Review: Kai Samra

Kai Samra and his grandfather have very different experiences of racism. When his grandad experienced it, he beat up the abuser. When Samra did, he wrote a Guardian article about it. And herein lies an issue Samra’s been battling with. There are different levels of unhappiness and pain – which one would he prefer to be experiencing?

At its core, Native is a story of success. Samra’s gone from sleeping rough outside Soho Theatre to living at Centrepoint – and now he’s got a stand-up special on Amazon (sponsored, pleasingly, by Soho Theatre.) Obviously, it’s not been easy for him; the comedy industry is hardly the most diverse.

Samra is super likable, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got his targets. There’s a dive into the prejudice inherent in the industry he’s forging a career in: he talks about box ticking and tokenism (“Let’s give Romesh Ranganathan fucking everything”), and he doesn’t pull punches about how the world – and this includes comedy and the Fringe – accepts gentrification, even with its shades of racism. But Samra’s not bitter; there is a team of supporters out there, and perhaps things are slowly changing. Throughout, Native is an interesting, autobiographical show hitting all the notes – including a truly sweet finale.