial stereotypes have always proved an endlessly rich comedic seam to mine. Not only can you ridicule the racists who subscribe to them, but, especially if you are from the ethnic group under the microscope yourself, you can cash in on them as well. Comedy is all about subverting expectations, and the more taboo those expectations, the more thrilling the subversion (although, to be fair, he already had me at “Death to the”).
As the title suggests, Hasan jumps straight into this minefield from the word go . “I’m going to say a phrase,” he tells us “and, if you know the response, you chant it back it me. I’ll be very impressed if anyone knows it.” Of course, the vast majority correctly answered “Wa alaykum as-salaam” to his “salaam alaykum.”
“Mash’allah!” he cried. “You know what that means? It means the Islamification of England is surpassing our greatest expectations!”
Chuffed that googling “Death to the West” now brings up his show as the second result (after Pat Buchanan’s book ‘the Death of the West’ since you ask), he suggests that ISIS are now jealous of his search optimisation skills (“have we been shadow banned or something?” they wonder).
As the set progresses, however, it grows into something much more subtle and poignant, as we are introduced to the wit and wisdom of his Iraqi father, the naivety and generosity of his favourite uncle, and the difficulties of growing up Iraqi in Britain during the Iraq war. Real trauma and heartache are unearthed, and a Fanon-lite rundown of the double-bind faced by the immigrant whose efforts at assimilation are never enough to achieve the desired recognition, but more than enough to make him a stranger to himself.
He reflects at the end that stand-up can be a form of therapy and that turning his most difficult moments into jokes is an empowering process. That is all true - but it’s also highly entertaining to watch. It’s not easy to balance meaningful commentary with frequent humour without either veering into something that is no longer comedy on the one hand or that ends up trivialising your subject matter on the other. But Hasan manages to get the balance just right.
Some of the jokes absolutely kill it (METAPHORICALLY MI5, keep your hair on!) and the show is also educational at times (I did not know about the world’s biggest graveyard).
It doesn’t always land well; some of the jokes about Iran are a bit off-key and should be ditched in the humble opinion of this writer. But generally he traverses this tricky territory with wit and skill. Genuinely thought-provoking, always funny and sometimes hilarious, this is definitely one to watch!