ArticleComedy

Comedy and Activism

Following the first gig of our residency at Soho Theatre, comedian and performer Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi wrote for The Guardian about what doing stand-up comedy as part of our No Direction Home collective means to her.

“Comedy can trace the cracks and faultlines of our political systems but it also confronts the fears and confusions of our own minds and hearts. It lightly proposes other ways of seeing, of being. It has the power to rehumanise; to rewild our imagination, reopen our hearts and, after a few (hopefully) bellowing laughs, to confront us with the question, can we bear seeing ourselves? More importantly, what are we going to do about this?”

She continues:

“For me, doing standup is about becoming comfortable with and sharing the contradictory mess of being human, about being vulnerable in the face of injustice, becoming a mirror, a reflection, and a hammer. It is where I seek refuge – where other worlds are fearlessly imagined and dreams allowed to breathe.”

Read the full article here.

No Direction Home, produced by Counterpoints Arts is a project for new comics from refugee and migrant backgrounds, featuring workshops, expert tuition and gigs around the country. It was created in partnership with Camden People’s Theatre and comedian Tom Parry, and their previous shows have taken place at the Southbank Centre featuring headliners such as Romesh Ranganathan, Nish Kumar, Joel Dommett, Lou Sanders, Suzi Ruffell and more.

Our comedy gigs at Soho Theatre are produced in partnership with Show & Tell.

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