Review by Kristie Giblin
4.5/5 stars
The small venue at Fresh in Launceston, Tasmania, was completely packed out on a minus three degree night, to hear the comedy greatness of Nazeem Hussain.
After selling out all of his shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year, my expectations for the evening were high, and boy were they met.
With the Boags XXX flowing from the bar and a four comedian line up as well as Fresh regular host Stewart Bell who all warmed the crowd up with their mixture of love for Daryl Braithwaite, ‘why I don’t want kids… yet’, and mathematical and local humour.
After a short break we then got onto the main event. Nazeem opened by telling how he had just been on the phone to his friend who asked what he was doing in Launceston as there are only white people there. This pretty much set up the rest of the show as his ethical humour caused a few to writhe in discomfort as Nazeem isn’t afraid to break down racial boundaries.
Delving into issues of ISIS and being questioned by ASIO, were juxtaposed against lighter content like how he acquired his drop crutch pants from a dancing sales assistant and being asked for an easier name to pronounce when ordering his mocha at a cafe.
At a time in Australia where issues of race and religion are often being talked about, the way Nazeem spoke about them really brought it all back down to reality.
A night where we were able to laugh at our own stupidity whilst also gaining a better understanding of what it’s like for a Muslim in Australia, I highly recommend Legally Brown for people of all races and ethnicities.