Kirbie McShiz is unimpressed by the late-night comedy show.
A Little Perspective with Imman (1 Star) was easily the worst thing I have ever seen on the Fringe. If I had paid ten pounds like the rest of the audience I would have been utterly raging.
Imman can be seen daily outside the Gilded Balloon flyering for his show and seems to have created a decent buzz about it. I had also watched some of his YouTube clips before attending and had also found them pretty amusing.
As I refer to my notes to write up this review the first thing I have written is… it really amazes me what people expect others to pay to see at the Fringe. From the start the show felt awkward. At first Imaan was regularly rejoicing in his own material to a deathly silent audience but as time went on even Imaan stopped finding himself funny.
His set seemed more like a rant about being small with a tiny scattering of jokes. One man left halfway through and told Imman that he expected a punchline when he got back. It seemed like the majority of the audience felt this way. Imaan struggled with the show and was constantly attacking the audience with quips like: “Y’know I’m having more fun than you are”, “I’m f*cking awesome” (to a sheet of silence), “Are you guys having fun?” (no answer), “I thought Edinburgh was going to be an easy festival” and “Raise your hands – if you have enough energy”. He used film of him on the street and people’s reactions to his small stature. The clips were too long and repetitive but did give a break from his stand up.
Imaan was trying to make his audience laugh by asking them to – rather than providing any material. Around four times he accused the audience of being too drunk to find him funny. The audience responded with a sober glare.
A Little Perspective with Imman is at the Gilded Balloon. Check website or programme for details.
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