Ahir Shah: Anatomy

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When Ahir Shah last brought a full-length show to the Fringe, he performed it in an Underbelly venue under the auspices of management agency Avalon. With a substantial marketing budget behind him, his posters covered vast swaths of Bristo Square and drew reasonably large audiences. The trouble was that, despite his obvious ability and hunger for success, one couldn't shake the impression of a precocious 20-year-old being pushed too soon.

It's therefore extremely welcome to find Shah having struck out on his own two years later. He's had enough of the middlemen who involved themselves early on in his career and returns to Edinburgh a comparatively humble figure eager to pay his dues. By undergoing a month-long residency in a tiny attic as part of Laughing Horse's Free Fringe, the comedian's regained control of his own destiny and seems intent on starting from scratch. The result is a playful hour of unapologetically cerebral laughs that sees its creator only occasionally succumb to past weaknesses.

He retains a tendency to analyse his own material too often while discussing deliberately niche subject matter, the spectre of Stewart Lee hovering awkwardly above him. Otherwise, Anatomy is as thoughtful and compelling a show as you're likely to come across all August. Shah has plenty of interesting things to say about personal identity and how we engage with the world, always punctuating his theories with devastating, wordy turns of phrase. He's still finding his voice as a performer, yet this is somehow part of Anatomy's brilliantly self-aware appeal.