HASAN AL-HABIB: Stuck in the Middle (East) With You ★★★★

Hasan Al-Habib is television-ready. A clever, talented comedian with a PhD in oncology, he combines great timing, strong material and excellent callbacks with a great gift for wordplay. The eldest child in an Iraqi immigrant family in Birmingham, he mines deeply personal territory: family estrangement and escaping domestic violence. Yet despite the weight of the subject matter, we laugh enormously at the inventive way he communicates his story of deepseated family trauma.

His controlling aunt, doctor mother, father and extended family provide rich material, while Uber, Christmas, 9/11, FIFA, the mosque, Aldi and even Prince Harry and Meghan all get woven into his sharp observations. His agent apparently wanted the show to be relatable to white British people, so naturally it is about being a child of divorce.

Audience engagement is effortless, with so much laughter. “Ramadan – completed it mate” and “Cheers mate” are memorable highlights. Impressive, clever, warm, and genuinely funny.

Pleasance Courtyard, at the Edinburgh Fringe: August 2026 ©RoxyReviews (also published by One4Review)