There are few acts in Edinburgh right now quite like Nabil Abdulrashid – perhaps because he avoided the fringe (partly by choice, partly financial exigency) until deep into his career. The Britain’s Got Talent finalist has not had his instincts moulded over years of engagement with a festival that is, generally speaking, white, middle-class and liberal. Does that sound like I’m making excuses for a comic with more rough edges than a sanding block? Well, I find the 37-year-old such an interesting standup: now thoughtful, now misanthropic; aggressive but tender; and always marked by a bloody-minded refusal to play to anyone’s rules but his own.
There’s no point pretending The Purple Pill is a structured and coherent hour; it isn’t. And there’s plenty in it that I find off-putting. Abdulrashid ranting at opportunistic comics with newly diagnosed ADHD, or sneering at reviewers who’ve criticised his work? That all lands a bit self-righteously for me. When he blames the audience for laughing at his corporal punishment jokes – well, that’s a rich cake to have and eat at once.
