半岛体育

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with over 3,700 shows. This year, 半岛体育 is on board our FringeShip for the festival and we鈥檙e taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!

As part of our Edinburgh Fringe coverage, 半岛体育 is seeing a whole lotta shows鈥攁nd we鈥檙e letting you know what we think of them. Consider these reviews a friendly, opinionated guide as you try to choose a show at the festival.

Ahir Shah is royalty. Not comedic royalty, despite his many accolades. He's the 鈥漃rostitute King,鈥� according to the Arabic translation of his name, that is. Shah鈥檚 name, to Arabic speakers, may come off as a hilarious choice for the stage to fellow comedians and audience members, but to the white, British people he grew up alongside, his name is a signal of his otherness. 

In Ends, Shah contemplates the beginnings of his family鈥檚 immigration to England from India and the ways the British Isle has, and hasn鈥檛, progressed since his grandfather鈥檚 arrival in 1964. The show, which debuted at the festival last year as a work-in-progress, was shaken a bit by its director, Adam Brace鈥檚, premature death. By the end of its run, however, it had found its footing, claiming the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Award. Ends has since enjoyed a run at London鈥檚 Royal Court Theatre, where it was , and will tour the UK after a stay at London鈥檚 Soho Theatre next month.

To witness Ends in its return to the Fringe (for 12 shows only) is to bask in Shah鈥檚 brilliance. He speaks at breakneck speed in his part-comedy show part-lecture. The quickness of his tongue (both in words spoken and wit conveyed) sometimes make him difficult to follow, but his sense of urgency and depth of love for his family is indisputable. In this remarkable tribute to his grandfather鈥檚 sacrifice and dedication, Shah recounts his grandparents鈥� arranged marriage, the instruction that led his grandfather to immigrate (alone) to England, the five-year wait his grandmother and their three children endured without him in India, and the family's reunion at Heathrow Airport. Interspersed throughout is Shah鈥檚 commentary on the state of British politics, what makes former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a 鈥減erfect鈥� Indian boy, and the lessons the comedian learned in his first year of marriage. 

In reflecting on the prominence of East Asians in British politics, Shah sums it up by saying, 鈥淧olitically, I鈥檓 furious. Racially, I鈥檓 thrilled.鈥�

Over the course of Shah鈥檚 hour, the laughs become more sparse, but Ends loses none of its heart. Shah recounts when one of his classmates branded him as safe despite the color of his skin with a cheeky 鈥済et a load of this guy鈥� attitude. Minutes later, he describes the half-decade of tears shed by his grandmother, who had nothing more than a photograph and handful of letters by which to remember her husband.

Shah鈥檚 set begins by teasing a younger audience member, defining general practitioners, hospitals, and newspapers with the implication they are people and institutions of a bygone era. While these are nods to a changing landscape some may find rather bleak, Shah retains hope for the future鈥攐f British people, of East Asians, of 鈥淏est Dressed鈥� guidelines. His hope is born from the last 20 years of progress he has witnessed since his grandfather鈥檚 premature death. In many ways, Shah lives in an England his grandfather wouldn鈥檛 recognize, both in 2002 when he left this world and in 1964 when he arrived in a new one.

As someone closer to Shah鈥檚 age than that audience member, I can empathize with the struggle to imagine a better world for future generations. And I struggle to find my place in how I can create that for them. Listening to Shah, shedding tears as he swallows his, it seems possible. He鈥檚 presented evidence that while London still endures violent race riots (including ), London also celebrates the accomplishment of some phenomenal political firsts, which lead to seconds, which lead to thirds, which lead to true progress. The kind of progress his grandfather lived and worked for, but died before he could see. And isn鈥檛 that how you define hope? By what Ends are on the horizon and what beginnings you might still perceive.

Ahir Shah: Ends performs at Pleasance Courtyard until August 23. Tickets available .