Firstly, this performer is undeniably talented. His performance is tightly-rehearsed, he has a smooth flow, and he goes on for a dense 60 minutes. His storytelling moves seamlessly into spoken word poetry, which is something a bit more exciting than the regular guy-with-a-mic style of storytelling we see at the Fringe.

Most of the writing itself is solid, with plenty of rap-style punchlines that brought each story to a clever end. There are somewhat cliche and derivative bits throughout that we’ve already seen before, for example when discussing what it would be like if men had periods.

Discussion of racism is fairly entry-level and didactic, probably suited to an older Whiter crowd who isn’t totally familiar with antiblackness in Canada. I prefer something a bit more artful and nuanced from political art, that doesn’t feed every right answer to the audience.

Overall, I think this is a solid showing at the Fringe. And perhaps, considering the very, very low numbers of shows with Black leads in the festival and our theatre community generally, something accessible to a broad audience that can comment on racism without making them uncomfortable is still needed. Personally, I’m looking for something that pushes further.