ED2015 4/5 Reviews ED2015 Comedy Reviews

Omar Hamdi – In The Valley Of The Kings (Omar Hamdi)

By Patrick Galbraith | Published on Wednesday 12 August 2015

If Michael Macintyre mated with Russell Brand, I truly believe they would produce Omar Hamdi – fizz, brilliance, introspection, bullshit and all. Hamdi does cover well-trodden territory – it was the third time that day I’d been treated to someone’s daddy dilemmas. But he does it refreshingly well, exploring the Egyptian cultural narrative surrounding masculinity and what that means to him – the flamboyant, cosmopolitan son of an emotionless, immigrant engineer. Hamdi’s real strength is his ability to be equally funny on fundamentalism and fannies alike. His profiling of the archetypal ISIS recruit was reductive, but I’m nitpicking here. I really shouldn’t use that reviewing cliche – “one to watch out for” – but I will, and you should.

Assembly George Square Studios, until 30 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Patrick Galbraith]