It’s not easy being a single mum on a council estate, but it’s a gift to Shappi Khorsandi’s comedy. The Anglo-Iranian comic doesn’t fit most people’s profile of that rightwing bete noire: well spoken, wrote a book, had her own series on Radio 4. But that’s the hand life has dealt her – and Khorsandi is out to take full advantage. Her satisfaction is almost palpable at having an eye-catching identity to explore in her standup, as she talks of befriending hoodie-clad youths on her estate and feigns anxiety that her son won’t experience the entitlement that comes with an expensive education.
Perhaps because she’s rushing to squeeze her set into a one-hour slot, the opening stages feel a bit effortful. In a sequence about her imbalanced relationship with a lifelong friend, or another about her compulsive use of internet porn, she’s trying too hard to show how outrageous or neurotic she is. I welcomed the change of pace that comes with the routine that finds Khorsandi regretting her failure to build a nuclear family for her kids. The earnestness bordering on pomposity loudly signals the approach of a punchline, but when it comes, its sweet silliness is still a pleasant surprise.
The second half draws on an occasion when Khorsandi unintentionally upset a transgender audience member, and goes on to explore her own experience of prejudice. Her dad – an Iranian political exile – looms large here, reacting counter-intuitively when Shappi complains about her hate messages on social media. Her aunt Nadia features, too, “out immigrant-ing the immigrants” in combative encounters at the school gate. All of this leads Khorsandi to a celebratory conclusion: trolls are a sign you’re doing something right, and racists are heading for the dustbin of history. It’s a bustling, enjoyable set: put-upon single motherhood has seldom seemed so perky.
• Until 29 November. Box office: 020-7478 0100. Venue: Soho theatre
More comedy coverage
Revealed: the nation’s No 1 toilet joke
Stewart Lee review – tricksy gags about liberals, rightwingers and ‘the Islams’
Noel Fielding review – solo standup set is a holiday from reality
Aziz Ansari: ‘It’s time to get serious’
Lee Mack review – latterday Eric Morecambe is gloriously daft
Q&A: Dave Gorman gets to the point – ‘most of the world is lovely’
