★★★★
‘If you don’t know, this is a show about ADHD’, Khorsandi states at the top of the show, prompting some murmurs from the Radio 4 ready audience. Luckily, Shappi instinctively uses the unexpected to her advantage throughout the hour. It’s great to hear a neurodivergent perspective from someone who got diagnosed in their late-forties. It completely upends the ridiculous and ableist notion that ADHD is a ‘young person’s complaint’. Not that it is our responsibility to debunk the bollocks The Daily Mail spews.
It’s also heartening to see neurodivergent people on stage, relaxed and unmasked. It’s a big deal for us, that vulnerability, going against everything we were taught, to be less, to squash ourselves into neurotypical boxes. Khorsandi parlays her newfound confidence and self-understanding into her already razor-sharp stand-up abilities. Combined, her act has reached a brilliant zenith. Where so many hours at the fringe become paint-by-numbers with a message, so hackneyed you can almost guess what’s coming next, Khorsandi allows herself room to share stories and routines that don’t necessarily have a pay-off, but are great insights into her world.
It’s worth noting that different parts of the audience reacted in opposite ways to Shaparak’s confessional storytelling. There were fellow ADHDers, people whose laughter was that of recognition. But she also knew that there were people who were receiving an education, or having certain prejudices challenged. It’s a beautifully performed hour that purposefully straddles various neurotypes, whilst also being very funny.
Shaparak Khorsandi: Scatterbrain is on at Above at Pleasance Courtyard until August 10th.
