I’m genuinely surprised when Tarang Hardikar walks onto the stage: he looks about my age (I am 29. He is 26), so I’m not expecting such a fully formed performance. But this young Indian comedian from Pune quickly proves he has an impressively intelligent approach to comedy.
Hardikar’s jokes don’t simply arrive and disappear; they interlink, with ideas introduced near the beginning returning later in ways that make the whole hour feel carefully constructed. His comedy thrives on existential questioning. He takes something as ordinary as time or numbers and asks what they actually are, who decided they should exist and why we accept them as normal, honestly spiralling my own brain into an existential dilemma.
From there, he launches into wonderfully funny inner dialogues, jumping between personas and acting out conversations with therapists and immigration officers. There is also a sharp playfulness in the way Hardikar approaches the English language. As an Indian comedian performing in the Indian variety of English, his pronunciation becomes part of the comedy as he examines the strange rules, repetitions and contradictions of the English language.
The construction of the material is almost as impressive as the punchlines themselves. For a Frind debut this is an original and thoroughly enjoyable show.
Tarang Hardikar: If I’m Not Wrong, 18:00, Attic at Pleasance Courtyard from August 5-16th – 18-30th
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/tarang-hardikar-if-i-m-not-wrong
