Tall Stories [FringeTIX]
Imaan @ The Spare Room
10:30pm, Sat 13 Feb 2010
Imaan is a midget.
There, I said it. How politically incorrect! Even Imaan himself prefers the term “migger” (“that’s with an em, not an en – I’m not a fucking racist.”)
Seriously, though, he is tiny. And yet, I was more flabbergasted when I discovered that he was nineteen, and that he’d only been doing comedy for five years.
Because he’s a filthy little bugger.
And that totally makes the show work. This short-statured chap with the helium-squeaky voice is constantly talking about his sexual conquests and peccadillos, his fears of being “swallowed” by large hookers in Amsterdam (“50 euros. It was research. Tax deduction!”), and riling up the female members of the packed-out crowd in The Spare Room (best get in early for Spare Room shows, by the way; the seats are spaced for people requiring Imaan’s legroom). It’s not all sex-related, though; he leverages his size for humour quite a bit (as expected), but also adds his Lebanese background into the mix as well.
Having said all that, it wasn’t exactly a great show – because after twenty minutes or so, the novelty has worn off. You’ve become accustomed to where he’s prepared to go, and you can start reading his jokes in advance. And, worst of all, Imaan starts interacting with hecklers in a way that excludes much of the audience (if only because they’re catching one side of the story). Waaaaay too much time was wasted there, even if it was fun to chant “you are a wanker!” to the chap in the front row who took a piss break in the middle of the joke.
Still, the entry music was a collection of Richard Cheese‘s best covers, and FNM’s “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” took us out, so that was nice.