In India, I’m edgy, says Urooj Ashfaq; in Edinburgh, not so much. It’s a joke about leaving a small but burgeoning Mumbai standup scene to visit – for the first time – the most sophisticated live comedy environment in the world. And yet, this weekend the 28-year-old was named best newcomer at the Edinburgh comedy awards, a remarkable feat for this fish ostensibly out of water, and a surprising one, given the engaging but unexceptional nature of her show.
I contrived to see Oh No! twice at the fringe, and left in no doubt of Ashfaq’s considerable live performance skills. She has an expressive face and voice, securing several laughs by sudden vocal modulation alone. Her persona and onstage manner are endearingly at odds. The star of her autobiographical stories is a high-maintenance therapy addict still nursing the wounds of her parents’ divorce. But on stage, she’s got warmth, emotional openness and self-irony to spare, and grace and authority too with a crowd who keep arriving until halfway through her show.
