The Stage

Soul Sikher

Published Thursday 6 October 2005 at 11:05 by John Thaxter

An Eastern Eye critic has described the London-based Sikh comedian Sody Singh Kahlon as a genius and on the strength of this witty, one-man show, receiving its premiere at Watermans, it would be hard to demur.

His script is a clever amalgam of satire, low (even lewd) comedy, political wisdom and human understanding. No target is too sacred and it is also a refreshingly unsentimental study of the problems of identity facing an Asian who is wholly an Englishman but knows in his heart that he is also Indian.

A gifted performer of his own material, Sody morphs from character to character with impressive versatility. I especially enjoyed his Auntie Tiffany who, despite the actor’s black beard and moustache, is all woman under her headscarf. But that is not all.

Sody is also a skilful multimedia artist, creating a rolling backdrop of video images that not only support his performance but are also entertaining in their own right. This is textbook stuff worth studying for the way that recorded action is precisely synchronised with on-stage performance, including an Amritsar sequence in which a screen character - the Punjabi equivalent of Benny Hill - carries on an impudent conversation with his creator.

Sustained scenes include a send-up of Mumbai call centres, Indian-style driving tuition and a devastating run-down of sub-continental business methods, concluding with the advice that “if you can’t beat them - bribe them”.

Watermans’ auditorium was packed with a hugely enthusiastic audience and I predict similar success on the road.