Poignant comedy takes Edinburgh Fringe by storm

Comedian Imran Yusuf took the Pleasance Beneath venue by storm at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Yusuf, who was born in Mombasa, India, and raised in Hackney, East London, gave audiences a funny yet poignant performance which drew on his experience of “being born in the Third World, and upgraded to the ghetto”.

In only his second time performing at the festival, which has acted as the springboard for many aspiring actors and comedians, Imran’s one-man show – Bring the Thunder – had critics calling him “a fresh new comic voice” (The Telegraph).

Reviewers call attention to the difficulty viewers of Imran’s show may face, namely laughing at his jokes on being from an ethnic minority, before being teasingly accused of being racist for doing so. As well as race, Imran covers the angst he has faced in relation to the opposite sex, pleading with women to use their “great power” over men with “great responsibility”.

Bring the Thunder runs until August 29 at Pleasance Dome, Bristo Square, Edinburgh.