It’s difficult to know where to start describing Mustafa Algiyadi’s debut hour, Almost Legal Alien. As far as comedy shows go, it is quite thorough in its utilisation and adaptation of the art form. It is a gently funny and occasionally silly hour, with personal twists and observations about the world at large and the concept of citizenship.
It can be the funniest thing in the world
Because of just how all-encompassing it is in terms of range of subjects, there really is something for everyone to enjoy. Whilst sticking to his prepared material, Algiyadi is adept at finding the pulse point of what could make us a little uncomfortable. He gently pushes this boundary but never takes it too far to the point where we stop having fun. The hour doesn’t really start on easy mode. We’re not eased into the more challenging parts of the show. We're moreso wading in shallow water, tripping and falling into the deep end.
The seleciton of stories relating to Algiyadi's epereinces in Libya and Germany. and the subsequent cultural differences he's expierenced, combined with his narrative storytelling that centers this surface-level societal dichotomy the structure are interesting because they provide a perspective we maybe hadn’t thought about or considered before. There are multiple viewpoints to consider as Algiyadi touches and reflects on social, cultural and personal experiences he has noticed. His material is challenging on occasion, but he works hard to get the difficult laugh and to push us with his material, especially as he fights against the distance occasionally created between us and his material. And he has fun with it. He plays with elements of the show to not make it more palpable, but to make us understand what he's talking about. While he possesses an easy and friendly manner, this doesn't quite equate to a powerful stage-presence, but that's part of the charm of the piece. It's informal, it (unfortunately) sometimes becomes a dialogue which interrupts Algiyadi's flow, but he's very good at keeping us on track when the moment calls for it.
There’s a natural rhythm of storytelling throughout the hour of Almost Legal Alien. Whilst Algiyadi needs to provide a lot of context to explain things to us, he does so in a way that steadily keeps the jokes flowing, sometimes in the most innocuous ways. The moments when a joke finally clicks, when the pieces all fall into place, it can be the funniest thing in the world.
