Narin Oz and Yasser Kayani bring their raucous and absurd comedy show to the Edinburgh Fringe.
In The Woke Box, we find a parody of Gogglebox where two Pakistani brothers are stuck watching an evil TV, which screens all your favourite shows like White Saviour News.
Oz and Kayani have an eye for the idiocy around us and the battle around what is “woke.” In this show – aimed at adults only – the absurd sometimes clicks, but there are only so many parody shows you can use to make a point.
In this anarchic, partly animated production, nothing is exempt from the eye of the woke/non-woke. It is intermittently funny but perhaps too loaded with ideas to be fully successful.
The Woke Box definitely has the feel of genre-pushing material like South Park, chock full of swearing and lavatorial references, and if that’s your thing, this may be for you.
I liked the inventive way this was presented, and how it doesn’t hold back from taking on topics the majority touch with caution.
Sexism, racism, harassment and much more are on the menu here, and it is all delivered without any kind of filter. Easily offended? Stay away, or, as the blurb suggests, “have a first aider on standby”.
The Woke Box has some moments that work well (the shopping channel was very good), but others, which are simply too loud and annoying, or a little too gross, fall flat.
No one and nothing is off-limits here, and it is certainly something a bit different to view online this summer.
With a bit more focus and less of the Googlebox framing device, The Woke Box could develop into sharp satire of the popular TV hits that influence our thoughts.
The Woke Box can be viewed on demand until 28 Aug with tickets here.
**.5