‘Does anyone not know who I am?” Coy pause. “Well, 1.8 million people do.” A content creator from Blackburn, Shabaz Ali made his name mocking those who flaunt their perfect lifestyles online. The concept (already parlayed into a book and a breakout broadcasting career) now makes a faltering transfer to the stage at the Glasgow comedy festival as part of a UK tour. It confirms the 30-year-old as a cheeky and charismatic host, but exposes his taunting comedy – frequently directed tonight at people’s clothing – as itself pretty threadbare.
The evening mixes standup with PowerPoint presentations based on Ali’s online work. The former draws on his family life in Lancashire, at home with a tyrant mother. The material doesn’t stray far from child-of-migrants cliche, as Ali cracks wise about the pressure to become a doctor. There’s a fine gag about the cautionary example Sajid Javid sets to young Pakistani Brits, and a confused routine about Ali’s four-year-old niece, whose privilege he deplores even as he insists that she, like him, remains poor.
