Two years ago Urooj Ashfaq came to Edinburgh and carried off the prize for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

 

She also received a review – and she’s been thinking about it ever since.

 

A male comedy reviewer, let’s call him Steve, described Urooj as conservative, saying her material lacked edge – so she’s come back blazing to prove him wrong.

 

Normally I’d suggest that bearing a grudge against a reviewer is not a terribly strong premise for a comedy show – but Urooj uses it brilliantly as a jumping off point, to show she’s perfectly capable of talking about difficult subjects including sex, religion, politics and proctology.

 

Firstly, she offers a bit of context, Urooj is Muslim, from Mumbai.  India has a thriving comedy scene – but it also has a bit of a free speech problem. Indian comics, particularly female ones, are used to being flamed and shamed on social media. Then there’s also the matter of Indian police coming to raid comedy clubs with sticks and guns. It makes you tough, she says, eyes shining with defiance.

 

The show has live captions and Urooj has a lot of fun watching the transcriber trying to keep up with the unfamiliar names and references in her quickfire delivery.  

 

She’s determined to engage in some dirty talk – so she embarks on a hilarious dive into her sexual fantasy life – via a wonderfully funny piece of erotic fan fiction. The audience howls with laughter as she takes us into an improbable but deeply suggestive tale featuring members of One Direction.

 

Now she’s tackled sex she moves onto violence – and a story about a fight in school which spills out into her home life and causes an absurd number of beatings for almost everyone involved. Urooj encourages the many Indian members of the audience to cheer if they recognise what she’s talking about.  

 

There are very few Hindi words and expressions in the show – but Urooj introduces them very effectively – switching back and forth to add context and extra emphasis to her delivery. One particularly choice swear word is used at a key moment and repeated for shock value.

 

Finally Urooj moves on to bodily functions – with a graphic description of an embarrassing illness and a spirited argument with a proctologist which also emphasises her growing fame and celebrity in her own country. The Hindi punchline for this is clearly extremely fitting – but also defies explanation. It is, she says, much funnier in Hindi – and is a treat for the many Indian fans in the audience – who are clearly excited to be seeing Urooj in the flesh and not just on Youtube.

 

She’s covered sex, politics, religion, swearing and filth in a show shot through with attitude and fearless feminine power. Urooj (Don’t call her Ashfaq – that’s her Dad’s name) brings her show to a close with gleeful and triumphant energy.

 

It’s a risky premise for a show but she’s pulled it off and the audience has roared, cheered squealed and laughed throughout.  Looks like it’s Urooj 1, Comedy Reviewer 0.