Shappi Khorsandi @ The Stand

Well-meaning and not-at-all-well-meaning people alike have told Shappi Khorsandi she’s not English, despite having lived in Blighty since the age of three. Whether bluntly telling her and her family to ‘go home’ or calmly explaining that she can call herself British, just not English, hearing Khorsandi break the logic down is both wonderful and exhausting. Partially a response to the rise in hate crimes in the UK over the last two months, Oh My Country! examines what it means to be English, or British for that matter, and how she and her children fit into it all.

With armfuls of self-effacement, sarcasm and family bickering, Khorsandi gives us a very familiar view of politics, family and the comedy industry itself. She conveys her children as two brilliant comedic characters, with their Iranian and English heritage jostling for position centre-stage, and has the ability to dismiss hateful comments and use them to segue into what’s important in life. Never punching down and always bringing us in with great warmth and wit, Khorsandi’s country is one that is clever, diverse and very, very funny.

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Shappi Khorsandi: Oh My Country! From Morris Dancing to Morrissey, The Stand Comedy Club, 5-28 Aug (not 15), 8:30 pm, £10-12.