It’s 25 years since New Labour told us: “We’re all middle class now” and it’s not a claim that’s weathered well. Class is squarely back on the agenda these days: Athena Kugblenu’s new standup show on the subject follows ones by Kai Samra, Jason Manford and Sophie Willan among many others – and builds on her own, similarly themed Radio 4 broadcast. Kugblenu delves here into her own conflicted class identity, the child of an aspirational Indian-Caribbean mum and an overqualified Ghanaian dad who struggled to find even menial work in the UK. Does that make her working class? She’s not so sure.
What you can be sure of, in any standup show on this theme, are relatable observational gags about – well, it’s usually quinoa and smashed avocados, but here we get Nigella recipes, granite worktops and the babyccino. Familiar class signifiers all, but Kugblenu’s show gets stronger when the references get less familiar and more specific to her own life, growing up in East Finchley, poring over the itemised phone bill for potential savings – but blissfully ignorant that there was anything lower than middle class about her happy, confident life.
