Growing up, Ifrah Qureshi was the man of the house. The middle child in a family of women, she was the one responsible for the unglamorous tasks of putting out the bins and killing spiders caught in the bathtub. These everyday, banal acts of gender rebellion in her youth set the scene for her Fringe debut, 48 Flaws of Power.
For those unaware, the show’s title is a riff off of The 48 Laws of Power: one of the canonical texts of the manosphere, that toxic web of iffy fitness advice, misogynistic ramblings and self-help which plagues corners of TikTok aimed at vulnerable young men. On a quest to win an argument against her South Asian mother, Qureshi orders the book and sets out testing its central tenet: that every interaction is a power struggle.
Throughout the show, a voiceover reads some of the book’s most ridiculous rules (such as not depending on friends, lest you become weak…) before Qureshi details anecdotes of her trying out the lessons IRL. Despite the clunky framing, the comedian still manages to hit a variety of themes – from second-gen identity, to the ‘gamification’ of good deeds within Islam and, of course, masculinity – without coming across as overly didactic or serious.
It’s an admirable debut, and Qureshi’s impish personality can’t help but win you over.
Ifrah Qureshi: 48 Flaws of Power, The Stand Comedy Club, until 30 Aug (not 17), 8.15pm