Bouncing into the tight venue in comes Inder Manocha, a third generation British Indian who proudly confesses to feel more English than Kenneth Williams. He’s balding and draped in a dirty t-shirt that becomes worryingly sodden with sweat throughout the show and yet you will instantly find him quite charming.
His appeal lies in his honesty to the audience as he tells highly amusing stories of racism he has experienced first hand throughout his life. Not exactly an amusing subject, he manages to wring out great laughs as he talks about his high school friend’s ‘Paki bashing sessions’ or the fact that they would never touch him as they believed he couldn’t be Indian simply because he was funny! The highlight, though, had to be a fantastic rant about Star Trek as he demands to know why no one on the Enterprise was called Patel.
Manocha has won a string of awards and international acclaim and it is easy to see why. Not only is he very funny but his subject matter really makes you think.
The BBC has cast him in a host of future television programmes so catch him quick at the Festival before we lose him altogether.
4/5
Martin Miller
