Ayo Adenekan’s debut hour is incredibly impressive. But what he’s learnt over the years is that he doesn’t need to impress.
Adenekan takes us through his experiences of growing up as a Black man in Scotland. Starting off as a young primary school boy gradually starting to recognise prejudice as he was experiencing it; then becoming the high school lad that stood up to his friends after years of racist jokes.
Adenekan is the king of repetition. His routines, particularly one about primary school nativity plays, have the audience wheezing from laughter as he takes us through each play year on year, over and over and over. He is also the king of storytelling, his anecdotes provide an overview of his life that feels heartfelt, gripping, and hysterical – all at the same time.
Throughout the show, an underlying theme is Adenekan’s sense of struggling to fit in, feeling he needed to ‘be someone’ to be accepted. Though sometimes the people you consider to be friends, Adenekan starts to realise, are often the people who don’t deserve you in the first place.
Adenekan no longer feels he needs to impress to justify his place in a space. He makes his carefully structured debut hour seem effortless, keeping the audience rapt the whole way through, and solidifies himself as a star on the rise – but he doesn’t need our approval.
Ayo Adenekan: Black Mediocrity, Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire), until 24 Aug (not 13), 1.30pm