What are your thoughts on San Francisco? Chances are you hate the city, and if not, Abby Govindan is here to make sure that you do. Featured in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list, she provides us with an hour of insightful observations about dating culture, growing up in a traditional Indian family and unnecessary technological revolutions. This is a show that, while definitely making me laugh, more so left me thinking about certain cultures’ views on mixed race relationships. I found myself more invested in her storytelling than I did her comedy, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, some jokes just didn’t hit as hard as her captivating stories.
We dive straight into why we should hate the city of San Francisco, Govindan provides a number of reasons, relating to technology and men amongst other things. There is some very funny stuff about her reasoning for dating specific races (she is not racist, just to clarify!), which the audience finds hilarious when the joke reaches its punchline. Her ability to tell her story also comes across well, with the crowd invested from start to finish in the history of how she came to be who she is despite her traditional upbringing. There’s some good material about the 30 Under 30 list that she was on this year, where she delves into the ’30 Under 30 to Federal Prison’ pipeline, which is both funny and fascinating, how could it be possible that so many promising young people are ending up like this? The answer: they probably live in San Francisco.
An hour of brilliant storytelling is what you can expect with Abby Govindan. While there are great laughs throughout, some jokes fall flat and don’t come across as charming as her ability to educate an audience on different cultures and world events. It’s a great show for wrapping up your evening with something thought provoking.
Abby Govindan: Pushing 30, 21:35, Baby Grand at Pleasance Courtyard
Until Aug 30
