+3 Interview: Imran Yusuf: Saint, Sinner, Sufi

“It’s a show for grown ups with plenty of club comedy style laughs and both well-informed and experienced anecdotes of life.”

WHO: Imran Yusuf, Performer

WHAT: “Everyone is offended, everyone is a victim, no one is happy. A show for bleeding heart liberals and angry disenfranchised victims. A show for good guys, bad guys and those who know better. Woe is me, the pariah. I am not to blame, that is the fault of others whom serve me to overlook my own faults. A show cognisant of human patterns, taking ownership of my own hypocrisy and realising that we become who we judge. It’s only funny because it’s true. http://www.imranyusuf.com”

WHERE: The Stand’s New Town Theatre – Studio (Venue 139) 

WHEN: 17:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!


Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’ve been to Edinburgh many times. I had been up a couple of times before I did my first full run in 2008, doing a three-hander and honing my craft, doing 20 mins every day for 25 days. Then in 2009 I went up and did a whole month of compering, and in 2010 I went up to learn how to do an hour’s worth of comedy and accidentally got nominated for Best Newcomer. I’ve done 3 solo shows in total and this is my fourth one.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I reached entry-level enlightenment at age 38 and understood why indeed life begins in this era of the the 40’s. The naive idealism of youth is exhausted from its nonsense but the remaining dreams are reinvigorated by the experience of enduring failure for so many years beforehand.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called Saint, Sinner, Sufi. It is a coming of middle-age show in understanding my life through the matured view of having lived through the naive and judgmental saintly-self, through to the bitter truths of indulgent sinning, all the way through to observing the middle path between these two extremes. It’s a show for grown ups with plenty of club comedy style laughs and both well-informed and experienced anecdotes of life.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Go and watch Gamarjobat, they are pure unadulterated fun and so finely skilled in their craft. Also, I am keen to see what Phil Ellis is up to, he is quite possibly the most naturally funny man in the UK.


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