From Amsterdam by way of India, Adi Parmar starts off dancing to an impromptu Bollywood-esque number with an audience member, which, along with a later routine in which  he imagines which god brought him into the world, sets the tone for the remaining hour. He takes the audience on a light, bouncy and energetically performed journey, from his coming of age as a young gay man in India, to his later age-gap relationship in Amsterdam. Parmar makes skilful and inventive use of innuendo, especially in describing his first sexual experiences and creates a great rapport with the audience. This is an impressive Fringe debut. He effectively combines a bright, bubbly tone with 15-rated material and the use of mime to create a wonderfully whimsical voyage of sexual self-discovery.

However, it’s in the show’s second half where Parmar really shines, with his stories of fatherhood not only revealing a more sensitive side, but also touching on issues of racism and same-sex parenting. He uses the same lightness of tone that made the first half so laugh-out-loud funny and manages  to sprinkle enough innuendo and pointed jabs at colonialism and culture clash to stop the heartwarming from becoming too saccharine.

He does end  on a more serious note, covering the difficulties of coming out as LGBTQ in Indian society, which also brings up family issues mentioned earlier, but this is in a far darker context relating to a cultural attitude of silence. However, even here, he uses his well-established rapport with the audience, now firmly won over, to reprieve the earlier lightness in a way that nicely wraps up  the show in a quite cathartic manner.

Sunny Boy is a Fringe debut that is many things: naughty, heartwarming, sobering and most importantly of all, just plain funny.  Parmar uses his hour to establish himself as an engaging comic and storyteller who can  entertain on multiple emotional levels.