A well-orchestrated hour of gut-clenching comedy
You don't expect to find a front row full of children at a comedy show, yet the seats seemed to be lined with them. The irony that his show is called Inappropriate is not lost on Michael Shafar. Somewhat confused, he discovers that they are on a trip from the US with some “neglegent chaperones”, as he puts it, hiding their faces in the back of the room. “This is not a kids’ show,” he emphasises. And he's not joking, because before he even starts, all manner of C-bombs, B-bombs and F-bombs are dropped, much to the amusement of the youngest members of the audience.
Shrugging it off, the Aussie Jewish comic starts off on his contentious tirade, from which no topic is safe: cancer, autism, terrorists, Princess Di, anti-vaxers, Jews. “Everyone has autism these days,” he states bluntly. “If Hitler came back, he’d be on the spectrum. He does love trains…”
This is not a show for the fainthearted, but, while his subject matter may be questionable, it’s undeniably funny. The punchlines come thick and fast and the crowd is, put simply, guffawing – both children and grown-ups.
Having moved to London from Melbourne two years ago, Shafar has acquired a bounty of amusing observations about the UK. Like how dark our kids’ stories are, particularly those of one of England’s biggest children’s authors, Roald Dahl, who wrote about a “psychopath in a chocolate factory”, as Shafar puts it. “In Aus, we know that the psychopath is the bad guy,” he says, “but here you’re like, ‘Nah, those children had it coming’.”
There are also vague political threads running through, such as Israel from the perspective of a Jew (like many) who does not support the Israeli government. And curing racism, if only race was as random at birth as gender. But this isn’t the place you come for news, you come here to laugh at the news and other relatable life goings-on, and Shafar provides. The only downside to this cracking hour is that it ends too abruptly. One minute you’re chuckling away, the next Shafar is saying time’s up. It could do with a more conclusive end, but otherwise you're in for pure, straight-from-the-gut laughter.
By Danielle Goldstein
Photo by Peter Tarasiuk
Michael Shafar: Inappropriate runs until Monday 25 August. 5.45pm. £6-£15. Beehive 1 (The Lounge) @ The Beehive Inn, EH1 2JU. edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/michael-shafar-inappropriate
Michael Shafar: Well Worth the Chemo runs Sunday 24 August. 9.30pm. FREE. Fringe Room at Laughing Horse @ Kick Ass Cowgate, EH1 1JR. edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/michael-shafar-well-worth-the-chemo