Legally Brown and Orange is The New Black’s witty comedian Nazeem Hussain pays tribute to Christchurch’s terrorist attack with casual humour in his stand-up comedy show Basic Idiot at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019 on 11th April. After initiating the self-organised benefit gig Stand Up For Christchurch on 26th March, the Sri-Lanka-Australian Muslim continued his giant gesture for the tragedy in his 22 shows performed in Melbourne Town Hall, starting from 28th March to 21st April.
The Netflix special-having star mentioned in his show both the terrorist attack at mosques in Christchurch last month, alongside the Bourke Street Mall knife attack happened in November last year, where he skillfully provoked casual laughter from the frightful incidents by playful impersonations and humorous punchlines.
The stand-up gig was performed to a packed crowd of four-hundred people at 7 pm 11th April in Melbourne Town Hall, playing the show to a full house. The audience of the one-hour show was a mix of different races and ages.
The comedy show features Hussain’s personal experiences as a new father after the birth of his child, from funny conversations with anti-vaxxer parents to his plan to educate his child with different religious practices each day. Notable for his whimsical humility, Hussain’s anecdotes were peppered with light-hearted jokes and imitations of different races.
Hussain engages the audience with a natural flow of interactions, randomly throwing questions at some audience from time to time, and giving impromptu reactions that cause the crowd to burst into laughter.
The Helpmann Award winner’s show has received positive feedbacks among the audience. The Age’s entertainment journalist Michael Lallo listed listing Hussain as one of his favourites at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019, as he tweeted on 1st April ‘My picks, so far, of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. You can’t go wrong with this lot. Go see them.’.
Had the chance of watching Nazeem Hussain’s show “Basic Idiot” and laughed a lot. Don’t miss his performance if you’re into parenting, racial, religious and political jokes.’
Vincy, a varsity student from Hong Kong, attended the show and found it unexpectedly entertaining. ‘It was my first time watching his [Hussain’s] show and I didn’t envisage myself helplessly laughing throughout the hour before it,’ she says, ‘I don’t think anyone felt offended by his “racist” jests, they were precisely mimicked. People, no matter which races, they enjoyed teasing at themselves. I bet this can only happen in the multi-cultural Australia.’
I don’t think anyone felt offended by his “racist” jests, they were precisely mimicked. People, no matter which races, they enjoyed teasing at themselves. I bet this can only happen in the multi-cultural Australia.
Previously, Hussain announced on his Twitter that he had gathered a line-up of 13 Australian comedians to perform in a special show Stand Up For Christchurch at Melbourne Town Hall on 13th April, to raise money for victims, families and the Muslims communities affected in the attack. All proceeds from the show were donated to the Christchurch Foundation’s ‘Our People Our City’ fund.
Upon announcement of the charity show, tickets were instantly sold out within half a day. The live performance was performed on 13th April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp showed support for the show that day.
Owing to the popular demand for the fundraising comedy, the event’s partner Channel 10 has announced that Stand Up For Christchurch will air the coming Sunday, 21st April on 10 and WIN Networks.
Hussain will continue host his show Basic Idiots every night until the end of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019, 21st April. Tickets are now available online on https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019 or via phone call +61 3 9245 3788.
Joying Jasmine 