Oli Fuller
Immagrating away from her incredibly loving family with one goal in mind, get therapy, for the plot. Shalaka tells the story of her venture to the UK to become a memorable person in this hour of delightful comedy.
Shalaka Kurup has always believed that when people said not everyone is special, that definetly didn’t include her, and recites her quests for the type of stories that will make her special and where that has led her. This includes becoming a Doctor of Trains, writing roasts about a toddler and a traumatic phone call at her day job with a woman who has sex with her dog, the final push she needed to be offered a trip to the one place all cool people go, therapy.
Though deadpan, her comedy is intoxicating, taking you through her life and all her desperate attempts to become an icon. Shalaka talks about how little she cries, and desperately trying to get a diagnosis as a token of being better than the average person. She constantly refers back to how moments in her life relate back to movies from the Fast and Furious franchise, which would be her special interest had she not failed her autism diagnosis.
I particularly enjoyed Shalaka’s retelling of the time she played Tinkerbell in a student production of Peter Pan, saying how she cried, because the attention she got was the greatest experience of her life, before ending her set by recreating this very experience for herself and the audience.
Shalaka is succeeding in her goal, because I for one will be remembering her comedy for a long time.
Recommended Drink: Pair this with Tinkerbells Poison, and be brought back to life by her comedy.
You can catch Shalaka Kurup: Get a Grip until August 25th at Pleasance Courtyard – Attic from 20:30 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jasmine Silk
Phoebe Bakker
Jake Mace
