Learning difficulties, the truth in conspiracy theories and politics are the topics of a brave stand up. Don Biswas is indeed brave, he is a cool presence onstage casually looking back into the audience as he cracks his jokes, and whilst his patter is agreeable and interesting, the jokes are more miss than hit.
Whilst his spiel is engaging and resonates with me it’s not particularly funny.
We start with a set by a compare - a different stand up each night and so not worth reviewing here. Biswas soon takes to the stage, kicking off with a section on learning difficulties, specifically dyspraxia and Asperger’s. Any audience members who didn’t know what dyspraxia is find themselves educated as well as amused. Biswas handles this material confidently, and manages to get the audience to laugh at learning difficulties without offence. The butt of the jokes are mainly himself or one of society’s big problems such as racism providing a segue into Biswas’s discussion about politics. He becomes more animated as we cover immigration, left wing politics, and left wing hypocrisy. Whilst his spiel is engaging and resonates with me it’s not particularly funny.
Biswas has a dissociated performance style, the topics he covers do not run together in a coherent style. We jump from politics, to middle class Indian family competitiveness, to conspiracies back to politics, life in London. This muddle can be quite difficult for the audience to follow along with.
I would recommend to anyone with dyspraxia or Asperger’s for a light-hearted look at learning difficulties, or people who likes to cheer loudly at the mention of conspiracy theories, but not to anyone else, if you’re not personally invested in the topics they are unlikely to resonate with you.
