dishoom-loves

Ed Fringe Special, 2023

Each year as August dawns, the streets and rooms and corners of Edinburgh fill with music, art, laughter and song. Wander into grand halls and pokey pubs, as the morning sun rises or in the dark of night, to see creations of every kind as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In honour of this wonderful celebration of the performing arts (and as a little treat), this was a special edition Dishoom Loves, covering all the acts we’d circled on our festival programme at Fringe in August 2023.

We were finding front row seats:—

To catch comedian Sapan Verma – who’s flown in from Bombay – make his much-anticipated Fringe debut. Expect Bollywood songs, very real (albeit often absurd) newspaper headlines, quips about life as a middle-class Indian, cheers for being internet famous and gasps when he recounts speaking about (and sometimes against) local political parties in his videos online.

Enjoy a night of laughter

We were laughing, but with a tear in our eye:—

As Sid Singh regales us with tales of his journey (not to Edinburgh, but as a comedian and human rights advocate) as part of his show Table for One. Did he beat a powerful administration to save 70,000 refugees by accident? Perhaps. Will he be donating 50% of ticket sales and donations to the Centre for Gender and Refugee Studies? Definitely!

Dive in

We were going from Instagram:—

To IRL as we watch Urooj Ashfaq’s show Oh No!. Show up for the occasional punchline in Hindi, but don’t show up with a pair of sunglasses (for you’ll soon become aware of Urooj’s aversion to them). Sit through sessions with her therapist and brave through her lighthearted teasing. Mainly, as Urooj herself will say, “Why don't you just show up, be surprised, and go with the flow?”

Get front row seats

We were hunched forward as we:—

Listen to Evening Conversations, a warm-hearted monologue about identity and heritage. Written and performed by middle-class, middle-aged, multicultural mother of millennial sons, Sudha Bhuchar – who is also an award-winning actor/ playwright. The show is inspired by dialogue she has with her ‘dual heritage, fiercely British, mono-lingual’ sons.

Catch the show

We were marvelling at:—

Spellbound, the new show from Suhani Shah, the world's most-subscribed mentalist. Sit transfixed as she reads minds, hacks memories and performs unfathomable card tricks. Just don’t give her your phone – she already knows your passcode.

Be amazed

We were transported:—

Through history, stories, backgrounds and time, by way of these two delights:

  • Santi & Naz by Guleraana Mir and Afshan D’Souza-Lodhi, and theatre company The Thelmas.
  • British Indian Buddies by Thomas Henry and Ram Arangi