The best of this comedy hour is very funny indeed – and laughing out loud is why I love going to stand-up. Pax Assadi immediately engages with his audience and uses our reactions, or various individual’s answers to his questions, or even a few facial expressions (or lack of them), to develop his personal brand of intimate comedy with relaxed spontaneity.

Assadi is certainly quick-witted in the way that he’s able to take social issues – such as parenting, racism, food and drink culture and much else – and heighten our awareness of their problems or incongruities through his comic take on them. For me, the most consistently funny part of his routine is his description of the similarities between getting his kids into the car, compared to being a designated sober driver after a house party. And his hypothetical story of what white people would be like as refugees in Morocco also highlights some very real issues around the global refugee situation.

While the best stand-up comics often have a serious message and some genuine insights into the social and political issues of our time, there are times when Pax Assadi’s message almost becomes a lecture or a telling of factual personal anecdotes with too little comedy involved. His charming stage manner always has us engaged and on his side, but the best stand-up acts keep a more consistent focus on comedy which, in the end, gives their message more impact and point, and can sometimes give us a lasting new perspective on the issue at hand.

Even so, Raised by Refugees is a well-developed routine that confirms Assadi’s genuine comic talent. His serious content is also valid and thought-provoking; it’s just that, as I leave the venue, I’m aware that my sides have not been split quite as much as I’d hoped for. 

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