Another in Radio 4's series of stand-up sets turned into radio monologue, this features Sindhu Vee, giving us a bit of autobiograpical detail.
In the first episode, Vee looks at families, specifically hers, a generation up (parents), a generation down (kids), and no generation sideways (her husband). The "Sindhustan" refers to the fact that her collective is fairly multi-national, which is occasionally a problem when her (self-described) irrational Indian side clashes with her terrifyingly stoic Danish partner.
This gives her three streams for comedy, with the troubles of raising children (my first sex chat), how to avoid murdering someone who only has an inside voice, and annoying mothers. The troublesome mother is cheerfully expanded on for the second episode, with the tales of attempted arranged marriages and desperation to have your kid married off.
While Vee is a polished performer, I can't say most of the jokes landed for me. I don't know if I lack enough points of reference (no kids, relatively calm parents, Mancunian heritage), but nothing in particular struck a chord. If anything, it felt rather middle of the road, and a little dated. A joke about petrol station food and what felt like an episode worth of mother-in-law jokes isn't terribly challenging.
As I say, I might not be the audience. A quick look through twitter has nothing but good to say about it, so feel free to give it a go and tell me I'm horribly wrong. But I think I'll stop after the two.
Tagged: Radio Comedy Monologue Stand-up Autobiographical