THERE are two shows in one going on in South African comedian Thenjiwe’s Fringe debut. That represents value for money but also maybe a slight missed opportunity.
The advertised show is the comedian’s take on contemporary South Africa which is probably not featuring in too many stand-up routines elsewhere in Edinburgh this month. As a result, this part of proceedings feels minty fresh. Intriguing, too, particularly in the way it challenges so many received notions we in the West have of the place. (Homelessness is not a problem in her homeland, she points out. Would that we could say the same.)
She also has fun with cultural differences, turning the telescope back on us as it were, while the reminders of the corrosive effect of colonialism, though played for laughs, still burn.
The other half of the show is Thenjiwe’s own story, one which takes in childhood, adulthood, marriage and motherhood, as well as her time in the United States and her Covid-fuelled arrival in the UK. In other words a mixture of sex and racism.
Both halves of the show are perfectly good, but they slightly distract rather than enhance each other. You may come away wanting to know more about South Africa or more about Thenjiwe and feel that you’ve not got quite enough of either.
That said, this is a show full of sharp lines that cut deep at times. And Thenjiwe herself is an intriguing comic presence; so deadpan you don’t even notice when her material draws blood.
In short, this is a perfectly creditable Fringe debut that finds humour in Robert Mugabe and Bill Cosby and our inability to pronounce South African names. But sometimes it feels like there is a slightly better show inside it trying to break out. Or maybe even two.
Thenjiwe: The Mandela Effect, Just the Tonic at the Mash House, 14:25pm, until August 27 (except August 14)
