Review: Aziz Ansari – Live!

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but in some cases, it can be helpful.

Take Aziz Ansari for example. Well-groomed, and decked out in a sharp suit, Ansari looks every inch the cool, chic man-about-town. And this modish demeanor is a neat summarization of his performance; composed, slick and turned out with shark-like efficiency.

His hour-and-change set opens with Ansari declaring his admiration for people who, like his own parents, upped sticks and moved to an unfamiliar country in search of better lives. Touching on his family’s upheaval and the institutional racism they faced in South Carolina, Ansari compares their struggle to his own unproblematic life, and how far he and his peers would get starting afresh with twenty dollars in their pockets.

The glint of sincerity illuminated here is short-lived, however, as he continues on to the vapidity of modern relationships. A large portion of his set seems to be about texting; whether it’s trying to get a new relationship off the ground, or arranging to meet friends, his observations on the evasive nature of the mobile generation aren’t wrong, but they don’t make particularly innovative or cordial viewing either.

The same goes for his feminist routine; flipping the tables on the harassment of women by “creepy dudes”, he provokes some gleefully funny imagery, though its nothing most comedy fans won’t have seen done before.

Clearly a confident and accomplished performer, Ansari is capable of high-energy moments, darting around the like a whip of lightening, but it never feels quite enough to elevate his material. The pitfalls of the single life, the predictable entrapment of the long-term relationship; it never scrapes the surface, leaving the succinct set feeling a little perfunctory, a little mechanical.

Sharply delivered, and unquestionably amusing, perhaps Ansari is just a little too cool for his own good.

Date of live review: Sunday 30 November @ Hammersmith Apollo, London