Review: Bilal Zafar: Imposter

It may seem a bit rich, a comedian complaining about other people lying: embellishing the truth is essentially their stock in trade, after all. But Bilal Zafar did once house-share with a man who did more fabricating than a medium-sized engineering firm, which eventually led to several police raids, drug panic and a deeply suspect solicitor. That's some serious lying. 

His name was Jack (or was it?) and that truth-stretching finally snapped the week before the comic's wedding, which threw a spanner in where it definitely wasn't wanted. Tension mounted and the errant housemate embarked on a series of bizarrely furious shouting matches: with Zafar, an attending paramedic, even the landlord’s tiny dog. Truly a jack of all tirades.

This is the tale of that dramatic few days, although Zafar keeps his telling of it low-key. One of the overarching threads is his unwittingly sarcastic tone, which can cause issues; "I've a demeanour problem," the comic explains. Oddly enough though, his demeanour is arguably a bit too agreeable in this case: Zafar is at his funniest in sardonic club mode – when taking on a less welcoming audience - or while embodying the less likeable characters that built him a huge online following, in lockdown and beyond. He has a distinctive comic voice, which isn’t quite let loose here. 

Imposter is a thoroughly enjoyable tale, told with a slight lack of flair, but that extra vim and vigour often evolves as a show beds in. Is it all true? Well, that’s another story.